Fishing Report

After a little stretch of warmer days and nights, flounder catching improved in Lewes Canal. Harry Aiken, John Bister and Ken Williamson drifted Gulp! and shiners in Broadkill River Tuesday, ending up with 7 keepers from 2 to 3 pounds. Michelle Berezansky brought in a pair of 20 inch fluke she pulled from the Canal Tuesday. Last of the incoming and most of the outgoing tides have been productive.

Delaware's flounder season is open from now through October 23rd, with a minimum size limit of 18 inches and a daily limit of 4 fish per person. The annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament is scheduled for Friday May 18th. Entry fee is $25 per angler to be paid in cash at Lewes Harbour Marina before the Tourney. Tautog action bounced back with nicer weather as well. Ocean reefs 9 and 10 continued to produce, but numerous fish also came from the Walls and Ice Breakers. Dr. Jeff Kerner captured a 7.64 pound tog as part of a limit catch aboard Katy Did Friday the 13th. Katy Did was back at the dock early Saturday and Sunday with limits too. Captain Carey on the Grizzly told me his groups had many quality tautog over the weekend. Margaret Fisher decked a 7.5 pounder Saturday. Sunday's toggers scored 3 citations over 7 pounds, including Dick Yohe's 8.75. Captain Pete's regulars on Top Fin enjoyed good togging. He was anchored on structure when I talked with him as this was being written, and he said the bite was on, with some big fish in the box. Rodney, George and Booker stopped by Saturday with a limit of chunky blackfish to 6.4 pounds they took from an Ice Breaker at the end of flood tide. Bob and Andrew brought in a limit of plump tog from the Inner Wall Sunday. In addition to green crabs, we were able to get live sand fleas to offer for tog bait this past week. The warming trend after a mild winter made the mole crabs available sooner than normal.

Stripers have been scarce in the lower Bay, but plenty of rockfish were caught from Port Mahon north. The channel between 4L and 6L Buoys was a hotspot for bunker chunkers. Black drum should begin to cooperate soon in traditional areas like the Coral Beds off Slaughter Beach. We'll be carrying surf clams through the spring, but suggest you reserve bait early in the week.

Cool and windy weather has not helped the fishing situation. On the few fishable days, boaters that could make it to Reef Sites 9 and 10 got into tautog. Some tog came from the Outer Wall as well, but bites were limited to tides with clean water. Water temps dropped in Lewes Canal, and slowed flounder activity. That should improve as conditions stabilize. There were reports of some stripers taken in the Canal by anglers in small boats casting Rat-L-Traps, Fin-S Fish and small Storm Shads to the shadow lines of lighted docks. Guys working the rocks at Indian River inlet during the period leading up to last week's full moon caught stripers. Casting Bomber plugs from the south side during nighttime flood tides did the trick. Commercial netters had black drum in Delaware Bay, and boomers should be caught on hook and line soon. We'll be carrying fresh surf clams throughout the spring, but we ask that you call to reserve bait by Tuesdays in order to ensure you get what you need for trips later in the week. We get deliveries on Wednesdays, and try not to order much more than we need, due to a limited cooler life of the bivalves.

Hello again. Amanda and I have returned from our Florida Keys vacation and we're back at it in the shop every day from now on. It was another windy winter down south, so much of our fishing was confined to inshore patch reefs. We did end up with some decent catches on days that we were able to go.

We brought a selection of yellowtail, mangrove and mutton snapper fillets north with us, along with smoked king mackerel and amberjack. We missed not being allowed to keep groupers with the season closure, and we released several nice ones. Hopefully the regulations will help and we'll be able to once again enjoy the tasty fighters while we're wintering in the Keys. As for what's happening locally, boaters had success with tog and stripers throughout the unusually mild winter. Flounder had even made an early appearance.

Weather has been more normal over the past couple weeks, which unfortunately means cool and windy, and fishing action has been up and down with conditions. On good days, some nice catches were recorded. Captain Carey had Don Kopp and his group out for two trips on the Grizzly. They put 27 keeper tog in the box Friday, and 20 more on ice Saturday. Be aware that as of April 1st, the creel limit for tautog is 3 fish per person, with a 16 inch minimum size. Steve Keretzman and Scott and Kyle Peterson fished with Captain Pete on Top Fin Saturday for 14 quality tog and a big ling. Mr. Kim's group limited out aboard Top Fin on Tuesday. Captain Brent's toggers on Katy Did checked in some nice blackfish. Paul Pergeorelis boated a brace of citations weighing 9.11 and 7.6 pounds. Mark Adams had a 7.66 pounder. Catches have been more consistent on the ocean reef sites 9 and 10, but on days with clean water and less current, tog were taken from the Star Site in Delaware Bay. Some tog came from the Outer Wall, but again, it was conditions dependent. Fishing should improve along the rocks as water temps warm. Right now, it's about 52 degrees. Popular baits have included green crabs, frozen sand fleas, clams and shrimp. Stripers are in the Bay and should turn on at any time. Roger Guderian got a 36 inch 19 pound rock while soaking a bloodworm in the surf at Broadkill Beach. Striper catches were reported up the Bay by boaters using fresh bunker along structure edges between the lower end of Joe Flogger Shoal and #2 Buoy off Port Mahon. We're carrying fresh bunker, eels and sea clams at our store when available. Flounder have come from Lewes Canal. As with other fishing, it's better with a period of stable weather and clean water, and the action will pick up in coming weeks.

The annual Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament will take place Friday May 18th. It is a boat tournament open to both powerboats and kayaks. Entry fee is $25 per angler, to be paid by cash at Lewes Harbour Marina in advance of the Tourney. Five dollars of the entry money will be donated to the Camp Awareness Youth Program. The remaining money will be split among winning anglers, so the more fishermen(and fisherwomen), the bigger the prizes. Best of luck to everyone this season!

The 2011 calendar is coming to an end, and it appears that striper catches in the Bay are winding down too. Fishing was good the week before Christmas, but not many bass were brought back in the past few days. Water temperature is down to 45 degrees. Yesterday, the Lil' Angler II returned with a pair of keepers caught on eels east of The Valley. Herky Billings trolled up 5 rock at Overfalls, but only one was legal. John Hazzard and Kyle Hamilton had one nice striper about 24 pounds. Many other crews came in fishless. There are still reports of striped bass moving south along the New Jersey coast, but whether or not they'll hook into the Bay depends on conditions. They should bite bait and artificials until the water hits 40 degrees.

Tog will likely cooperate in the Bay for a little while longer, then the Ocean becomes a better bet. Cod have been making quite a comeback, and anglers targeting them this winter should find success. Amanda and I are heading to the Florida Keys New Years Day. We spend most of the year making sure everybody else goes fishing, and we look forward to finally getting in some time on the water for ourselves. We'll hopefully have some fish pictures to share through our website photo gallery. Be on the lookout! Thanks so much to all our customers and everyone who stayed tuned to the Report this season. Here's wishing you lots of fun fishing experiences in the New Year!

It's beginning to look a lot like rockfish for Christmas. Now that we're officially into winter, Striper catches have still been as good as, if not better than they've been all fall. Seems like those fish that were taking their time moving down the Jersey coast are finally filtering into Delaware Bay. Fishing pressure has been light, due to Holiday obligations for many anglers, but those who ventured out in the last few days were rewarded with some great action. Yesterday morning, Captain Carey Evans called me from the Grizzly, already on his way home. He had his limit of 20 fish by 9:30 am.

He said the bite was on fire during the ebb tide at Overfalls, and there were hardly any other boats around. The bass weren't concentrated in just one spot, and Carey mentioned they made long drifts over the shoals. There must have been plenty of stripers in the area. Most of the fish ate live spot, but others fell for eels as well. Carey told me they released some nice ones too. The last one they let go weighed 26 pounds. The day before, Tuesday, Captain Chet's bassers on the Lil' Angler brought back 10 quality rock in the 15 to 20 pound range. Hale Bennett, Ashley Farren and Captain Dave Potter trolled Stretch 25 plugs at Overfalls for their limit of linesiders. The largest was Ashley's 23.6 pound trophy.

The majority of stripers caught in recent days have been keeper sized. Last week, there were many sub legal sized bass around, and normally, there are a lot of resident shorts this time of year. But it's likely the larger fish are part of the group still migrating through. In addition to live baits and trolled plugs, these fish respond well to bucktail jigs. Adding wiggle to the lures makes them even more attractive. Threading on a Skippyfish, Gulp! Sinking Minnow or Culprit worm does the trick. There should be fine striper fishing into the New Year. Tautog action remained good as blackfish stage on wrecks at the Bay mouth. On an early week trip, Captain Pete on Top Fin had a regular group that took home over 50 tog. Captain Carey's guys on the Grizzly also had 50 plus keepers that same day.

Best wishes for a Fishy Christmas!