Anglers enjoying fantastic flounder fishing

Fantastic is the only word to describe the flounder fishing taking place in the ocean out of Lewes and Indian River. Reef sites 9, 10 and 11 as well as the Old Grounds and rough patches of bottom between A and B buoys are producing limit catches whenever weather conditions are suitable for drifting.

As an example, I went out of Indian River Wednesday, Sept. 3, on Bill Siner’s 20-foot Sea Pro the Bayman. Bill’s neighbor Ed Burkhardt was also on board. We started at Site 10, but the wind and current made holding over structure very difficult, so we ran on out to the Old Grounds.

Here we fished in 80 to 90 feet of water and with the wind and current running together we needed 8 ounces to get to the bottom and then we had to continually let out line to maintain contact with the bottom. Catching was pretty slow until the wind laid down and the current slowed with the change of tide.

Now we could maintain contact with the bottom without letting out line, and the flounder began to come on board. I was using a Delaware Bay Green Machine baited with a strip of squid and a shiner. Bill and Ed were using top-bottom rigs with the same bait. When Bill lost his rig to a bottom snag, I gave him a Delaware Bay Green Machine.

I believe all of the keepers came after the current slowed so our baits could remain in the strike zone. We ended the day at 2 p.m. with eight keepers to 4.6 pounds in the box along with one bluefish and one sea bass.

While I was happy with our catch, I was thrilled to hear about charter and head boats from Lewes and Indian River bringing home boat limits.  It is not that uncommon for a charter boat with six or eight folks on board, but to limit out a head boat that may have 50 to 100 people along the rail is a major accomplishment.

This is by far the best run of flounder I have ever seen along the Delaware coast, and while it is hot right now, it won’t last forever. This past week saw some pretty stiff northeast winds, and boats were not able to sail until Thursday, a day after my deadline, so I don’t know how well they did or didn’t do. I suspect they did pretty well, and while the weather report for the weekend is not perfect, it should be fishable for the larger boats.

I strongly suggest getting out there as soon as possible, because flounder are fall spawners, and they will be moving farther offshore into deeper water as soon as the spawning is over. If, like me, you don’t have a boat large enough to handle the open ocean, get on board a head or charter boat, or find a friend like Bill Siner who is willing to take you along. With the size and number of flounder being caught this year, we may have a much higher size and much smaller bag limit next year, so now is the time to go.

Cast for a Cause

The Delaware Fisherwomen and Old Inlet Bait and Tackle will hold a surf fishing tournament Saturday, Oct. 4, to benefit the American Cancer Society. This will be a team tournament, and the cost is $50 per person for a four-person team.

There will be two fishing sessions. The morning one will run from 8 to 11 a.m., and the afternoon session will continue at noon and end at 3 p.m. The awards ceremony and a complimentary buffet will be held Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Delaware Distilling Company on Route 1. The Captains Meeting will be held at the same location Friday evening, Oct. 3.

Prizes for the winners will consist of trophies for first, second and third place. Two $20 Calcuttas will be held, one for the largest bluefish and one for the largest striped bass. These are winner-take-all competitions.

I don’t expect this contest to attract the number of anglers that will show up for the Delaware Seashore Fall Classic Sept. 20-21 or the DMS 8th Annual Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament Oct. 11-12. Those tournaments pay out prize money and plenty of fishing tackle. I do hope they get enough anglers to raise a lot of money for the American Cancer Society. My mother died of breast cancer, and my wife and oldest son have both suffered from this terrible disease. Any event that can raise money to fight cancer has my full support. Go to oldinlet.com for all the information.