Fishing Report

After a little lull in striped bass catching, action perked up as more migratory fish from up north moved into the area. It seems like fresh groups push into the Bay for a few days, then swim on to be replaced by more. The new fish have been carrying lots of hitchhiking sea lice. Most bass now are of a smaller size class than earlier in the run. Many are shy of minimum length, and a majority of keepers are in the low 30 inch range. Although, an occaisonal lunker still hits the dock. Ron Mistretta muscled in a 35.1 pounder at 8 Buoy on the Katy Did. Kory Moore's first striper was a good one, weighing in at 33.3 pounds. With water temps near 50 degrees and flirting with the 40's, rockfish have been responding well to bucktail jigs.

You'd think with colder water, fish would prefer a slower moving live bait, but this time of year, artificials get a lot of attention. Dave Walker, Brent Wiest and Chris Van had 30 rock while tossing bucktail jigs tipped with Skippyfish at Overfalls and 8B Buoy on Tuesday. They managed to cull their limit of 6 keepers. Bass fishermen aboard Katy Did Monday bucktailed 13 keepers. However, eels and spot still get bit, especially in deeper water. Captain Ted's bassers aboard the Angler had all keeper sized stripers up to 25 pounds while drifting eels in The Valley yesterday, December 14th. Trollers towing Stretch 25 plugs on the 12 foot hill at Overfalls continued to capture fish too. With moderate weather, striper fishing should hold up through the end of the month. The tautog bite has been good too. Blackfish have been staging on wrecks at the Bay mouth.

Toggers aboard the Angler did well Tuesday, returning with 70 chunky keepers. Captain Pete anchored Top Fin at the Wall Tuesday for nice batch of tog, including Bruce Min's 9.62 pounder. Pete worked a wreck Wednesday for 40 more keepers.

Slower currents and decent water quality set the stage for some good tautog action this past week. Water temperatures remain in the low 50's, and Delaware Bay artificial reefs continue to give up tog. Sites 6, 7 and 8 have been productive.

Captain Chet's toggers on Lil' Angler II took home over 20 keepers Friday, among which were a 7.35 pounder for Mike Piasecki, and a 7.9 pound citation for Dennis Reardon. There was a hot bite on the Star Site Sunday. Tog fishermen on the Lil' Angler II brought in 62 chunky blackfish. Mike Crouse captured a 7.43 pounder, Joe Pergeorelis put an 8.23 in the box, and Doug Mickowski muscled in an 8.5 pounder. Tog sharpies aboard the Grizzly had their 50 quality fish limit by noon. Mo Wilson wrestled a 10.75 pounder, Robert Wilson wound in a 10.25, and Maurice Wilson managed an 8.75 pound tautog. Martha Marie's gang got a nice mess of tog, including Captain Les Clemmer's 8.19 pounder. Corey Newkirk nailed a 9.21 pounder at Site 8 aboard Katy Did. On Monday, the crew aboard Katy Did was togging again, and returned with 46 keepers, including Joe Walker's 6.16 pounder. The Lil' Angler II came in with 32 blackfish. The Grizzly got 30 tog, with two citations over 7 pounds. Top Fin's toggers kept 16 nice fish, and patrons on the Angler had good success Monday, with some individual limits on the boat.

Ocean tog fishing was good too, with nice catches on Site 11. Boaters traveling off to Site 11 encountered large schools of bluefish and stripers under birds, between the shipping channel and the reef. Fish were caught by casting bucktails and metal jigs, or trolling Stretch plugs. Remember that any rockfish caught in Federal waters must be released. Wreck fishing for sea bass is shaping up in deeper water. Fares with Captain H.D. Parsons had numerous knothead bass to over 6 pounds during a 12 hour trip to a snag in 160 feet Saturday. Several slammer bluefish and cod came over the rail as well. Richard Adams reeled in a 12 pound codfish. Striper catches at the Bay mouth fell off some over the weekend, but it's likely we're in between batches of fish. There has been a mass of bass moving down the coast, and hopefully conditions will be favorable for them to hook into the Bay before continuing south. Some sizeable stripers are still hanging around. Tom Lenhard landed a 35.7 pounder in The Valley Monday aboard the Adventurer. Seth Hetherington hooked a 36.2 pounder Monday with an eel at 8B buoy.

There's been a good bucktail bite recently, but the vast majority of striped bass in the area right now are shy of the 28 inch minimum length. Dave and Joe Walker, and Brent Wiest released about a dozen bass, and kept 4 plus a big blue while tossing jigs tipped with Skippyfish tails at 8B just before dark Tuesday.

Bay water temps are finally starting to drop through the mid 50's. Tautog action has been up and down with changing conditions, but there have been some decent catches off the Star Reef and the Brown Shoal Reefs. Daniel Caldwell decked a 9.7 pound citation tog at the Star Site aboard the Pirate King II. The Walls and Ice Breakers also gave up fish on days when the water was clean, and the current wasn't smokin'. Chris Dawson happened to be at the Outer Wall when things were right, and was rewarded with the tog of a lifetime.

On Sunday, Chris wrestled a 19.7 pounder, and won! The 30 incher ate a "white legger" crab at the elbow, and was the heaviest blackfish we've had checked in at Lewes Harbour Marina so far this year. Striper fishermen were out en force over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend because of the nice weather and reports of good catching. The Lewes launch ramp was very busy. Trailers were parked out onto Pilottown Road, and returning boats were lined up all the way to the inlet. It was reminiscent of the good old days of sea trout fishing in the early 80's. The heavy boat traffic seemed to put off the bite somewhat, but those who got on the grounds early did ok. On Saturday, Captain Brent's bassers aboard Katy Did had 10 quality keepers while drifting eels and spot on Overfalls. Most of those fish were in the box before 8 am. Captain Carey's guys on Grizzly had 7 keeper stripers, including Ron Allen's 33 pounder. Herb Guest got a 25.9 pound rock at Overfalls. Drew Ambler landed a 24.9 pounder. Matt Hete drifted an eel at 8A Buoy for his 30.1 pound citation striper. Chuck Flickinger was eeling on Overfalls when he connected with a 36.5 pound trophy. David Biles boated a 34.9 pound linesider at Overfalls, and Kurt Wilber worked The Eights for a 35 pound citation winner. Although live bait fishing has become more popular in past weeks, trollers pulling Stretch and Bomber plugs continue to catch their share. Bucktailers have been taking bass as well. RJ Gooner was trolling at Brown Shoal when he landed stripers weighing 16.6 and 18.3 pounds. Kevin Parker and his crew iced a limit of linesiders to 27 pounds by drifting eels at Brown Shoal Saturday morning.

It sounds like there are still a lot of stripers moving south along the Jersey beaches. The bulk of migratory bass have yet to move into Delaware Bay, and hopefully conditions will be such that they get pushed in for more great fishing though the next few weeks.

The 2011 Lewes Harbour Striper Tournament ended November 22nd. Many beautiful striped bass were caught and checked in during the event that started October 22nd. However, local trolling specialist Evan Falgowski was the big winner, taking First and Second Places with bass weighing 46.2 and 37.3 pounds. Evan's brother, Ryan Falgowski, had the Third Place 36.2 pound fish. Congratulations to the fishin' Falgowski family for their victory. Thanks to all who participated in the annual contest to make it a continuing success. Big rockfish are still coming from structure at the mouth of Delaware Bay.

Drifting live spot and eels has been effective, but those trolling Stretch 25+ and Bomber CD25 plugs took their share as well. Doug Mickowski muscled in a 41.8 pound monster while drifting an eel in deep water at 8 Buoy aboard Katy Did. Alex Neiss nailed his first ever striper, a whopping 41 pounder, while eeling in The Valley. Tammy Parker put girl power to work for her 38.9 pound rockfish. Scot Anderson trolled a pink Stretch 25+ at Overfalls for his 35.7 pounder. Jonathan Raimondi reeled in a 35.4 pounder in The Valley aboard Tranquila. Greg Wagner wrestled a 34.6 pound trophy in The Valley. Larry Lytle eeled at The Eights for his 34.6 pound lunker. Skipjack Skipper Chris Thurman showed 'em how it's done by decking a 34.3 pounder in The Valley. Mike Hynson had a 33.9 pound linesider at 8 Buoy. Joel Robinson registered a 33 pounder he caught in The Valley on the Pirate King II. Evan Falgowski fooled a 32.5 pound bass with a Bomber plug in the Outer Wall rip. Eric Buckingham boated a 30.8 pound bass aboard the Angler. Abraham Pangan put a 30.4 pounder in the box aboard Tranquila. Rhett Passwaters pulled a Stretch Plug at Overfalls for his near citation 29.7 pound rock. Kenny Ferro fought a 28.3 pound striper on the Angler. Judy Esterly eeled up a 28.1 pound beauty. Derek Johns decked his 27.6 pounder on the Adventurer. In addition to striper action, Bay fishermen enjoyed success with tautog. Captain Pete on Top Fin told of good trips to the Star Site. First time togger Kathy Vu was off to a fine start with the 11.39 pound blackfish she boated aboard the Lil' Angler II. John Leader landed a 7.6 pound tog. Captain Carey reported red hot togging for the sharpies aboard Grizzly on a Bay reef Monday. They kept 55 tog, including a 10 pounder for Lenny Zalewski, Alex Leventovsky's 9.5, a 9.25 for Ray Mazanec, and William Guzman's 8.75 pounder.

Carey said, in addition, the guys had seven other tautog over the 7 pound citation size while using "white legger" crabs. The Ocean surf has been pretty quiet, but shore bound anglers did have success with ling on the Cape Henlopen Pier. Cut mullet or clams worked for the tasty red hake. Stripers were taken by casters tossing 3 and 4 inch Storm Shads where Canary Creek opens up into Roosevelt Inlet.

Striper fishing remains good at the mouth of Delaware Bay. Numerous big bass have been taken from deep water rips of The Valley by boaters drifting eels and spot. Trollers pulling Stretch 25+ and Bomber CD25 plugs on Overfalls also had success with rockfish. Chartreuse, gold and pink have been good colors. Bucktailers hooked fish too in shallower rips. Tipping jigs with Gulp! eels or Jerk Shads, or Skippyfish tails adds enticing action. Chopper blues ranging 8 to 12 pounds mingled with stripers, and pounced on offerings intended for the bass.

Several anglers reported releasing nice sized flounder that also grabbed striper baits. With cooling water temps, spiny dogfish have shown up. They've been particularly pesky at Overfalls, but not so much so between the deeper areas between 8 and 8A Buoys.

Last Saturday, Miss Kirstin returned with 4 rock to 22.1 pounds and a bluefish. The Pirate King had 5 bass to 22.4 pounds and a pair of big blues. Captain Ted himself caught a 28 pounder, part of the Indian's take of 7 quality stripers. Stanley Smith scored a 30.1 pound striper with an eel in The Valley. Jeff Griffin got a near citation 29.6 pound rock in the same locale. Brian Stephens and his crew trolled up a limit of 6 fish between 20 and 30 pounds at Overfalls. Catching was good during Sunday morning's flood tide. Capt "Mole" Barnes checked in with 4 bass, including his 17.8 pounder, a 25.4 pounder for Bob Persch, and Mark Swift's 26.7 pounder. Captain Vince's eelers aboard Miss Kirstin limited out with 10 fish between 18 and 20 pounds at Overfalls, and were back at the dock by 11:30 am. Bassers on Katy Did decked 10 rock to 29.8 pounds drifting eels and spot in The Valley. Robert Goracci got a 33.3 pound lunker aboard the Pirate King. On Monday, the Skipjack scored 7 stripers to 20 pounds and a slammer blue. Tuesday, Katy Did came back early with a limit of 8 to over 20 pounds while deploying spot and eels in The Valley. John Joe Kabino pulled a Cabo Sunset Stretch 25+ at Overfalls for his 34.2 pound trophy. Ron Rowles reeled in a 27 pounder and Bill Matthews managed a 19 pounder while drifting eels at 8B Buoy. Striper seekers on Grizzly got 9 keepers for the box and released 2 others. Joe Legrand landed a 29.25 pound linesider during a previous trip aboard the Grizzly. Wednesday, Skipjack Captain Chris Thurman showed 'em how it's done by putting a 34.3 pounder in the box. Bob Bessel boated a 27.1 pound bass on that same trip to The Valley.

Tautog fishing continued decent on days with good conditions. Strong currents and dirty water were problems following the Full Moon. The Walls and Ice Breakers still yielded tog, as did Bay reef sites. George Magaw checked in a 7.54 pound citation blackfish from the Outer Wall Sunday. Toggers on the Angler had nice catches Tuesday. Captain Carey had a great Wednesday of togging at the Ice Breakers aboard Grizzly. His fishermen landed 58 plump keepers, including a 10.25 pound citation specimen for "General Lee".