Fishing Report

Tautog fishermen have had fair catches since the season opened September 29. Murky conditions hampered anglers many days, but when the water was relatively clean, tog bit ok on the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers. Randy Jensen, Marc Uhde, George Magaw and Mike Tippit combined for 18 tog on the Outer Wall Saturday. Clark Gross checked in a 6.92 pounder he pulled from the Wall. Captain Pete's toggers aboard Top Fin returned from the Wall with 18 tog and 2 triggerfish on Saturday. A few sheepshead were taken around the Ice Breakers, such as the 9.27 pounder landed by George Wilder. Bay water temperature is around 65 degrees, and with cooling temps and cleaner water, the tog bite will improve. The Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament is going on now and runs through October 31. The event offers cash prizes for the three heaviest blackfish weighed in by contestants, who must register in advance of fishing. Regarding other bottom fishing, sea bassing was real fine last week. Captain Ted on the Indian said he still had a "good sign of sea bass" on the Old Grounds a few miles south of DB Buoy. He felt more fish had been grouping up in the area prior to their move offshore. Some days, current was the biggest hindrance facing anglers, causing drifts that were too fast. Captains Brent and Dave on the Katy Did had a successful string of wreck trips last week.

Monday they had a limit of 125 bass, a jag of blues and a nice cod that fell for a jig. Tuesday Dave and Brent took a busman's holiday to put some fish in their freezers, along with Joe Walker and Joe Walker,Jr. They went wreck hopping for 100 bass, a mess of blues and a cod. Wednesday's group had 194 bass, including a 3.67 pounder for Nancy Stacy. They also boxed 4 cod, the largest being a 12.5 pounder decked by Richard Adams. Thursday saw another 175 bass limit, plus 8 triggerfish and 40 blues. On Friday, the guys made several stops on snags in depths ranging from 75 to 155 feet. Brent said current was an issue. They culled keepers from numerous short fish at each spot. Dave mentioned that he noticed bigger bass seemed to be hanging above the wrecks. Stopping the rig before it hit bottom, or working a jig higher in the water column often resulted in better sized fish. With persistence and adjustments to technique, due to their observations, the anglers finished the day with 215 sea bass, 7 cod, 6 ling, 6 blues, 2 triggerfish, 1 fluke and a single tog. Offshore, boats trolling Baltimore Canyon found billfish and tuna. Bill Matthews and his buddies took 2 yellowfins and released a white in the Baltimore last Thursday. Shawn Gallagher and his crew spent a rough overnighter in the Baltimore Friday. They trolled 5 yellowfins to 55 pounds and a gaffer dolphin before nightfall. They also had a white marlin that grabbed a butterfly jig in the dark. Jim Short and the boys on Not Right worked 50 fathoms inside the Tip of The Baltimore Friday afternoon for 6 yellowfins and a white. Boats fishing Poor Mans reported hot dolphin action on floating wood near the Triple 0's Friday.

Inshore bottom fishermen have had a tough time of it the past couple weeks, contending with runoff and debris from heavy rains, strong currents brought on by moon phases and ground swells from offshore storms. However, for those willing to travel a little farther, bottom action with sea bass has been pretty good. Wrecks and obstructions in the twenty fathom region seem to be where the bass are hanging out. Fishermen aboard the Pirate King had a great wreck trip Saturday, returning with a load of sea bass, big ling and even a few cod. Captain Dave Walker, Joe Walker and Dave Popovich made the run to twenty fathoms Wednesday and were rewarded with their limit of 75 plump bass, including citation knotheads of 3.41 and 3.48 pounds. The guys said it was constant double headers, and it didn't take long to cull their box full of keepers. They also had about 30 bluefish. There are still some sea bass on the open bottom between DB and DA Buoys, but there's more volume of fish on the snags a little more offshore.

Delaware's sea bass season is open until October 12, when it is shut down through October 31. It reopens November 1 and runs until the end of December.

A few flounder continue to come off the Old Grounds south of DB Buoy, as they make their move offshore. Some are real quality specimens, such as the 11.39 pound citation doormat intercepted by Gary Ebling on Saturday. Some flounder were still found in Delaware Bay as well. Flatties were reported from the Horseshoe area northeast of Brandywine. Boats anchored there also encountered kingfish, blowfish, bluefish and surprising numbers of legal sized weakfish. Maybe it's a sign that we'll see more trout next spring. Bluefish ranging in size from little snippers to 2 pounds have been scattered over much of the Bay. Blues have often been seen busting baitfish in the rip outside the Outer Wall, and the choppers can be caught by drifting shiners or cut mullet on bottom rigs, or by casting small bucktails and metals like Kastmasters, Gator spoons and Stingsilvers. Surf casters at Cape Henlopen also got into blues using cut mullet. Spot are still inside the Bay, and folks at the rails of Cape Henlopen Pier had plenty of the tasty panfish while baiting with bits of bloodworm and Fishbites. Many anglers are looking forward to the opening of Tautog season on September 29. Tog, along with some lingering triggerfish and sheepshead should be found along the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breaker rockpiles, as well as on Bay artificial reefs and wrecks.

Finger mullet have been moving through the shallows inside Cape Henlopen, and the abundance of baitfish has attracted numerous small bluefish. Surf casters on the Cape had good numbers of snappers while fishing with cut fresh mullet. The predicted cool down in weather may signal more bait to migrate, in turn attracting other predators such as stripers, flounder and bigger blues. Boating fishermen in the Ocean caught a few croakers near DB Buoy, but not in numbers anything close to last week. Hardheads have suddenly become hard to come by. However, sea bass have been a little more cooperative. Decent numbers of keeper bass came from bottom structure between DB and DA Buoys. Wrecks in that vicinity, and Reef Site 11 also gave up bass.

Ling and small blues were mixed with bass. Keeper flounder have been scarce since the passage of Irene, but a few continue to end up in the coolers of bottom bouncers. Fresh strips of cut mullet or bluefish, and live spot have been effective for larger flatfish. In Delaware Bay, a few flounder continue to be pulled from reef sites 6 and 7. Mike Connolly and his buddies found 4 keeper fluke outside the Outer Wall on Saturday. Some flounder remain in shallow water. Kayakers working jigs near the Cape Henlopen Pier ended up with some nice flatties. Angela Wallace checked in a 4.42 pounder she caught at Roosevelt Inlet using Gulp! Spot action continued good from the Cape Henlopen Pier. Bloodworms and Fishbites produced plenty of the tasty panfish for folks at the rails. Stripers were available in Lewes Canal. A pair of fishermen stopped by the shop yesterday morning to buy eels, then returned in the afternoon with two 30 inch rockfish. They released 15 other bass while drifting near the drawbridge. The guys also had a bonus keeper sea trout they caught near the boat ramp just before they hauled out for the day. Offshore, white marlin were stars of the show. Good numbers of whites were encountered by crews working 40 fathoms between the Rockpile and Washington Canyon.

Boats that worked rough bottom surrounding DB Buoy had good catches of big croakers over the past week. These golden beauties are a much nicer class of fish than what was here earlier in the season. Some of the "Cadillac" sized specimens have been as large as 20 inches. Captain Carey's anglers aboard the Grizzly culled 245 chunky hardheads from many they caught on the obstruction northwest of DB Buoy Saturday. Clams, squid, shrimp, bloodworms and Fishbites were all productive offerings. Keeper size flounder have been hard to come by, but flukers picked a few from the Old Grounds and Delaware Bay reef sites. Peter Luketic landed a 4.07 pounder on the Angler Sunday. Some impressive flounder were pulled from Indian River Inlet by guys drifting live spot and mullet. The big flatties stage in inlets this time of year gorging on migratory schools of mullet and spot. Mullet showed up thick along Lewes Beach and inside Cape Henlopen the past couple days. The abundance of baitfish attracts gamefish to near shore areas, and some nice flatfish came from shallow water along the shore and in Roosevelt Inlet. Mike Shockley managed a 6.9 pounder while casting a Gulp! from the beach Saturday evening. Angela Wallace checked in a 4.42 pound flounder she took from Roosevelt Wednesday using a minnow and Gulp! combo.

The multitudes of mullet drew attention from bluefish too, and snappers were plentiful inside Cape Henlopen and around the Inner and Outer Walls. Offshore boaters reported a few yellowfin tuna among masses of false albacore in Baltimore Canyon over the weekend. White marlin action was decent for those targeting billfish. Rick Fischer and his crew went 3 for 5 on whites at the 461 Lump Saturday. They also filled the box with 37 dolphin that they bailed from a weedline in the area. There was a good white bite in the Washington Canyon Sunday, and marlin were reported during the week at the Rockpile as well. Normally, the period leading up to the September full moon kicks off some good swordfishing. Squid and tinker mackerel bunch up in the deep and are available for swords to work over by the moonlight. Wes Olson found that to be true Friday night when he and his son hooked four swordfish aboard his "Bad Habit", while drifting live squids through the Bight of Baltimore Canyon. They put one nice swordy in the bag to take home, and released the others. Deep water bottom fishermen had a successful trip Saturday aboard the "Skipjack". Captain Chris Thurman had a decent drift on the edge of the Baltimore, despite strong current, and got the tilefish good. The anglers ended up with 20 tilefish, many in the 20 pound range. Captain H.D. Parsons ran a productive headboat tile trip to the Baltimore on "Thelma Dale V" over the weekend. Fares loaded up on good sized golden tilefish. Sea bass have been gathering on inshore structure. Patti Schneider earned a citation for the 3.45 pound knothead she wrestled from the Triple Wrecks aboard "Patient Lady".

Before the passage of Hurricane Irene, the ocean flounder bite was good. On Friday, just ahead of the storm, fishermen on Katy Did caught more than 70 flounder south of DB Buoy. They ended up with 8 keepers, including trophies of 8.09 and 7.47 pounds for Jeremy Armolt. Catching in Delaware Bay was decent too. The Lil' Angler fished the Brown Shoal reefs Friday, with the storm on the way. The take included a 6 pound flounder for Mike Bayshore, plus 4 other keepers. In addition, the guys had over 20 blowfish and a bunch of croakers. Patrons on the Angler and Pirate King loaded up on hardheads Thursday and Friday before the blow. Irene made her presence known over the weekend with high winds and torrential rain, and even a destructive tornado that caused considerable damage to a couple housing developments in Lewes.

We were greeted by beautiful weather Monday after she left the area, but it seems the introduction of all that fresh water and the runoff from the Delaware River that will ensue has put what's hopefully a temporary damper on fishing action. Boaters that went out Monday through Wednesday reported a slow pick on spots that had been productive prior to the bad weather. A few short flounder and some snapper bluefish were taken on reef sites 6,7 and 8. Crews working the other side of the Bay supposedly found some croakers on Crow Shoal. Tog catches were actually pretty good during the last couple days of the season for guys toggled into the Outer Wall. That season reopens September 29th. Slot stripers were taken before the size change was implemented. Clams on the bottom near the Lewes Drawbrige were productive offerings.

Rockfish also bit Stingsilvers, Kastmasters and Fin-S-Fish cast in the evenings near the Coast Guard Station. Striped bass caught in Delaware Bay and it's tributaries must once again meet a 28 inch minimum in order to be kept, and the limit remains two per angler. The storm didn't seem to bother the spot. Plenty were landed by folks on the rails of the Cape Henlopen Pier using bloodworms and Fishbites. Ocean bottom bouncers had some sea bass and big croakers up to 20 inches while working rough structure northwest of DB Buoy Wednesday. On the offshore scene, a major white marlin bite like what took place the past two seasons has yet to materialize. Boats did get into yellowfins while trolling 50 fathoms near the 42100 line inshore of Poor Man's Canyon.