Fishing Report

Yep, same song different week. Flounder action continues to highlight the fishing reports which were somewhat more sparse this week to say the least. The Katydid was back at it with deckhand Chris Vann getting to enjoy a busman's holiday and to a little fishing for his birthday. The boat racked up an impressive catch of 36 flatties for Ernie Stone, Jaackie Austin, Jeff Sherwood, Matt Sherwood, Mike (the surf spike) Thompson and Robert Wilson. Sloan Buckaloo spent some time on bottom on the Bottom Line and landed and beautiful 4.3 pound flounder. Capt. Rick Yakimowicz aboard the all day headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf reports that things are pretty much still on track with multiple limits spread around the boat every day. Marc (who I feel as if I know after all the reports this summer) took a little break from banging on the fluke to sight cast to a nice dolphin and landed a pretty 15.2 pounder. Ed Detterline also scored a nice limit of fish up to the mid six pound class. Bouncing bucktails over the rocky and coral upwellings has been producing most of the fish. Some artificial reef sites such as nine have also been putting anglers on the fish. Adding a strip of meat such as sea robin or smooth dog helps, along with using Gulp!

There have been plenty of snapper blues around Delaware Bay reef sites and shoals. The snappers really relish the real thing, so try using a strip of mullet for them or bluefish belly. No need to get fancy here. A half ounce leadhead and a chunk of meat lobbed up current will do the trick. Try bleeding the fish when you get them by slicing the throat latch and putting them in a bucket of water. When the fish stops swimming put it in a well-iced cooler. Small bluefish are really good eating if you take care of them and use them fresh. Snappers have also been reported along the ocean beaches and its certainly about the time of year for that to happen. I haven't seen a mullet in any numbers here along the Delaware Bay surf, but it's getting to be time for sure. Marlin fishing has been good. Storm Rider and Real Chaos returned with a bunch of release flags flying. In other billfish news Nate Evans bagged a beauty of a sword weighing 351.8 pounds at the Wilmington. Cheering him on were Matt Baker, Chip Graves, Jeff Drury and Bobby Braun. Mikaylah Jo Lindsay II teamed with dad Price Linsay Jr. to work over Massesy for six nice dolphin, one flounder and one trigger. Mikaylah accounted for all of the dolphin-the largest of which was 14.5 pounds-as well as the flounder. That's some trip! Dave Walker also paused from creeling yet another flounder limit to pitch an eel to a nice cobia. The large ling latched onto his bait and the heady angler landed a pretty 17.9 pounder.

Okay, the title isn't really just about fish limits-more rather than I ran out of creative ways to say that the flounder fishing, for all intents and purposes, remains the only real game in town. Sure, there are some other bottom fishing sorts of things going, but the rubber meets the road, as it has all season, with the summer flounder. They have carried our inshore fishery on their back this season. Anglers are still scoring the best in the Old Grounds areas and sites 11 and 9, but there has been some life on the rubble in the bay, particularly site four. Bring plenty of lead because you'll be losing plenty of it! But given the dearth of remaining natural structure in the bay, the rubble has been where it's at for flounder.

Some notable catches included Neil and Phil Falgowski traveling to site nine to land a 5.2 pound flounder. Rovert Karpavich teamed up with flounder killer from way back Dave Walker on the Gotcha for a limit of flatties up to Rob's citation 8.4 pounder. Bob Fitzwater and Pete Antonelli traveled to site ten to limit on flounder using bucktails tipped with shiners and squid. The Katydid was on the flounder again for Gene and Mandyu Cichanowsky and Mike Rose and Ernie from Tomato Sunshine. Mike Roland landed a 3.72 pounder on the trip. Pamela Smith landed a doormat on the "Did" pulling the balance down to 7.09 pounds. Charlotte and Bill Hughes had 16 nice flatties, a couple handfuls of sea bass and 6 dolphin. George Durant landed the heaviest fish on another trip on the Katydid. The Angler also got in on the action landed ten flounder. Staying in the same fleet Bethany Fluck on the Pirate King with her family landed two pretty fluke weighing 5.61 and 4.16 respectively. Another fluke killer from way back Joe Walker teamed with Tony Vansant for a citation 7.52 pounder. On the all day headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf, Capt. Rick Yakimowicz reported a fantastic week of flounder action, with multiple limits of fish all around the boat daily. Better still, the savvy skipper noted that they have had one of the best weeks of the season for numbers of jumbo flatties since starting flounder fishing in May. Jeff Scurti won the pool on back to back days with one fish just under nine pounds, and one just over the next mixed in with his limit catches. Ten year old Aarons Joseph Yoder from Dover fought and landed the boat's second biggest flattie of the year with a solid 9 1/2 pound fish. Matt Garland finally got away from this "practice fish" with a pretty eight pounder but so good has the fishing been that, incredibly, that one didn't win the pool! Marc Levinrad was able to finally land a citation fish at 7 1/2 pounds, but as many limits as he's caught this year the's had not trouble adding up the weight. Ron Schmoyer, Ernie Milino and Donna Norton all had fish that just missed the seven pound citation mark.

There have been plenty of snapper sized blues around. Fenwick shoal has played host to some good catches of snappers and the odd Spanish macks mixed in. Trolling Clark spoons is a time honored way of fishing there. Blues have been noted on the flood tide at Indian River Inlet and we've seen plenty in the Delaware Bay as well. That's good news because you can bring a few of them home, unlike the trout which have also been pretty easy to find. The croakers continue to be, for the most part, very small and mecurial.

Could go with Lamb Chop's "Song That Never Ends" but, then, at some point the torrid flounder action ocean anglers have experienced this year will come to a conclusion. Frankly I'd rather listen to Led Zeppelin anyway! The fluke action continues to hang on. Fishermen working the rocks and coral upcroppings of the Old Grounds and some artificial reef sites have done pretty well. Bouncing bucktails laced with Gulp! or strips of mean cut from smooth dogs or sea robin has been the preferred method, though some anglers have had some success dragging the old traditional style fluke killers.

The charter boat Katydid was back at work down in the ocean pulling out some good catches for their patrons. Mark Newcott pulled in a doormat citation 7.27 pounder as his crew scored a boat limit of flatties. Roger Holmes, Larry McDonald, Dan Boyer, Ty Bech, Barry McDonald and James Gouldner landed 36 keeper flatties on another trip on the Katydid. Capt. Carey Evans on the charter boat Grizzly had a monster trip with a recent trip to the Ocean, coming in with coolers full of an astonishing 100 sea bass a twenty six nice flounder and 20 ling. That's some fantastic eating right there! Capt. Pete Haines on the Top Fin had a good trip to the Atlantic as well, with the West View Saw Mill decking some a few nice sea bass, a bunch of blues and a boat limit of flounder. Capt. Pete also had another nice trip where his crew landed 12 nice flounder. Capt. Vince "Killer" Keagy once again lived up to his sobriquet and returned with a limit of flounder, including one of 4.82 pounds for Mike Bono. The rest of the cew included Gene Steele, Evertett Beach, Chuck Buchanan, Nick Hook and Tyler Maroucouc. The private boat Mischievous had a good catch out front as well returning with sea bass and flounder. Capt. Rick Yakimowicz on the all-day headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf in Lewes reports solid to very good flounder fishing for patrons on his boat. The savvy skipper returned with an incredible 100 plus keeper flounder on yesterday's trip which is some pretty heavy fishing any way you slice it. Capt. Rick reported that last week's easterly pushed in crystal clear warm water over the Old Grounds resulting in not only some good fishing but anglers being able to see their fish coming up through the depths from as deep as 40 and 50 feet.

Among the many that scored easy limits Capt. Rick noted old veterans Marc Levinrad, Jeff Scutti, Donna Norton, Marti Byler, Bob Murphey, Bob Trento as notables, as well as Edwin Maxwell who landed a limit and lucked into a gaffer dolphin as well. That must be some pretty water indeed! Speaking of dolphin the Katydid returned with a few from a recent trip offshore. Hunter Culver and Jase Meridith also bagged four nice dolphin trolling east of Massey's. There have also been a few more croakers showing though the vast majority of them are not keepers. Even the keepers aren't really keepers resembling for all the world a small silvery tadpole-all head and no body.

The fish have been scattered around the rubble sites in the Delaware Bay and some have filtered into the back bays of Rehoboth and Indian River. There has also been an increase in slightly larger croakers and some decent spot in the canal. Small size six hooks and either real or artificial bloodworms will turn the trick on these panfish nicely, along with small pieces of squid or clam. Seems like plenty of blues out in the ocean as well, along with some Spanish macks. Trolling Clark spoons at Fenwick Shoal has been productive. The Lil' Angler returned with 100 blues for the Craig Shirk bachelor party along with releasing a ten foot sand tiger. surf anglers are still picking away a the normal summer mix of small croakers, spot and smallish kingfish. Careful not to overcast the fish as they are often right in the wash.

We are firmly in vacation season now-that time of year that Jimmy Buffet used to croon about in sometimes disparaging terms, full of crowds and noise and heat. Despite all of those things the fishing continues to hold up on a variety of fronts, most notably the flounder fishing. For anglers bouncing bucktails on the ocean bottom, things have held on nicely. This action has primarily been and continues to be found in the region of the shipping lane approaches to the Delaware Bay known as the Old Grounds. And, to be sure, there were some pretty catches made.

The crew on the Katydid has some more nice trips to the 'Grounds. The Seltzer family came back with a nice load of 19 flatties for their group. The boat returned for a limit catch for the group of Lauran and Ian Wolk, Dave Furio, Randy Tindle, Joe McNeil, Andy Lane and Marvin Krouse. Capt. Brent managed to snake a bucktail down through his anglers to come away with a pretty 7.68 pound doormat. The Katy Did also managed a nice 5.26 pounder for Chuck Kammerer. The boat also returned with 21 flatties for Alfred Baromi, John Schnaitman, Bob Fleming, George MacVesh, Wesley Major, Bob Bryant, Al Riberio, Dan Heron. Plenty of other boats got in on the fray as well. Capt. Vince "Killer" Keagy on the Miss Kirstin, put seven year old Cameron Sellers on to a fine 3.42 pound flattie. Just imagine how many flounder Capt. Vince has put folks on over the years.... Speaking of accumulated time on deck the crew of Bill Swords, David Walker,Joe Walker and Robert Karpovich landed their limit of flounder on a recent trip. Another old salt, Bill Talbot, ran his well-deserved new acquisition out to help lure a 6.75 flounder for Jamie Sweitzer. The Salt Boat also returned with a flounder for Jim Meyer, Sheila Stohler, Rober Meyers. Anthony Hojnicki, aged ten, also corraled a trio of flatties from the canal using minnows. The kids were at it again with Jacob League landing is first flounder from Massey's Ditch. Capt. Carey on the Grizzly put some years of experience to work to help 14 year old Keith Benton ice down a 6.25 flattie, while not to be out done 11 year old Savanah Benton turned the tables on a nice 4.5 pound slab. Capt. Rick Yakimowicz on the all day headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf agreed that flounder action had remained steady of the last week despite the fact that weather conditions haven't done anglers any favors.

It seems, the savvy skipper explained, that the wind and current direction has constantly been against each other, making for difficult drifting conditions. Despite that plenty of keeper flounder have been pulled over the rails. Wes Pollitt, mate from the Morning Star took a busman's holiday and landed an easy limit of flounder with a 6 pound pool fish to boot! Continuing the bus "person's" holiday theme, Capt. Alicen took a day off to tangle with dinner and landed a nice limit. Bill Haines was at it again with an absolute fluke beat down landing a total of 11 legal fish, an astonish eight of which were on one drift! Benjimin Jordan landed a limit with fish in the three to five pound class.

According to Capt. Rick Don Juan of Philly landed an easy limit on a day that he needed to use 12 ounces to stay down (and bringing to question just how much weight would it take for Capt. Rick to consider it a "tough limit!) Capt. Rick also passed along that "The Hammer" pounded away for a limit and a six pound poolfish, while Jason Hewes had an early limit with three to four pound fish on jigs and custom flies. There is still some mixed bag fishing in some sections of the Delaware Bay though the fish remain small. Capt. Carey of the Grizzly said that on a recent trip seven year old Madison Wyant landed a total of five different fish species, while brother Bud Wyant pulled in a surprise twelve pound black drum. There have been a fair amount of baby boomers boated this summer so hopefully that bodes well for the future. It would be a pretty sweeping understatement to make the claim that chunking action along the twenty fathom lumps has slowed. Reports suggest that the pretty water has moved off and that dirtier water has taken it's place. Tuna landings have nose dived accordingly. Hopefully all of this easterly of late will help push some more pretty water in.

Tomorrow ushers in the month of August and beach towns will swell with the ranks of many vacationers who traditionally take this month for their time at the beach. This is a lucky break for those visitors who like to fish. Flounder action had somewhat slowed over the past couple of weeks as the fish had spread out along the bottom of the Old Grounds. This problem was exacerbated with difficult drift conditions with the wind seemingly always against the tide, "checking" drifts and not allowing anglers to cover wide stretches of turf. With good conditions over the past couple days things picked up.

Capt Brent Weis teamed with mate Chris Cann worked the old grounds for a solid catch of flatties, as did Geoff McClosky and his nephew Mason. The Hooked Up also scored some nice ocean flounder. Capt. Carey Evans on the Grizzly continued a solid summer of flounder fishing with a boat limit for Joe Mohaiser's crew, along with the same for Larry Fratti. Cpat. Carey returned to the Old Grounds with Joe Wick and friends for twenty one flatties and some bass, and Bob Irwin and group had 22 keepers and a handful of sea bass. The Katydid returned with s 4.49 pounder for Stevve Kiebler and a 3.39 chunky fluke for Jay Leibforth. The Katydid kept up the good work on another trip returning with 50 blues and ten flounder. Wilkie Jarbo stayed closer to home and temted both a 17 inch flattie and a 22 inch bonus slot striper from the Canal on Gulp! Capt. Rick Yakimowicz on the full day headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf concurred that the flounder action had picked up but, he strongly cautioned that the fish are "not committing suicide".

You really have to work for the fish and that, these days, means jigging with a bucktail laced with Gulp! or a strip of meat from a sea robin or dogfish. Recent headboat trips have yielded catches such as Marc Levinrad and Jeff Scurti's five day marathon session landing over fifty keepable fish with some of the fish in the three to five pound class. Roger and Nick Farr from Haymarket, VA bounced the bottom with bucktails for 14 nice keepers over two days with fish up to four pounds. Adil Belharhomi from closer to home in Dover pulled in a doormat in the six pound class. The best flounder action continues to come from the Old Grounds, and the Delaware Bay, save for a smattering of fish on rubble structures, remains a virtual dead sea south of Cross Ledge Light. Tuna action on the twenty fathom lumps in general and Massey's in particular have continued to provide steady action for chunkers. The Quickfish returned with a nice catch of yellowfins from Massey's on butters. The High Pressure returned with a 49 pound yellowfin for Charles Stumpf, a 48 pounder for John Peel, and a 43 pounder for Tony Vansant. The Miss Five O certainly booked 'em without Danno for a 12 yellowfin beat down from Massey's on butters. Jenny Donahue boated a 35 pound yellowfin on her boat the Babs on butters at Massey's. Ed Sigda ran the Snow Goose once again to blue water for four yellowfins and a dolphin for David Lapuma, Mike Sigda, Bill Fintel and Mike Fritz. The Porta Bella with Capt. Jeff Hoepfl and "gaff man" Herb Guest took Thomas Walsh, Paul Hazzard, Jim Yingling and Alison Sharp to masseys for another catch of four yellowfins and a dolphin.

The lower part of the bay has been seeing a few mixed bag bites with a good catch on a charter on the Indian for Frank Margonis, Nike Pirouolidis and Karen and Kelly Koermer returning with puffers, kingfish and blues. The Fish Hawk returned with 17 kings caught by Joseph Cyron, Michael Sottile and John Penzo. The sheepshead catch continues with some chunky convict fish coming from the icebreakers. Robert Warehime tempted a whopper 10.62 pounder with a sandflea, and not to be outdone Hailey Withenbank nailed a 9.09 pounder.