Black sea bass season coming into focus

While the I’s need dotting and the T’s need crossing, I am 99.9% sure of this: Delaware will have a black sea bass season that will open May 15 and continue until Oct. 1, then reopen Oct. 9 and continue until Dec. 31. The size limit will remain at 13 inches and the bag limit will stay at 15 fish per day.  Maryland will have the same season, size and bag limits.  Virginia will have a different season because they were open in February.

Summer flounder will remain status quo, as will scup, or as we call them, porgies. Flounder are open all year with a 16-inch size limit and four-fish daily bag limit. Porgies have a 9-inch size limit and 50-fish daily bag limit.

The reason we had to close black sea bass season in October is because the Marine Recreational Information Program was used to determine how many black sea bass we caught, and it showed we overfished the species. The MRIP is worthless and has to be eliminated. We need to find another way to count the number of fish recreational fishermen catch. I have been in touch with Sen. Carper’s office and have shared my concerns with his staff.

NOAA, offshore wind and whales

On Tuesday, I received a news release from NOAA stating their final Biological Opinion under the Endangered Species Act to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management considering the effects of the construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of the proposed Ocean Wind 1 offshore energy project off the coast of New Jersey on threatened and endangered species. NOAA concluded that this action is likely to adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of any species of ESA-listed whales, sea turtles or Atlantic sturgeon, or destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat.

It goes on to say that no serious injury or mortality of any ESA-listed whale is anticipated as a result of this project. It does not expect any right whales to be exposed to increased sound levels that would result in injury; all effects to right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance. 

As I am sure you know, there has been much said about the high numbers of whales found dead along the ocean coast from New Jersey south to Virginia. I preferred to wait until the folks who know about such things studied the remains and gave a scientific opinion. Now that has happened, and I am not sure all the critics of wind farms will be satisfied.

At one point I was told that almost all the dead whales had indications of being struck by ships. According to this report, the sound-producing devices used to map the bottom of the ocean do disorient the whales, although the damage is only temporary. Is the temporary damage enough for the whales to become disoriented and fail to hear an approaching ship? That question deserves an answer.

Don’t fool yourself; offshore wind is coming. Global warming is a real threat to mankind, and we must wean ourselves off fossil fuels. If a few whales die or some folks think the view from the beach will be ruined, too bad. If we don’t slow global warming, the view from the beach will be the top of the DuPont building.

Fishing report

I am not getting much from Delaware, but I am getting my first reports from Chincoteague and Ocean City, Md. My friend Bill Weiss caught a nice black drum from the beach at Chincoteague. The Coastal Fisherman reported that Jeremy Zimm had another black drum from the beach at 145th Street. He dug up his own sand fleas and used them in combination with Fishbites bloodworms.

The No Limit ran out to the tog grounds and fought a hard north current and a strong south wind to put 14 tog in the box. The high point of the day was a 15-pound, 11-ounce bursar caught by Richie that was his personal best.

I stopped by Lewes Harbour Marina Monday to see the Top Fin go in the water. Capt. Pete said he has his first tog charter Saturday, weather permitting.

Based on the reports I am getting from the New Castle County trout streams, the action is very good. On opening day, Peter Didden and Thomas DiDomenico caught trout to 4.91 pounds on lures and bait. On the same day while fishing in the rain, Ed O’Donnell’s grandsons worked the flyfishing-only section of White Clay Creek and caught a large number of rainbow trout.

Some big largemouth bass have been caught including a 6.69-pound lunker taken by Stephen Grabowski out of Garrison’s Lake on a minnow.