Memorable Fishing On Memorial Day Weekend

Great weekend despite the weather.  We had some first catches at the docks and another interesting catch many have ever seen before.  The fish were biting in the surf more than the flies which is always a good thing the DFM was around a two most of the time, the crazy a full on twelve.  Beaches were crowded and so were the waterways.  People were catching fish here and there where we were fishing at Cape Henlopen.  Rods would get hit, but a lot of rigs were getting bit off.  People not paying attention to their rods almost lost a few set ups, that was entertaining.  I am sure today with the rain and end of the holiday weekend, the crowds are back to the same as Thursday last week, there was us and four other trucks on the beach all day.   I saw a burr fish was caught i the surf over the weekend that is very early for them so we are going out this week to try for the little fish, we have been concentrating on hitting big striped bass and bluefish.

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 the third one got pretty wild on us and was a fun fight.  The shark was 164 lbs. and 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.

Dave Laughman was fishing for black sea bass and caught his first ocean pout.  “We were over a sunken sub, in about a hundred and sixty feet of water, about forty-two miles offshore, it hit on clam.”  He sent us the picture and we confirmed the identification with a friend of mine at a local college.  Not too many of these are caught in these waters.  Ocean pout resemble wolffish, but the markings and distinct difference in teeth made the identification easier.  Ocean Pout(Zoarces americanus) is an eelpout in the family Zoarcidae, and are found off the north-east coast of New England and Canada.  We usually don’t see them this far south.  It can survive in near freezing waters due to antifreeze proteins in its blood.   These proteins have been used to genetically modify salmon to make them grow faster and has created some controversy over GMO grown fish.  By reducing its sensitivity to cold the salmon can grow year round allowing it to grow much faster.

There was some decent flounder action in the Lewes Canal.  The hardest part was finding minnows for bait.  Stores were having a hard time getting supplied due to the new moon tides over flowing the marshes.   Once that happens the minnows all head into the grassy areas and catching them is a chore.  I know Icehouse bait and tackle received a lot of minnows yesterday afternoon.

The surf produced decent bluefish catches up and down the coast.  The catches have been random but when the schools come by the action is fast and hot.  Mullet on green mullet rigs have been the best combination.  We still are seeing large blues being caught near Virginia beach so these fish could be here a couple of more weeks.  The water temperatures thanks to the cooler weather have been holding around the mid sixties for the most part.  Friday we will see our first hot day in a while but that shouldn’t affect the water temperatures too much.   There are also spot being caught near Virginia beach according to Taylor at Lighthouse view bait and tackle.  Nice sized looking spot too, so that will be some good action most likely in a couple of weeks.  Also probably why there are still large bluefish in Virginia, feeding on spot.

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 few white perch have been landed as well.  Short striped bass action has been good i the surf when the bluefish are not around.  Thursday they were right in the wash.  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.

It is going to be wet most of the week, but the fishing should be okay.   The area waters will silt up from run off in the creeks.  I would expect the water temperatures to hold in the mid sixties and even lower throughout the week.

Fish On!

Rich King