Fishing Hurricane Jose Before And After
With Hurricane Jose off the coast we were experiencing a lot of heavy wave action from storm surge and wind. The beaches took a pounding but they survived and usually do aside from one breach, and a lot of swales or tide pools. The water is still stirred up and the wave action has died down, but we are till seeing some fast waves just a lot smaller. Holding bottom is possible if you start with six ounces. Waves are still topping out at six feet. Jose is still out there and now Maria is on her way up here and we expect to see her storm surge as early as Monday. For now the fishing we saw before the storm was great in many places. Hopefully that will pick right back up, but it has been too early to tell. Masseys Landing is fluctuating between seventy-six and seventy-four degrees. The Delaware Bay and the surf has been averaging seventy-four degrees in the morning and a little warmer during the day.
Small snapper bluefish action has been the popular catch in the surf. Using mullet on mullet rigs, cut bait on top and bottom rigs, or fishbites. Squid, clam and bloodworms is also working, because bluefish will eat anything. When we were on the point in Cape Henlopen State park over the weekend, Barney caught a thirty seven inch bluefish, the same monster sized blues we see in the surf during the spring now. The big bluefish hit a chunk of bluefish, they will eat anything including their own kind.
Redfish or red drum are making an appearance finally in the surf and the area waters. The will hit cut bait, squid, and any crustacean such as green crabs or sand fleas. Clam is usually a popular bait we find they will readily hit mullet here in Delaware Spot heads and kingfish heads are usually a good bait as well. You can also live line spot for red drum. These are the slot sized red drum the bulls usually don’t go much farther north than Assateague Island. A nice sized slot redfish was caught in the Indian River inlet on a squid strip on a flounder rig.
Sea bass season is coming to a close, but only for a month then it will open again. There has been great action on the reefs and wrecks offshore. Anglers are pulling them in two at a time, decent keeper sizes with a lot of throwbacks. There are flounder and trigger around the wrecks offshore. Lots of triggers still out there and sheepshead. All are hitting clam on top and bottom rigs, most of the trigger are by catch for seabass anglers. You can target them with small hooks and clam, which the sea bass prefer. Squid is the next go to bait and everything will hit squid, and the fact it is probably the cheapest bait. Unless of course you are catching your own bait. Small sand fleas make a great bait offshore you just have to spend sometime in the surf with a sand flea rake to fill a bucket.
The Cape Henlopen pier has been giving up a lot of spot and small croaker. The occasional keeper flounder among a lot of throwbacks. There are tons and tons of those little bait stealing bluefish. Burrfish are being caught and recently an angler caught one over two pounds, which may qualify the angler for an IGFA all tackle record. Dave Bebee owner of Lighthouse View Bait and Tackle will know when the paperwork comes back.
Short striped bass fishing has been fun on light gear in the Lewes canal and tidal creeks or rivers. Using swim shads or bucktails. Anything that mimics a mullet is your best bet. They are also hitting sand fleas along the jetties of the Indian River Inlet and bloodworms. The structure in the Lewes canal is holding fish and the shorts are schooling up with this cooler weather and water. We have been hitting keepers in the local tidal rivers. Some of these schooling fish are in the twenty-eight inch range.
Crabbing is still good but you have to do some searching to find the crabs. The fluctuating temperatures have them on the move. They are feeding heavily for a long winters nap.
While cast netting for mullet a few anglers caught some pompano in their nets and butterfish are in the surf as well.
Have a good weekend and we will catch you in the sand box.
FIsh On!
Rich King
| Station 44009 (LLNR 168) – DELAWARE BAY 26 NM Southeast of Cape May, NJ | ||
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Wind Direction (WDIR): | WNW ( 300 deg true ) |
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Wind Speed (WSPD): | 9.7 kts |
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Wind Gust (GST): | 13.6 kts |
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Wave Height (WVHT): | 6.2 ft |
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Dominant Wave Period (DPD): | 11 sec |
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Average Period (APD): | 7.3 sec |
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Mean Wave Direction (MWD): | ENE ( 76 deg true ) |
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Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): | 30.00 in |
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Pressure Tendency (PTDY): | +0.00 in ( Steady ) |
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Air Temperature (ATMP): | 72.7 °F |
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Water Temperature (WTMP): | 71.6 °F |
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Dew Point (DEWP): | 70.3 °F |
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Wind Speed at 10 meters (WSPD10M): | 11.7 kts |
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Wind Speed at 20 meters (WSPD20M): | 11.7 kts |
Marine Forecast NWS …
Coastal waters from Cape May NJ to Cape Henlopen DE out 20 nm- 622 AM EDT Fri Sep 22 2017 ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT... .TODAY...NW winds around 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Mainly in E swell with a dominant period of 10 seconds. Isolated showers early this morning. .TONIGHT...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in E swell with a dominant period of 11 seconds. .SAT...N winds 10 to 15 kt, diminishing to 5 to 10 kt late. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in E swell with a dominant period of 12 seconds. .SAT NIGHT...NW winds around 5 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in SE swell with a dominant period of 15 seconds. .SUN...NE winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. .SUN NIGHT...NE winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt in the evening, becoming variable less than 5 kt. Seas 4 to 7 ft. .MON...NE winds around 5 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. .MON NIGHT...NE winds around 5 kt. Seas 4 to 7 ft. .TUE...NE winds 5 to 10 kt, increasing to 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Seas 5 to 8 ft. .TUE NIGHT...NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 6 to 9 ft. $$ ANZ455-222215- Coastal waters from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Island DE out 20 nm- 622 AM EDT Fri Sep 22 2017 ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT... .TODAY...NW winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in NE swell with a dominant period of 11 seconds. Isolated showers early this morning. .TONIGHT...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in NE swell with a dominant period of 11 seconds. .SAT...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in NE swell with a dominant period of 12 seconds. .SAT NIGHT...NW winds around 5 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Mainly in E swell with a dominant period of 15 seconds. .SUN...NE winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. .SUN NIGHT...NE winds 5 to 10 kt, becoming N after midnight. Seas 4 to 7 ft. .MON...E winds around 5 kt. Seas 5 to 8 ft. .MON NIGHT...NE winds around 5 kt. Seas 5 to 8 ft. .TUE...NE winds 5 to 10 kt, increasing to 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Seas 6 to 9 ft. .TUE NIGHT...NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 7 to 10 ft. $$ ANZ431-222215- Delaware Bay waters south of East Point NJ to Slaughter Beach DE- 622 AM EDT Fri Sep 22 2017 .TODAY...NW winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves around 3 ft. .TONIGHT...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves around 3 ft. .SAT...NW winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves around 3 ft early in the morning, then 2 ft or less. .SAT NIGHT...NW winds around 5 kt. Waves 2 ft or less, then around 3 ft early in the evening. .SUN...NE winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .SUN NIGHT...E winds 5 to 10 kt in the evening, becoming variable less than 5 kt. Waves around 3 ft. .MON...NE winds around 5 kt. Waves around 3 ft. .MON NIGHT...E winds around 5 kt, becoming NE after midnight. Waves around 3 ft. .TUE...NE winds 5 to 10 kt. Waves around 3 ft in the morning, then 2 ft or less. .TUE NIGHT...NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Waves 3 to 4 ft. $$ ANZ430-222215- Delaware Bay waters north of East Point NJ to Slaughter Beach DE- 622 AM EDT Fri Sep 22 2017 .TODAY...NW winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .TONIGHT...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .SAT...NW winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .SAT NIGHT...NW winds around 5 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .SUN...N winds 5 to 10 kt with gusts up to 15 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .SUN NIGHT...NW winds around 5 kt in the evening, becoming variable less than 5 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .MON...NE winds around 5 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .MON NIGHT...E winds around 5 kt in the evening, becoming variable less than 5 kt. Waves 2 ft or less. .TUE...NE winds around 5 kt, increasing to 5 to 10 kt in the afternoon. Waves 2 ft or less. .TUE NIGHT...NE winds 5 to 10 kt, increasing to 10 to 15 kt after midnight. Waves 2 ft or less.
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