Perfect weather

Finally a break from rain and wind! The weather last weekend was perfect for fishing and just being outdoors.  Not too hot and not too chilly.  We had some killer sunsets to enjoy while we ended our day of fishing.  The water temperatures held pretty well despite the rise in temperature.  So the bluefish are still here and so are the summer blues.  The big gators are still around, not as thick as last week or the week before but people are still catching.  Green mullet rigs have been the best rigs and whole mullet.  Bunker chunks are working okay, and so are lures.  Spoons and poppers have seen the best action.

Flounder action has been great in the Lewes Canal, but not so great around the inland bays.  Some have been caught in the surf.  Drifting minnows or chartreuse Gulp on flounder rigs have produced the best catches.  Farther up the Delaware Bay have been some decent flattie catches.  Some anglers are still catching weakfish when they are drifting for flounder around the canal area and Broadkill River.

 Large black drum action is still hot in the Delaware Bay at the coral beds.  The charters are doing well loading up on large drum.  Some are still being caught from the surf as far up as Slaughter Beach.

 Lots of shark action offshore and along the surf.  Sand tigers and small sandbar sharks are hitting in the surf.  Mako and thresher are hitting offshore. Bluefish are the best bait for sharks, and coincidentally we have a lot in our waters.  

Rick Passwaters and his crew brought the first thresher to the docks in Delaware over the weekend. “Hooked up on 3 threshers today, the first one hit the line and instantly shot ten feet into the air fifty yards from the boat. Wildest thing I’ve seen in a while. The second one was pretty mild. The third one got pretty wild on us and was a fun fight. The shark was 164 lbs. and was caught a few miles from the shipping channel. Crew members today were Josh Shepherd, Mike Nibblett, Tom Swann, and myself.” Nice work, boys! And congratulations on your first thresher of the year.  

Kingfish and spike trout (small weakfish) are being caught readily from the surf at Broadkill Beach and Beach Plum Island state park. Bloodworms is the bait of choice, and a few white perch have been landed as well. Short striped bass action has been good in the surf when the bluefish are not around. Recently we watched some porpoises come through and toss big blues in the air like candy while they were feeding. I guess they like to play with their food before eating.

Black sea-bass action has been hot offshore on the wreck sites,  Boats are filling the coolers fast with a lot of citation-size bass.  The Tamaroa which was sunk a few weeks ago at the Del Jersey Land reef site is already holding lots of fish.  Doesn’t take long for fish to occupy a structure.