DELAWARE BAY Flounder fishing is still attracting the most attention in the bay. Most of the activity is centered around F and G buoys in the Anchorage, reef sites 6 and 7, the #2 Can and the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal. The most popular baits continue to be squid, minnows, Gulp! Swimming Mullet and strips of cut bait.
My son Roger and I fished between rain storms in the canal on Monday catching a few shorts and not much else. Due to the unsettled weather there were quite a few boats in the canal and the Broadkill River and most were also catching shorts. I am sure a few keepers were taken by someone, just not us.
We did have a few reports of triggerfish on the structure around the various reef sites and that would be good news for those frustrated by the lack of keeper flounder. These same areas also produce keeper flounder for those willing to sacrifice a few rigs by fishing directly in and over the structure.
The Cape Henlopen Pier saw some flounder and a few bluefish. They also reported a few more spot than the previous week. Still no run of croaker. Boats drifting between the Cape Henlopen and Cape Shores also reported a few flounder.
INSHORE OCEAN Shark fishing remains the top draw for inshore anglers. Both threshers and makos were caught between the Delaware Lightship and Massey’s Canyon. Some blue sharks and duskys have been reported as well.
Sea bass fishing remains a game of numbers. Catch enough bass and you will be able to cull out a few keepers. Flounder have also rewarded bottom fishermen from B Buoy to the Old Grounds.
Bluefish were reported around Massey’s Canyon and we can hope the steady diet of east wind we have received will push them a little closer to the beach.
OFFSHORE OCEAN A stubborn low pressure system has hampered offshore fishing by making it difficult to run to the canyons. The only reports we have heard lately were catches of yellowfin tuna in and around the Poorman’s Canyon. Many of these fish are small with one boat reporting only five keepers out of 11 tuna caught.
INDIAN RIVER INLET Flounder also attract most of the attention here with both boaters and shore fishermen scoring shorts and a few keepers. We fished here on Wednesday catching several shorts to 17 inches, but nothing over the magic mark of 18.5 inches. All of our fish were caught in 4 to 6 feet of water between South Shore Marina and Bayshore Campground. We caught them on live minnows drifted without weight.
We heard the bluefish were running through the inlet every morning on the incoming tide. If so, they took Wednesday morning off. We tried several rips using metal lures and failed to attract a single bite. No sign of hickory shad or rockfish either.
Further back in Indian River and in Massey’s Ditch we had reports of short and keeper flounder. We also heard that the spot have arrived in the river with both small and larger fish caught on bloodworms.
THE SURF Still very slow on the beach. Just to prove that fact we tried the surf at Herring Point on Saturday morning. The first thing I noticed was we were the only fishermen there on a Saturday in the summer. A few others did show up during the morning and all left before we gave up. The only marine creature we managed to catch was a skate during four hours of the falling tide.
FRESHWATER Bass still remain in good supply in Delaware Ponds. It seems that plastic lures from Senkos to lizards are working on the largemouths.
Smallmouth bass have been caught out of the Brandywine Creek including a 4.95 pounder landed by Barry Seymour. That fish was very close to a new state record.
I know most bass anglers prefer to use lures, but when I was a kid we caught a lot of smallmouth bass on crawfish and hellgrammites. We would catch the bait in Beaver Run and fish the falls below the DuPont Experimental Station.
The tidal creeks and the Delaware River continue to produce some big catfish. Cut bait and catfish stink baits have worked well. Cats were reported from Edgemoor to New Castle and in the C&D Canal.
The Nanticoke River and Broad Creek produce bass on jigs and crankbaits. Pickerel and crappie are also available in these waters.
NEW STRIPED BASS REGULATIONS Beginning on July 1 and continuing until August 31 fishermen in the Delaware River, Delaware Bay and their tributaries may keep two striped bass between 20 and 26 inches. Any striper under 20 or over 26 inches must be released.
The boundary between the Delaware and New Jersey sections of the bay is the main shipping channel down to the line of demarcation at the mouth of the bay. This boundary puts such fishing spots as Brandywine Light, Ship John and the Cross Ledge on the New Jersey side of the bay where the regulations remain two stripers over 28 inches. The Outer Wall is in the bay so any bass over 26 inches caught there must be released.
The Lewes and Rehoboth Canal from Roosevelt Inlet to the Route 9 Bridge is considered a tributary of the Delaware Bay. Beyond the bridge is considered a tributary of Rehoboth Bay and the 28-inch minimum size will prevail.
I would strongly suggest using circle hooks when fishing with bait. Circle hooks improve the survival rate of released fish and I expect many more striped bass will be released than retained. In all cases the use of live bait should be avoided. With water temperatures at their seasonal high the mortality rate for released stripers is going to be at its highest level as well. We must do all we can to prevent mortality of released fish as this can be used to compute overall mortality and reduce our striper quota.
