Fishing Report

Lewes Canal has produced a decent number of keeper flounder in past days. Even with strong currents from last week's full moon, and murky water, flatties fed actively during outgoing tide. Harry Aiken and his fishing partner caught 22 fluke and kept their limit of 8 nice ones during a recent trip to the Canal. Harry said chartreuse hair rigs tipped with shiners and chartreuse Gulp! were the key to success. Joe and Drake Crowley teamed up for a good pair of Broadkill River flatfish scaling 4.79 and 3.6 pounds. Ryan Weiber was casting a white Gulp! at Canary Creek bridge when he connected with a 4.14 pound flounder. Flatties also came from Cape Henlopen Pier. Some of the better catching occurred at night on the edge of the light line. Bob Tripple stopped by with a pair of keepers that fell for a small bucktail tipped with pink Gulp! Fishing should be in full swing for the annual Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament to take place Friday May 17th. Participants may fish from boats or kayaks. Entry fee is $25 per angler to be paid in cash at Lewes Harbour Marina any day before the Tournament begins. No sign ups will be accepted after the 7am start time on May 17th. Five dollars of each entry will sponsor the Camp Awareness Youth Fishing Tournament. The remaining $20 goes into a pool and will be awarded as cash prizes for the six heaviest flounder weighed in by registered anglers during the event. The more entries, the bigger the prizes. Last year, 360 people fished the Tourney. Fishing is permitted within the confines of Lewes Canal from the Rehoboth Bay entrance to Roosevelt Inlet. You may fish in Roosevelt Inlet, but not past the red and green entrance markers. Fishing is also allowed in Broadkill River from Roosevelt to the Oyster Rocks Ramp. Fishing hours are between 7am and 3pm on May 17th. Flounder need to be weighed at Lewes Harbour Marina between 7am and 4pm. It's strongly recommended that fish be weighed live so there are no questions about freshness. In case of a tie for weight, the flounder weighed in earliest will take the higher prize. Therefore, it's beneficial to bring a contending fish to the scale as soon as you can to avoid the fish loosing weight, and to maintain good placement in the standings. All flounder weighed must be caught with hook and line by a registered contestant. The cash pool will be divided among the winners as follows: 35% will be awarded for the Heaviest flounder, 25% for the Second Heaviest, 20% for Third Heaviest, 10% for the Fourth Heaviest, and 5% each for the Fifth and Sixth Heaviest Flounder weighed in by registered contestants. The Seventh Heaviest weighed in by a contestant earns a $100 Lewes Harbour Marina Gift Certificate. This is a flounder tournament only, and all state and federal regulations apply. Drifting boaters are reminded they must give the right away to any vessel underway in the Canal. Thanks to the Dewey Beach Lions Club for their help with the event. Be Safe and Have Fun! Bay surf fishermen continue to hook stripers, drum, blues and blowfish for Broadkill Beach, using bloodworms, clams and bunker. Andy Lano landed a 36 inch striper and a 20 pound drum at Broadkill with clams. After this recent full moon, the first few black drum were taken in the evenings by boaters anchored near the submerged pilings off Slaughter Beach. That action should heat up through May, and peak around the next full moon May 24th. We'll be stocking surf clams, but suggest you call early in the week to reserve baits for the weekend. Togging was good around the Walls and on Reefs 6 and 7 prior to the big moon, but was challenging over the weekend with strong currents. Guys who fished the beginning of the tides did ok though. Doug and Scott Riniker, Steve Kiibler and Scott Haas had their limit of chunky tog at the Wall by 8am Sunday. The bite happened with clean water during the first of flood tide. Hannah Staniszewski checked in a 6.04 pound tautog she pulled from the Ice Breakers. Jay Schlink caught a 7.81 pound citation tog aboard the Martha Marie. Lance and Chad Hitzelberger, Gil Waddington and "Vito" enjoyed a teriffic trip to Site 11 Saturday. They culled an impressive limit of blackfish over 8 pounds from several they caught. Among the take were tog of 9.6 pounds, 10.6 pounds and a 13 pound bruiser. Along the Ocean Beach, surf casters caught few bluefish in the 1 to 5 pound range and an occasional striper near Herring Point. A bright spot has been the number of blowfish in the suds this spring. Anglers report catching lots of tasty puffers in the wash at spots like Keybox Road, the Old Coast Guard Station and 3 R's Road. Bloodworms or bits of clam on small hooks did the trick.

Surfcasters continued to have success along Broadkill Beach. Better bites have occurred on decent weather days when sunlight warms the shallow water. Baits such as bloodworms, clams, bunker and frozen peeler crabs were popular offerings. Anglers encountered stripers, black drum, bluefish and flounder. Roosevelt Inlet and the adjacent Lewes Beach also gave up some blues in the 2 pound range to those soaking cut baits. Gene Laskowski landed a 3 pound bluefish from the dock right in front of Lewes Harbour Marina. There was pretty good catching during Sunday's flood tide in the Cape Henlopen surf. Guys working the suds at Herring Point had a nice mix including stripers, drum, bluefish and blowfish. Curt Stephens captured a 17 pound striped bass and released many more using clams and sandfleas there. Judah Lynam beached a 17 pound black drum. He also had a bunch of blues, short stripers and blowfish. Jason Massey and Matt Weidman whacked the blowfish a little farther down the beach at Keybox Road. The focus area for toggers has shifted form the Ocean into Delaware Bay. Tog fishermen toggled into the Inner and Outer Walls did well with green crabs. Reef Sites 6 and 7 at Brown Shoal yielded good numbers of blackfish too. Captain Brent's Saturday group on Katydid limited out in short order on Bay structure. Captain Carey's guys on the Grizzly ended up with a real nice catch yesterday after culling through lots of shorts. Flounder are becoming active around the Cape Henlopen Pier. Cut fresh baits like bunker, shad or bluefish presented on small jigs are preferred offerings for fluke at the pier this time of year. A few keeper flatties came from Lewes Canal, and more will come with warming temps and clean water. John Mitchell kept 3 fluke to 3 pounds while drifting minnows and shiners in the Canal today. The annual Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament will take place Friday May 17th. Entry fee is $25 per angler, and $5 of that is donated to Camp Awareness Youth Programs. Participants must register at Lewes Harbour Marina before the Tourney.

Fish have become active in shallow water along Broadkill Beach over the past few days, and surf casters reported catches of Stripers and Black Drum. George Sharp stopped by the shop for bloodworms this morning and was back a couple hours later with a pretty 17.3 pound striper that fell for the bloods. George said he saw other stripers pulled from the wash at Broadkill as well. Mike Dittmann weighed in an 18 pound black drum that ate a clam at Beach Plum Island yesterday. Surf fishermen caught quite a few black drum along Broadkill Beach last spring, so maybe the bite will happen again this season. It's likely the first trout will be hooked by Broadkill surf casters soon. Anglers fishing the Ocean beach have had mostly skates and sharks, with an occasional rockfish. Bert Long released a 21 incher that bit a clam at Herring Point yesterday. Bert also beached an 18 pound black drum there. Lower Bay boaters haven't done much with stripers, but bass were taken in the northern section. Wayne Wilson reported crews anchored near 6L Buoy off Collins Beach got into good sized rockfish. Fresh bunker was the ticket. Tautog catching was good over the past week. Ocean Reef Sites 9 and 10 had been yielding tog, but blackfish began biting along the Inner and Outer Walls as water temps slowly rose into the 50's. Captain Brent on Katydid Brent ran tog trips Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, all resulting in in limits of chunky tog to 7 pounds. Patrons on the Angler had good tautog action with Captain Don Saturday. Dick Yohe and family joined Captain Carey aboard Grizzly for a great outing Sunday. The group scored their limit of hefty tog, including an 8.5 pound citation winner for Adam Yohe. Flounder have been taken from Indian River Bay, and should start cooperating soon in shallow water around the Cape Henlopen Pier, and in Lewes Canal. Brett Jackson managed a keeper fluke in Broadkill River near Oyster Rocks. River fishermen also found white perch, catfish and small stripers while baiting with bloodworms. Petersfield Ditch was a good spot for perch. The annual Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament takes place Friday May 17th. Anglers may fish from boats or kayaks from 7am to 3pm within the confines of Lewes Canal, Roosevelt Inlet and Broadkill River. Entry fee is $25 per entrant, to be paid in cash before the Tournament at Lewes Harbour Marina. Five dollars of each entry will be donated to the Camp Awareness youth program.

Amanda and I have returned from our winter vacation in the Florida Keys, and we're getting ready for another season. Shipments of tackle, clothing and marine supplies have been arriving over the past two weeks, so we've been busy restocking and reorganizing the store in anticipation of a good fishing year. The weather finally broke, and warm days and nights this week caused water temps to rise, resulting in improved fish catching. Captain Brent's toggers aboard Katydid had a great trip yesterday, returning with a boat limit of 27 tautog. Brent himself boated the biggest blackfish of the day, a bruiser weighing 12.3 pounds. The guys also released numerous other tog while anchored over ocean reef site rubble. Green crabs worked well, but sometimes soft baits like clams and shrimp tempted tog when the bite slowed down. Just a reminder, tog season is open through May 11th, and anglers may keep 3 fish 15 inches or longer per day during that period. Ocean tog fishing has been pretty good, but tautog should also turn on around Bay structure such as the Inner and Outer Walls and artificial reefs as the water warms up. Lots of bunker have been roaming the mid and upper Bay. Net fishermen have had good success with menhaden, and have also caught numbers of stripers, along with some weakfish. It was encouraging to see as many trout as we had last year, and we're looking forward to more sea trout action this spring. The current weakfish limit remains one per day with a 13 inch minimum size. Trout should be taken by hook and line in shallow water along Broadkill Beach in the next couple weeks. Stripers have started to bite in the Upper Bay. Guys using fresh cut bunker near 6L Buoy off Collins Beach have caught big rockfish in recent days. Rockfish activity should pick up in other areas of the Bay soon. A few flounder were taken from Indian River Bay, and with increasing water temperatures, flatfish should come from Lewes Canal before long. The Annual CANAL FLOUNDER TOURNAMENT will take place Friday May 17th. Entry fee is $25, to be paid in cash at our store before the Tourney. Five dollars of the amount will be donated to Camp Awareness youth programs. Boats and kayaks may be used during the event, and fishing time is from 7am to 3pm. Fishing is limited to the Lewes Canal, from the Rehoboth Bay entrance to Roosevelt Inlet, and up Broadkill River to Oyster Rocks Road. Money will be awarded for the 6 heaviest flounder weighed in during the Tournament. The more entrants, the bigger the prizes. Last year, more than 300 anglers participated.

It's hard to believe 2012 is coming to a close. Fishing activity has been slim over the Christmas Holiday due to family obligations and less than favorable weather. Water temps are around 45 degrees, and stripers should still be available along the coast and in Indian River Inlet. Striped bass catches for the Fall were a little disappointing overall. Hurricane Sandy came at a bad time, and the string of northeast storms following her definitely affected water quality in Delaware Bay, likely keeping many migratory bass away. A bright spot was a new Delaware State Record striped bass taken from the surf. Congratulations to Ben Smith from Bryn Mawr, PA who landed the 52 pound trophy on December 8th. The former 51 pound 8 ounce State Record striper was caught by Betty Rosen from the Indian River south jetty in 1978. Surf and jetty anglers were also surprised by the large numbers of red drum around this year. It was unusual to see so many puppies, but it would be great if they return next season. Tog action had started to pick up on Ocean Reefs and wrecks, and that should continue through the winter. Delaware officials announced that the State sea bass season will open January 1, to coincide with the opening of sea bass season in Federal waters from January 1 through February 28. Most of the effort takes place well offshore, but this will offer another cold weather fishery for anglers hardy enough to brave the chilly elements. This past summer offered up some of the best flounder fishing in quite awhile, and that's certainly something to look forward to next year. More boaters are learning how to work reefsite and wreck structure for flatties, and their efforts are paying off. Some guys are really dialed in and finished the year with impressive totals. Captain Brent on Katydid ended up with over 800 keeper fluke. It was encouraging to have more weakfish around too. There was a spread of spike trout along Broadkill Beach in the Spring, reminiscent of years back. Trout continued to come from Roosevelt Inlet and Bay structure throughout the Summer and Fall, hopefully indicative of a resurgence of the popular gamefish. Amanda and I will be leaving for our winter vacation in the Florida Keys January 1, when we'll finally get to do some fishing ourselves. The store will be open on Saturdays from January through March, with Mac McNaught behind the counter. The Saltwater Fly Anglers of Delaware meet at the shop for tying sessions each Saturday until the end of March to learn new patterns, compare techniques and swap stories over coffee and donuts. It's a great treatment for cold weather cabin fever. Many thanks to all our customers and friends for a great season. We're taking a side trip to Guatemala in February for Pacific Sailfish and marlin. We'll post pictures of our Keys fish and those from our Buena Vista Sportfishing Lodge adventure in the website Photo Gallery, so be on the lookout. Wishing you the best of success, much prosperity, bent rods and smooth drags in the New Year! Joe.