Fishing Report

Ocean flounder action has been good for boaters drifting the Old Grounds and edges of the shipping channel between DB Buoy and Delaware Light. Captain Brent's flukers on Katydid worked the grounds last Friday for 20 keepers to 6.1 pounds. Wes Olson and Barney Gallagher fished a favorite spot southeast of DB Buoy Friday to put 8 flatties in the box, the heaviest just under 6 pounds. Don Hoffman was in search of flounder Saturday when he connected with his 7.25 citation earner aboard the Grizzly. Captain Brent's Saturday group had a great trip over Ocean bottom. The ended up with 37 quality keepers, six of which were over 5 pounds. On Wednesday, Wes Olson and Barney Gallagher were back at it again on the Old Grounds, and returned with 6 nice flatfish. Ocean reef structure produced flounder too. Site 11 yielded some decent sized ones. Despite strong northeast breezes today, Katydid made it to Site 11. The guys shortened their trip because of rough seas, but they landed 10 for the box before heading back. Captain Brent boated the largest, a 7.4 pound citation fluke. On Tuesday, Bill and Charlotte Hughes joined Captain Vince Keagy and Mate Bert Long aboard Miss Kirstin to get in on an afternoon fluke bite at Site 11. They returned with 11 chunky flatfish. Delaware Bay flounder catches were sparse, but some continued to come from reef rubble. Jack Henriksen hooked a 5.25 pounder drifting a squid strip and smelt combo at Site 8 today. Bay bottom bouncers did see an increase in bigger croakers. Hardheads up to 14 inches were taken by anchoring on the heaviest cover of Reefs 6,7 and 8. Kingfish, snapper blues, puffers, porgies, pigfish, triggerfish and spot mingled with croakers. Lewes Canal has been home to some jumbo spot. Bits of bloodworm or Fishbites on sabikis or other small hook rigs caught lots of the plump and tasty panfish. Offshore, white marlin were hooked at the Hot Dog early in the week. Other billfish catches were reported from Poor Man's Canyon. Boats fishing way south from Virginia Beach and Oregon Inlet experienced very good white mrlin action at the Triple O's. Captain Charlie's crew aboard Tranquila overnighted in the Wilmington Sunday into Monday. They went 2 for 4 on bigeyes that struck ballyhoos with pink and white skirts Sunday evening. Nicholas Hawrylchak boated a 146.8 pounder, and Chris Stoner subdued a 140.9 pound eyeball.

Plenty of panfish continue to please bottom fishermen in Delaware Bay. Small croakers are just about everywhere. Bigger hardheads were hooked by anglers who anchored right on heavy reef rubble or wrecks. Nice sized kingfish are still being taken on the Star Site and Broadkill Reef Site 5. Daryl Plotcher decked a 1.38 pound king on the Angler, Dorothy Wright wound in a 1.22 pounder, Nathan Porter nailed a 1.13 pounder aboard the Fish Hawk, and Reilly Burnett boated a 1.2 pound kingfish on the Indian. Blowfish, spike trout and spot also hung out on Bay structure. Lewes Canal held lots of spot, many of jumbo proportions. Slot stripers and some other surprise fish also cruised the Canal between the drawbridge and train bridge. Jeff Drury checked in a 5.53 pound red drum that ate a live killifish he was drifting there. After being absent most of the summer, schools of snapper bluefish showed up long the Outer Wall. The scrappy snappers could be found slashing through groups of silversides and anchovies under diving terns. Tossing a small Kastmaster, Stingsilver or bucktail into the melee would result in plenty of action. Using ultra lite tackle made for even more fun. Flounder fishing in the Bay was challenging around the full moon due to strong running currents. There were only short windows at the beginning and end of each tide when anglers could drift properly. Sometimes, anchoring allowed boaters to stay on productive structure, and work jigs or rigs where flounders lived while the current was running hard. Some decent catches did come from the Bay on days with ok conditions. Last Thursday, Captain Brent's group on Katydid put 19 keepers in the box at Site 7. Brent boated a citation worthy 7.1 pounder himself. Bill and Charlotte Hughes joined Captain Vince on Miss Kirstin to capture their limit of nice flatties. On Saturday, Captain Brent worked Bay structure for 26 fine fluke. Geoff McCloskey and his buddies bounced Brown Shoal reef rubble for 8 good flounder Saturday. Katydid went back up the Bay Monday, and returned with 16 keepers for Bobby Bryant and friends. Captain Les on the Martha Marie hit Site 5 Tuesday, where his patrons iced 8 nice fluke. With full moon currents causing drift problems in the Bay Wednesday, Captain Brent chose to take Katydid to the Old Grounds in the Ocean, and the decision resulted in 18 keeper flounder to 6.25 pounds for his group. Captain Brian on Lil' Angler II fished the Old Grounds Wednesday as well, and ended up with 8 in the box. The largest was an 8.5 pound doormat landed by Joe Lucyk. Wayne Demarco and his fishing partners beat up the bottom between DB and Site 11 Wednesday for their limit of 16 flounder to 24 inches. Bucktails tipped with smelts were the downfall of many of the flatties. Offshore bottom bouncing was productive too. Jason Burris and friends had a nice catch of golden tilefish in the Baltimore Canyon yesterday. Shawn Gallagher and the guys on Free Spool overnighted offshore. They trolled a 52 pound yellowfin in the Wilmington, and caught and released sharks in the dark. They finished off the trip with a nice batch of Golden Tiles from the Baltimore. Wes and Shane Olson ran their center console to the Washington Canyon and spent the night. They chunked up a limit of 6 yellowfins and released as many others before heading back to shore.

Flounder fishermen have had fair catches in both the Ocean and Delaware Bay, but they've had to work them. The best concentrations of flatties continue to be found around heavy cover, such as the artificial reefs and wrecks. Go prepared to lose tackle when you work these areas because the fish are right among the rubble. Bucktail jigs with a teaser or short leadered bottom rigs are effective, and a little less likely to get snagged. Adding a Gulp! Swimming Mullet, Jerk Shad or Belly Strip to jigs enhances their effectiveness. Strips of fresh cut bait such as bluefish or sea robin, and squid, smelts and silversides are favorites of flatfish too. In the Bay, sites 6 and 7 at Brown Shoal yielded some fluke at the beginning and end of the tide. Brian Logue bucktailed a 6.57 pounder from Site 7 on Sunday. Nate Evans nailed a 6.54 pound fluke Sunday. Katie Malin captured two quality keepers at Site 8 aboard Quintessa Monday. Joe Walker and friends had 9 keepers at the Starsite Tuesday. Ocean reef structure at Sites 9, 10 and 11 held flounder, and rough, live bottom of the Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys was productive too. Captain Brent's flukers aboard Katydid on Sunday scored 18 beautiful keepers, including specimens of 6.1 and 6.9 pounds. The largest of the trip was a 27 1/2 inch 8.4 pound doormat landed by Jason Lhamon. Wayne Demarco and Joe and Paul Pergeorelis drifted near Site 11 Sunday for their limit of a dozen flatties, including Paul's 5.31 pounder. Scott Ayars checked in yesterday with 3 keepers to 3.61 pounds he caught at the Old Grounds aboard Thelma Dale IV, despite blustery winds. Bottom bouncers in the Bay are still finding croakers just about everywhere. Better sized ones hung out near the Ferry Jetty and right in the heaviest reef cover. Hardheads up to 2 pounds were found near the Gypsum Prince wreck off Cape Henlopen. Plenty of spot, kingfish, blowfish and spike trout rounded out the mix available to anglers. Triggerfish were taken along the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers. Alex Joseph was surprised when a 67.2 pound black drum grabbed the strip of squid he was drifting past the Haystacks for flounder. Evan Falgowski got a 6.4 pound sheepshead from the rocks. The offshore bottomfishing remains good for those venturing to the canyons. A group of deep droppers aboard Katydid returned from the Wilmington Tuesday with an impressive haul of 200 blueline and golden tilefish. A few yellowfins and wahoo were reported by trollers in 30 fathoms between the Elephant Trunk and Hot Dog Notch. Nighttime chunkers in the Washington got into good number of yellowfins. Pete Mohacey battled and released a 98 inch blue marlin in 70 fathoms of Poor Man's Sunday aboard Tranquila.

The White Marlin Open has been the talk of the Tackle Shop this week. 262 boats participated in this year's event. As of this writing, with one fishing day left, an 83 pound White Marlin is at the top of the leaderboard. Strangely, four individual whites weighing 77 pounds each were weighed in to fill the other top spots. No qualifying blue marlin have hit the dock. Some large tuna were weighed in as well. A 261.5 pound bigeye holds first in that category. Nice dolphin, wahoos and makos are also in the running for prize money. It will be interesting to see how things end up. In other offshore action, yellowfins continue to come from the Washington Canyon. Crews deploying baits with greensticks have racked up some impressive catches. Creative anglers using plastic squids on danglers from their outriggers also got bites. Overnight catching has been good in the Washington. Jason Massey, Matt and Wil Weidman and Drew Stuchlik spent the night there recently aboard Tighten Up. Jason said there was alot of life in the deep, with scads of squids and tinker mackerel in the lights. They hooked more than 35 tuna, some on spinning gear. The guys kept their dozen fish limit, and released the others. Most were in the 30 inch range, but they did have 4 yellowfins between 50 and 55 pounds. Bigeyes popped up from time to time in Wilmington Canyon during the week. Offshore deep dropping has been productive. Captain Chris on the Quintessa dropped in the Wilmington Tuesday for 6 big golden tiles from 20 to 35 pounds. On Wednesday, Chris went back Wednesday and brought in 15 quality gray tiles to over 15 pounds. Captains Brent and Dave fished the Wilmington Tuesday aboard Katydid to capture a yellowfin and a box full of nice blueline tilefish. Inshore bottom fishing has been pretty good. The fishin' Falgowski family joined Captain Brent for an Ocean outing on Katydid Friday, and returned with 24 keeper flounder to 5.6 pounds. Mike Schreiber fished Site 11 Friday aboard the Sea Note, and caught his personal best flounder, weighing 5.8 pounds. Captain Carey on the Grizzly hosted Joe Shaffer and family Saturday, when they put 16 flounder, triggerfish, sea bass and all the crokers they wanted in the box. Captain Les on Martha Marie had 11 keepers for his patrons while working Bay reefs Saturday. Captain Pete on Top Fin hit Ocean Reef Structure Saturday for 9 keeper flatties. Wayne Demarco drifted ner Site 11 Sunday for his limit of fluke to 5.34 pounds. A bucktail and smelt combo was the key to success. Captain Vince ran Miss Kirstin to the Brown Shoal reefs where Bill and Charlotte Hughes had their limits of both trout and flounder. Captain Brent's flukers aboard Katydid had 23 keeper flatties on Bay reef structure today. The bottomfish bonanza continues in Delaware Bay. Hardheads have been plentiful just about everywhere, but remain small for the most part. Some bigger ones can be found on heavy structure. Anchoring on reef rubble resulted in some better specimens. Captain Brian on Lil' Angler II set up on a wreck for a load of croakers to 2 pounds, porgies and triggerfish. There are spike trout, hand sized spot and kingfish mixed with croakers at most locations. Many of the kings have been respectable. Alice Harness had a 1.43 pound citation earner, Audra Babb boated a 1.17 pounder, Joe Hacay got a 1.16 pound king, and Eric Thompson landed a 1.09 pound kingfish, all on Angler headboat trips. Sam Cregar captured a 1.02 pound king on the Indian, and Jo Ann Droege decked a 1.11 pounder on the Pirate King.

Ocean bottom fishing has been pretty good. The Old Grounds between DB and DA Buoys continue to give up nice flounder and some keeper sea bass. Reef Sites 9 and 10 produced flatties too, but Site 11 outside the shipping lane offered up better catching. Captain Brent's flukers on the Katydid worked 11 Monday for a boat limit of 32 fine flatfish. Ron Mistretta put a citation worthy 7.72 pounder in the box as the day's heaviest. Katydid drifted the Old Grounds Monday to capture 13 keepers. Hang Soo had a pair scaling 5.5 and 5.6 pounds. Jack Henriksen decked a 5 pound flounder and a 2.1 pound sea bass. On Sunday, patrons on Katydid took home 15 flounder. Captain Vince on Miss Kistin hosted Bill and Charlotte Hughes Wednesday for a trip to the Old Grounds. They returned with a limit of flatfish to 5.43 pounds. Captain Carey on the Grizzly reported that anchoring over inshore wrecks was productive for his customers. He hooked up to a snag Saturday for a boxful that included 104 seabass, 62 ling and a 9.4 pound cod. Captain Brian ran Lil' Angler II to Del Jersey Land where he set up on the Radford for a good catch of knothead sea bass Saturday. The Quintessa drifted site 11 Saturday for a nice batch of flounder, including Eric Meck's 5.9 pounder. In Delaware Bay, bottom bouncers are still finding loads of croakers in the 8 to 10 inch range, with a few over 12 mixed in. Plenty of spot, kingfish, blowfish and spike trout round out the assortment of panfish. Leon Zimmerman told of catching several nice trout while tossing pink Gulps along the Outer Wall. Flounder action in the Bay has been spotty at best. Bites have been limited to the beginning and end of the tide around the reef sites. Captain Pete's guys on Top Fin bucktailed 7 quality keeper fluke while anchored on Site 5 Saturday. Steve Friend checked in 3 fat fluke to 6.01 pounds he caught at Roosvelt inlet with Gulp! Closer to shore, lots of spot and croakers were caught from the Cape Henlopen Pier and in Lewes Canal.Emily Wilber wound in her limit of two 25 inch slot stripers from the Canal while baiting with live spot. Offshore bottom action was good too. The boys aboard Candy's choice captured 14 golden tile in the Wilmington Saturday. The guys on Sword's Fish boxed 6 golden tile plus a 41.3 pound wahoo and 41 mahi Wednesday. Katydid set up on the Hot Dog Saturday for a 107 pound slob yellowfin. The crew also iced a 75 pound bluefin, then moved offshore for a mix of 93 blueline and golden tilefish. Tranquila trolled the Teacup Tuesday to boat a 40 pound yellowfin and 6 mahi to 16.7 pounds. The offshore bite down south has been real good. Jason Massey and his buddies aboard Tighten Up overnighted in the Washington for more than 35 yellowfins. Scott Stapleford and friends kept a limit of yellowfins from many they caught while towing single bulb squids in the Washington.