Andy & Opie Kids’ Fishing Tournament set June 1

This Saturday, June 1, is the Techno Goober Andy & Opie Kids’ Fishing Tournament held at Milton Memorial Park, 113 Union St. This is a no-cost tournament that includes free bait, and tackle provided if the child does not have his or her own. Free hot dogs will be offered starting at 11 a.m. In addition, the first 300 children registered will receive a free rod, reel and tackle box.

There will be three age groups: 7 and under, 8-12 and 13-17. Boys and girls will have their own divisions. Winners in each group will receive trophies. The overall winner will receive a $300 custom rod from PC Rods in Milton. Winners will be determined by the longest fish caught between 9 a.m. and noon.

As of this writing, the weather looks great for Saturday. If you have a kid or can borrow one from a friend, neighbor or relative, this is a perfect opportunity to take a kid fishing. 

When I ran my fishing schools, I had quite a few single mothers who wanted their children to learn how to fish, and this is a great opportunity for these ladies to get their kids out in a safe environment and pick up valuable fishing knowledge.

For more information, call 302-645-7177 or go to www.getkidshooked.com or email michele@technogoober.com.

Indian River Inlet update

I fished here May 23, and as far as keeping fishermen and women from accessing the sidewalk inside the Army Corps of Engineers fence, fuhgeddaboudit. They were going back and forth as if the fence wasn’t there.

As for the fishing, I caught one three-pound bluefish. The wind was hard northwest and had the rips on incoming water pushed to the south side. I arrived around 7:30 a.m. and the current was still deciding which way it wanted to go. By the time it made up its mind to run in, it was close to 8:30 and quite a group had gathered along the rail on the north side. It was a slow pick on bluefish until I left at 10. By then, the group had swelled to the point that someone was getting tangled with someone else on just about every cast. Fortunately, my turn had not arrived, but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone threw across my line.

At one point, the lady fishing next to me pointed out that my metal lure no longer had a hook.  How or when the hook departed, I have no idea, but it sure cut down on the effectiveness of the lure.

I was happy to get out of there with my one bluefish. I can only imagine what that place looked like over the holiday weekend.

Fishing report

The beautiful weather over Memorial Day weekend brought lots of people to the beach, and many of them went fishing. Fortunately, most of these folks had good luck.

When it came to putting lots of fish in the cooler, the Del-Jersey-Land Reef was the place to be. While the number of keeper black sea bass was down just a bit from opening week, there were still enough out there for most people to get a 15-fish bag limit. Those who had smaller pieces of structure were able to find some big sea bass even after the rush of opening week. Some big ling have been mixed in with the sea bass, and my friend Mike Pizzolato caught a monkfish while fishing on the Katydid on Memorial Day.

Farther offshore, bluefins and bigeyes were caught at the Poorman’s Canyon on Memorial Day. Makos and some dolphin were also in the mix in the deep. I saw a few photos of multiple catches of bigeyes, and that is a bit unusual for this early in the season.

Another unusual report was a number of blue sharks along the Buoy Line caught by anglers targeting thresher sharks. These sharks are normally found much farther offshore. Threshers have been caught too, with the Captain Ike bringing in a 156-pounder to Indian River Marina.

Delaware Bay continues to produce black drum from Broadkill Beach and the Coral Beds. The larger drum are usually found on the Coral Beds with smaller versions at Broadkill Beach. Clams have been the best bait, with live blue claw crabs and sand fleas also used with success.

A surprising number of trout (weakfish) have been caught from the bay. Broadkill Beach, 14-Foot Light, Roosevelt Inlet, Broadkill River and the Outer Wall have seen a few fish to 5 pounds. Everything from jigs to clams has been used to catch these fish.

Blues seem to be everywhere from the Broadkill River to Fenwick Island. The trick is to be there when they pass by.