The Delaware Mobile Surf Fishermen held its invitational surf-fishing tournament Oct. 8-9. The weather was fine, but after a week of hard northeast winds and heavy rain, the fish were less than cooperative.
Of the 121 anglers who entered the contest, Scott Aiken Jr. came out on top in the Open Division with 26 points. That won him $1,000 and a nice trophy. Scott also won the big fish prize with a 12.5-inch kingfish worth $750. Just to top things off, he took home the kingfish Calcutta money, $525 for the same 12.5-inch king.
In second place was Shaun Smith with 24 points. He won $750 and a trophy. Third place was worth $500 and a trophy. Matt Vinson won that prize with 16 points. Matt also won the bluefish Calcutta and took home an additional $1,110.
Fourth place turned out to be a three-way tie. Acie Mankins, Jim Haug and Ron Temple all scored 12 points. Each man had his choice of prizes from the prize table.
I know most of the winners, and the ones I know are excellent long-distance casters. This tells me the fish were out well beyond the breakers, and those of us who are no longer able to reach those long distances did not do well in this contest.
There were no winners in the Ladies Division, but in the Kids Division the awards were determined by drawings.
In first place was Jace Griffith who won a rod and reel and a trophy. In second place was Justin Toomey who also won a rod and reel and a trophy, as did Kaleb Dolgas who came in third.
Barrier Island Beach Brawl
Nick Honachefsky of Saltwater Underground presents this two-day surf tournament that covers the beach from Point Pleasant to Island Beach, N.J. Why, you may ask, would I report on a surf tournament based out of New Jersey? The answer is quite simple.
While our Delaware anglers struggled to catch a 12.5-inch kingfish, the surf fishermen who entered in this contest caught and released 57 striped bass between 40 and 50 pounds on Saturday. The big bass were on adult bunker, and the blitz lasted through the weekend. By Tuesday, it had moved as far south as Atlantic City.
The question remains, will these fish make the bend and follow the coast past Delaware? We know they did come by in the spring. Nothing like this sort of blitz, but there were times when big rockfish were caught from the beach. Most of the action was at night on plugs or at Indian River Inlet on eels. Only time will tell.
Blue catfish state record
James Lord of Laurel was fishing a live bluegill near Phillips Landing at 1:30 a.m. when he had a big hit. It took 25 to 30 minutes to bring the huge fish to the boat and determine it was a blue catfish. The next step was to weigh it at Sam’s Fishing Tackle and Live Bait Shop, where it tipped the scales at 48.4 pounds.
DNREC Cpl. Adkins asked James to bring the fish to Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em, where it weighed 48.2 pounds. The previous record was 47 pounds, 12 ounces and was caught by Colt Williamson in 2019.
Beach permit regulations
I attended a meeting of the Delaware Mobile Surf Fishermen last Thursday and heard a presentation by the DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin, who spoke about some new regulations that should relieve the overcrowding at Delaware State Parks that border the ocean. Since the debacle that occurred this year when thousands tried to buy their surf-fishing permits, the Parks Division has been meeting with members of the public to find a solution to this problem. While nothing has been written in stone, there will be new rules that should make things easier, especially on the busy holiday weekends.
Fishing report
The week-long storm has made some changes in the fishing, but while the surf-fishing has fallen off, the bottom fishing has turned on.
Once the seas settled down and the boats could reach bottom structure in the ocean, they began to catch black sea bass hand over fist. My friend Mike Pizzolato was on the Katydid last Friday and said they fished over structure in 80 feet of water. Mike said from the first drop he was into good-sized fish and they had a boat limit by 12:30 p.m.
I was at Lewes Harbour Marina Saturday afternoon and saw the catch from the Sea Jay II with Capt. Jamar Campbell. They just about covered up the cleaning table with sea bass, including some of the largest ones I have seen in awhile.
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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.
