Fishing Report

Tautog action started to shape up over the past week. Captain Carey on the Grizzly reported plenty of quality blackfish on recent trips to the rubble of Reef Site 11 in the Ocean. Sunday's excursion resulted in a 40 fish limit that included an 11.25 pounder for John Mattson, a 9.5 pounder for Frand Irwin, plus two others over 7 pounds. The Monday trip produced even more impressive results. Among that limit was a 12.25 pound brute for Mo Wilson, an 11.25 pounder for Don Johnson, and a pair scaling 10.75 and 10.25 for Maurice Wilson. In addition, the group put 5 other tog over 8 pounds in the box. Captain Brent's toggers on Katydid also had some good catching, returning Saturday with 20 keepers, including a 7.7 pounder for Bob Wilson, and a 9.2 pounder for Brent. Sunday's guys brought back 25 blackfish. Steve Kiibler checked in a 13.9 pound bruiser tog he captured while togging on the Bandit. Ocean water temperature remains near 50 degrees, and the tog bite should hold up in the Site 11 area, and on wrecks and other hard structure between 60 and 100 foot depths. Bottom boucers will be glad to hear that the sea bass season will reopen January 1, 2013 and last until the end of February. A daily creel limit has been set at 15 fish per person with a 12.5 inch minimum size. Winter sea bassing is primarily an offshore fishery, and boaters concentrate on wrecks and hard bottom in 30 to 40 fathoms. It hasn't been made known if there will be any sea bass season during the summer or fall of 2013, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed. Stripers were still available at the mouth of Delaware Bay. Trollers pulling Stretch 25+, Bomber CD25 and Rapala Clackin' Magnum plugs continued to hook bass at Overfalls. Bright color patterns with hues of chartreuse or pink were effective. Most of the fish were shorts, but crews who worked rips during the best parts of the tides did end up with a few keepers. A handful of rockfish were also reported by boaters anchored and baiting with cut bunker in 60 Foot Slough, Tussey's Slough and Blake's Channel. Some customers traveled to Virginia to take advantage of the striper action taking place there. Bubba Hastings weighed in a 35.2 pound linesider he landed while floating an eel under a bobber off Cape Charles. Indian River has been yielding numerous stripers. John Hazzard and a buddy had 4 keepers and 11 throwbacks Monday. The next day, John took two more quick keepers to 15 pounds while drifting live spot in the Inlet during morning flood tide.

Boaters are still catching stripers at the mouth of Delaware Bay, but keeper sized fish are hard to come by. Crews trolling Stretch plugs at Overfalls Shoal continue to hook rockfish, but most are between 20 and 26 inches. Trollers did manage some keepers there, and also on Hen and Chickens Shoal. Those drifting live spot and eels at 8B Buoy and in The Valley had a few fish too. Guys anchoring in 60 Foot Slough and Tussey's Slough caught stripers using bunker, but again, mostly undersized. Captain Brent on Katydid set up in the 60 last Thursday, kept 4 and released 11. Friday his bassers boxed 3 and put back 11. Toggers up the Bay on reef site 4 had some decent days. Capt. Dave's patrons on Miss Shyanne enjoyed good catches there over the weekend. Capt. Ricky Yakimowicz fished the Ocean Saturday and Sunday, and also had success with nice numbers of tautog to 7 pounds near Site 11. Surfcasters picked at striped bass along the beach. Dave McGirk stopped by with a brace of 15 pound bass he pulled from the wash at Herring Point while soaking bunker during the morning flood tide. Walt from West Marine used bunker in the North Pocket for a keeper rock and 2 shorts. Offshore bottom species didn't mind cooler weather. Bill Swords and his buddies dropped in Baltimore Canyon for a mix of Golden Tiles to 25 pounds, Blueline Tiles and Blackbelly Rosefish.

Tog catching has been slow in Delaware Bay the past few weeks, but recently, Ocean togging improved somewhat. Captain Brent on Katydid has been running 25 plus miles to find blackfish willing to bite, but the trips have paid off. On Saturday, his group brought home 37 tog to over 7 pounds. Sunday, toggers on Katydid took 22 keepers. Monday's charter returned with 40 tautog to 7.5 pounds. Tog fishermen on Top Fin put 17 in the box Sunday. Kevin Yim had citation tog of 7.25 and 7.5 pounds as part of 18 keepers aboard the Grizzly on Sunday. Surf fishing has produced some stripers in recent days. Jack Austin checked in a 36 inch striper and a 12.25 pound bluefish he beached at 3 R's Road. Dave McGirk used fresh bunker to tempt a brace of 15 pound bass from the wash at Herring Point during flood tide yesterday morning. Boaters have been finding rock too, but a lot of them are shorts. Trolling plugs at Overfalls and 8B Buoy has yielded decent numbers of fish, but the keeper ratio is low. Chunkers have had better success with legal sized linesiders. Captain Pete anchored Top Fin east of Brandywine Friday for 9 keepers, including a 24.9 pounder for Jeremy Bennett. His anglers released 13 others while baiting with bunker. Captain Vince Keagy finished off his season on Miss Kirstin Sunday with 5 quality keeper bass and 23 throwbacks from 60 Foot Slough. On Tuesday, bassers on Katydid captured 6 chunky rockfish from 14 to 18 pounds, and put back 24 others while using bunker in the Slough.

Sorry I missed last week's report. Time got away from me over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Striper catches have been fair over the past two weeks, with some days better than others. Trolling Stretch and Bomber plugs on Overfalls Shoal has yielded keepers for some crews, but numerous short fish have been mixed in. Chunkers anchored over structure on the New Jersey side of the Bay fishing cut bunker have also been catching rockfish. The lower end of 60 Foot Slough, Tussey's Slough east of Brandywine, and the Banana Peel east of Fourteen Foot Light have been popular spots. The availability of fresh bunker has been an issue, with changeable weather conditions hampering efforts to obtain bait on a regular basis. Recent reports from chunkers tell of a few nice fish. Yesterday, Katydid returned with 5 good keepers. The largest was a 35.8 pounder decked by Denny Myers. Tom Smiga scored a 28.75 pound linesider, one of 5 keepers landed on the Grizzly yesterday. Captain Pete's bassers on Top Fin took home 4 nice rock yesterday. On Tuesday, Katydid captured 7 keepers and released 15 others. The Grizzly got 3 k's and 15 tb's on Tuesday. Monday's anglers on Katydid enjoyed good chunking, returning with a boat limit of 14 bass to over 20 pounds. Monday was a good day for trollers too. Captain J.W. Hocker on Miss Caroline pulled Stretch plugs at Overfalls for 10 quality fish in the box, and 10 others that were released. Rick and Doc Roberts and Kevin Cross found birds working in the Ocean between Bethany and Fenwick Monday. They trolled the area with Stretch 25s, and limited out with 6 nice rockfish to 18 pounds. The group released other rock, and also iced one big blue. Today is the last day of the 2012 Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament. As of this writing, Evan Falgowski remained in the lead with his 34 pounder. Beau Kemeys held Second with a 29.7 pound rock. John Joe Kabino was still in Third with a 29.2 pounder. Thanks to all who participated in this year's event, and hopefully we'll have more striper catching to come throughout December.

Striped bass action has been spotty, no thanks to the string of recent storms, and subsequent relentless northeast wind. However, fishing has showed signs of shaping up in the past few days. This morning, Ralph and Ryan Short, Paul Daisey and Mark Stephens endured rough seas and beat their way to Overfalls Shoal. They trolled Stretch 25 plugs during flood current, and within a couple hours, were back at the dock with their limit of quality linesiders to 25.9 pounds. John Joe Kabino and Rhett Passwaters took a similar thrashing yesterday, but were also rewarded with a limit of 4 rock to 29.2 pounds while pulling plugs. Other crews also reported catching by trolling plugs. Stretch 25+ models in chartreuse, cabo sunset, red and white, gold and black, and pink were popular offerings. Bomber CD25 lures were effective too. Trolling produced for Ocean anglers as well. Stripers were found under flocks of gannets along the beachfront, and trolling plugs or bucktails among feeding fish resulted in nice catches. Ronnie Payne and his crew had bass of 32, 39 and 40 inches while pulling lures under birds 2 miles off Indian River. Kevin and Shawn Cross captured 3 rockfish to 16 pounds and a 9.5 pound blue while trolling inshore of Fenwick Shoal. In addition to trollers, live bait fishermen also hooked stripers. Jacob Ness was drifting an eel in the deep near 8 Buoy aboard Katydid when he boated a 38.1 pound lunker. Hix Gilbert employed a spot at 8B to tempt his 26.4 pounder. Bert Long was eeling at Brown Shoal when he boated a 19.5 pounder on the Miss Kirstin. Ann Gudknecht used an eel for the 35 incher she took aboard Quintessa. Chunkers have had success when fresh bunker is available. Mike Newsham nailed a 24.2 pound striper chunking on the edge of the 60 Foot Slough. Katydid's chunkers had 5 bass yesterday in the 60 foot slough. Today, Captain Brent's bassers chunked an impressive 15 fish to 20 pounds with bunker at the bottom of 60 Foot Slough. Surfcasters started catching keeper stipers. Jack Austin, Tosh Tryon and Jim Wahl beached 5 stripers to 24.9 pounds and a big blue while using bunker near the Herring Point jetties. The Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament is going on through November 30th. Evan Falgowski still holds the lead with his 34 pounder. Beau Kemeys caught a 29.7 pounder with an eel aboard Quintessa to put him in Second. John Joe Kabino's 29.2 pound rock is currently Third. Reports from the New Jersey coast tell of plenty of stripers to the north, so we should have several more weeks of good bassing as they migrate through.