On Monday, I decided to fish Indian River Inlet instead of hunting deer. Both of the public hunting properties I scouted did not impress me, so while I had a very slight chance of catching something I could take home, I opted to soak some sand fleas while offering a few rigs to the God of the Rocks.
My very first cast became my very first offering, so after rerigging and moving farther west down the sidewalk, I found a more forgiving location. I was fishing west of the inlet bridge on the northside. A family had the handicap pier covered up, and a father and son were farther to the west. We all had one thing in common; none of us were catching fish.
I finally broke the ice with a tiny oyster cracker. The father and son moved to the east at the point directly under the bridge, and I did see them catch a few small tog.
I had arrived around 9 a.m. to a full-bore incoming current that began to slow around noon. After consuming my usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich, washed down with a Diet Coke, I decided to move to the ocean side of the bridge. There was quite a picket line of fishermen along the sidewalk, and a few were picking at short tog. One lady angler was catching short rockfish on a small jig right at slack water. By the time I went back to my truck and changed out my bottom-fishing outfit to light spinning gear and got back, the current was running out and the rockfish bite, such as it was, was over.
Due to the fact that Monday was a federal holiday, there were quite a few folks fishing the inlet, and most seemed to know what they were doing. In spite of this, I never saw a single fish caught that was big enough to take home. Most were not even close. I hope this abundance of small tog and rockfish is an indication of a healthy stock that will provide good fishing into the future.
ASMFC hearing
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission held a public hearing in Dover on Nov. 8 to get comments on recreational management plans for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup (porgy). I must say I was disappointed to find not one member of the recreational fishing community in attendance. That would include tackle shop owners, charter and head boat captains, as well as individual anglers. This was our chance to have a comment on the framework for managing two of the most important fish we have, and we blew it.
Fishing report
While I was feeding rigs to the God of the Rocks, some people were catching fish, lots of fish. The Katydid out of Lewes Harbour Marina had 115 black sea bass and four tog. Of the four tog, two were citations. Dave Furio had an 8.6-pounder and Jackson Aeo caught an 8.4-pound citation winner. Capt. Keith Beebe had the Surface Tension out for sea bass, and Matt King landed a 3.28-pound citation-worthy black sea bass on a jig.
Over at Hook ’em and Cook ’em, the Indian Giver came back from the canyon with three yellowfin tuna between 20 and 48 pounds, plus a 141-pound bigeye. The Boy’s Toy caught eight swordfish, keeping three, along with three yellowfins. The Reel Precision had six yellowfins in the 20- to 40-pound class, and two bigeyes weighing 124 and 117 pounds. Capt. Steve Redden Jr. had the Valkyrie out and came back with seven yellowfins. The head boat Judy V had 20 to 30 tog to 5 pounds on Monday.
Down in Ocean City, the Fish Bound caught a boat limit of tog to 10 pounds and several sheepshead to 13 pounds.
In North Jersey, they are catching 20- to 30-pound striped bass from private and head boats. If the fish are feeding on sand eels, the anglers use Diamond jigs. If bunker are the main bait, then snag and drop is the top technique. Given good weather conditions, some boats are catching limits of rockfish.
To our south, speckled trout are active along the Eastern Shore of Virginia at locations such as Hungars Creek and Smith Beach. In Virginia Beach, specks have been caught out of Rudee and Lynnhaven inlets. Mir-O-Lures and jigs are the prime baits.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina have seen excellent runs of big red drum or channel bass. The Point is always a good location, but it can be crowded. Anglers are also catching big sea mullet (kingfish) to 2 pounds. Here too, the weather is the deciding factor.
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Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.
