Hot Summer Fishing

Wow it is hot outside, morning and evening fishing is the best. Mostly because that is when the temperatures are tolerable for humans.  Few fish coming from the surf in the dead of the afternoon heat.  The winds are helping but it is like standing in front of a hot blow dryer if you are inland.  This weekend is going to be tough with heat so stay hydrated and in the shade if you are able.  Masseys Landing is fluctuating between eighty degrees and seventy-two degrees.  Two days ago it was peaking to eighty-three degrees, the cool off from the storms has helped.  Buoy 44009 is peaking to seventy-nine degrees as of four O’clock on Friday.  The surf is seventy-eight degrees.  Lewes is reading seventy-two degrees for the Delaware Bay and eighty-four for the upper bay area.

The flounder fishing is still slow in the Lewes Canal and inland bays.  Decent around Roosevelt inlet and Broadkill river.  The anglers at Bubble gum beach today were catching a lot of throw backs at the top of the incoming tide and a few keepers.  Oyster crackers and small seabass are abundant along that wall.  Lot of shad action at night under the lights.  Some ten pound plus bluefish are around the coast guard station at night, but tough to get from land or the boats.  Unless you are fishing inside the coast guard compound, then you are right on top of them.  The striped bass action is decent there as well.  The rockfish are hammering sand fleas, all shorts but fun to catch.  Short striped bass schools at night under the lights at Masseys Landing.  small swim shads, bucktails or plugs work well for lures.  Swim shads producing the most catches with bucktails in a close second.

The flounder action in the Delaware Bay has been great at Bowers Beach near the new jetty.  No one knows why but there have a been a lot of decent catches from there.  Jim Davis has been consistently catching keepers and a lot of throwbacks.  There is decent shorts striped bass action up there and even some small croakers.  Lot of small weakfish all over the area as well.  There have been a few weakies in the seventeen inch range from the tidal creeks and rivers from Broadkill to Bowers Beach and above.  One was even caught this afternoon at Conquest Beach in Delaware Seashore State Park.  Weakies are around, and every day I hear a theory as to why they are in decline and have been.  I’m sticking with aliens as the best explanation and most entertaining.

Lot of cusk eels in the surf, kingfish, sand or silver perch, small bluefish, pompano, spotted hake, skates, rays, dogfish and lots of sharks.  Big sand tigers being caught by the land based shark fisherfolk.  By the way that black SUV on the beaches driving real slow is a park’s vehicle, they will have stickers soon.  This is occurring on Fenwick Island and Delaware Seashore state parks.  The fish are all hitting bloodworms or fishbites on top and bottom rigs.  The skates and all the scavengers are hitting bunker chunks.  Unless you are trying to catch these scavengers or sharks, you might want to skip the bunker chunks completely until fall.  The big fish jumping just off the shoreline are either cobia or sturgeon.  Without a picture we can’t really tell you what they are, just what they might be.  The surf has been the best in the mornings and evenings.   The sand is loose and fast make sure you are airing down.

The offhsore action is off the hook for yellowfin and bluefin tuna chunking butterfish.

Where are the croakers?  A few keepers were caught at Masseys Landing the other night.  Lots of small ones around the wrecks and reef sites in the Delaware Bay.  There also some nice triggers out there as well.  Got to love summer fishing, you never know what will show up.

Fish On!!

Rich King