Cape fishing pier on fire with spot

If you haven't heard, Michael Jordan's boat the Catch 23 is at the White Marlin Open. He is here as well, and the whole town is abuzz with the hopes of sighting him. There are 403 boats in the WMO this year competing for a purse of 6.1 million dollars!

The fishing has been great in the surf for all the usual small suspects including croaker, spot, kingfish, weakfish, cusk eels, sand perch, pompano, short striped bass, bluefish, and of course skates. Many are just using Fishbites and they are working well. Kingfish have been caught on a variety of baits. Cut bait is one of those; we even catch the bigger ones on mullet rigs. This is why we put out a couple of rods to determine location and best baits and then dial that in even more. DS Custom Tackle for the win, with their pill float top and bottom rigs. The sharp owners outfish all other rigs and are made locally.   

Bluefish have been some great action not only along the beaches on spoons and even bait. The Indian River Inlet on the incoming tide especially at night has been on fire.  They are the nice-size snappers just above those cocktail-sized bluefish.  Perfect for eating and using the carcass for crab bait. Shiny spoons or any metal is perfect on a casting rod for the inlet of the beach.  The inlet has been better for the boats but you can bail blues from the rocks as well.    

The Cape Henlopen fishing pier has been on fire with spot action.  People are bailing them two at a time and filling coolers in a matter of hours or less.  Great fishing for the kids, too.  There have been some decent keeper flounder and other catches but the spot action is the bite at the pier.  The bait shop there, Lighthouse View Bait and Tackle, has rods for rent if you want to fish for the day.   

Flounder fishing is really good or totally sucks, that depends on who you ask.  Some are doing well and others not so much.  One day is good and the next is horrible.  Flounder fishing has been a little weird this year.   I think the fact migratory patterns are changing due to rising sea temperatures has a lot to do with it.  NOAA has done a lot of research on this.  Flounder migrate from shore to the deep.  They don't move up and down the coast they go inshore to offshore.  Lately it seems they are shifting farther north for cooler water as they go back and forth each year.  Fish know what water they want to live in just like people. 

Slot striped bass fishing has been great around the Lewes area in the canals and creeks, and rivers.  Anglers are able to keep striped bass form the Delaware Bay and its tributaries with a creel of two fish per day 20 to 25 inches.  Great size to eat of those fish.   

If you haven't heard, state parks is amping up surf fishing rules enforcement and doing  more checks and even live checks of anglers while fishing.  It seems to have curbed the fake fishing everyone complains about a little.  

DSF's Summer Surf Fishing Slam Series 7 is this weekend.  So far the summer long tournament has been a lot of fun for all anglers involved.  Even the organizers are having fun watching people catch fish on the internet.   

Hit up the charters or head boats.  Offshore action has been good.  The Delaware Bay is on fire for croaker that cranked up last week.