Weekend fishing update

 

The Perseid meteor shower last night was awesome and tonight should be even better.  Thankfully we aren’t fishing until 8 AM so I can stay up and watch the show.  I saw five Earthgrazers last night and watched meteors until about 4 AM.  To put it in perspective we are on a molten rock (earth) hurtling through space and waiting to see the debris from a comet trail burn up in our atmosphere at ridiculous speeds.  Good times!   The weather is perfect tonight and we are looking at a very nice weekend.

Shore based fishing is even getting a little better.  The beaches are recovering from last weekend’s carving so parking on the beach and walking to the water is easier, just a bit of a  steep slope still.

Bluefish are showing up in the surf more and more, small snappers but they are fun to catch.  Mullet rigs or chunked mullet on top and bottom rigs.   The early predawn to about 8 AM is still the best times.  Then the late evening into dark.  The hot baits for blues have been mullet and there is plenty of fresh to be caught in the back bays and tidal creeks with a cast net.  Squid pieces and clam are working as well.  Sand perch are showing up all over the beaches and the Lewes Canal.  Shannon at the Dewey Exxon told me today twizzlers have been flying off the shelf, she was shocked people were buying hem to use as bait.  Then I showed her the last fishing report.  “Well that explains why they buy the twizzlers when we were out of cut squid.”

   

Short striped bass are showing up in the canal, and surf.  The striped bass slot limit is still on for the Delaware Bay and her tributaries until August 31st.  I have seen several caught that qualify and tomorrow we will be trying for them as well as the triggers that are showing up on the wreck and reef sites, as well as the walls in the Delaware bay.  I haven;t seen too many tautog, but no surprise it is too warm for them in the Delaware bay.  There have been tons of bluefish schools all over the Delaware bay so we will probably chase a few of those tomorrow.  I am taking my four foot ultralight rod to add to the fun of catching smaller strong fish.  A nice snapper blue on that rod feels like Moby Dick.  I caught a bunch of sand fleas today and what appears to be juvenile pompano, which are all over the place in the surf’s edge.  I kept scooping them up while catching sand fleas in my minnow net.  I saw larger fish rolling in the waves that were probably chasing these smaller fish.  You want to match the bait fish, I would go with a silver spoon, or peanut bunker for a bait.  Mullet has been working well enough so far.  Some of the bait shops have fresh mullet,just check with them and use the business directory bait shop section for a recommended store near you.

 

 

Flounder action is still hot and the surf is producing some nice specimens on mullet rigs.  They are hitting the rig if it is close to shore or on the retrieve through the wash.  You can also jig for them just like you would from a boat or at the inlet.  Nuclear Chicken has been the hot color in gulp form or other soft plastics.  The Old Grounds has been the hot spot off shore but  most of the wrecks and reef sites are producing.  Seems you have to be right on top of the site to catch flounder.  The inland bays and Lewes Canal is seeing its share, but they are smaller fish compared to offshore.  If you want big flounder you have to go out front, the bays will not produce consistent large flounder, but there are some out there.

 

Croaker action is hot and heavy and in some areas almost impossible to get through to other fish.  They are hitting just about anything, but Diamond State Tackle top and bottom rigs with bloodworms and clam seems to be the best baits and rigs.  Spot have been more prevalent, but are small.  The bay waters are averaging 75 degrees, and the inland bays are averaging 75 degrees at high tide and 79 degrees at low tide.  The cool nights have been helping to drop the temperatures.  The days are getting shorter, soon we will be into the full swing of fall.   High tide will be in the late morning (9:15 AM) all weekend at the Indian River Inlet.  Early morning anglers can hit the incoming into the outgoing tide all weekend, that should make for some decent fishing.  North winds will switch to south west winds for most of the weekend and we will have calm seas.  Watch the flies and have fun out there.  I will have more to report tomorrow night, after tomorrow’s trip.

Fish On!!

Rich King