Where Are The Big Fish!?

Please try entering https://graph.facebook.com/988452121198411/photos?fields=source,link,name,images,album&limit=1000 into your URL bar and seeing if the page loads.

 

striped bass, overfalls, delaware bay, rockfish, lewes, joe walker, dave walker
Joe Walker with his 37 pound striped bass trolled up at the Overfalls area on a bomber … photo by Dave Walker

Sorry there hasn’t been a fishing report for a few days, but not much has changed.  The question of the day every day has been, where are the rockfish??!!  Striped bass are still north of us is the good news, The bad news, well … there are huge schools off our coast, five to eight miles off the coast.  everyone heading out for sea bass or tautog keep seeing huge schools and these are in the EEZ so you can not fish for them.  So far it looks like they are going to swim right on by us this year.  There is still hope that some of the northern schools will swing by the shore line, you just never know and you won’t know or be a part of it if you don’t go fishing.  We have been blasting shorts in the inland bays daily all over the place and that is just as fun in my opinion, especially on ultralight gear.  There have been a few keeper bass caught.  Jim Haug hit a twenty-nine inch at Cape Henlopen the other day and another short in the surf on bunker chunks.  Most of the shops have fresh bunker, check our business directory bait shop list for a shop to call near you.  Last weekend …  “Nicholas Bryson … I was fishing beach plum island today (Saturday), with some fresh bunker. This rockfish bent my rod to the sand while my back was turned eating lunch ! (Always seems to happen that way) sprinted 1/4 down the beach to a lovely couple who could get my picture since I was alone. 31 inches, had no scale”

masseyts ditch, masseys landing, temperature chart,inland bays,
Temperature chart from the USGS survey at Masseys Ditch this week.

 These Delaware Bay  and beach shorts and small keepers are most likely fish moving out of the bays to recruit to the Atlantic migration or are just schoolies moving around the coastline feeding.  So technically they are migratory fish but not part of the northern migration.  Dave and Joe Walker limited out on tautog the other day and on the way back in did a little trolling near the Overfalls and Joe hammered a thirty-seven pound striped bass.  That was a nice bonus to end a day of fishing and just goes to show you never know unless you try.  Though these fish are essentially moving past us ion the EEZ, you could still pick up some as they move back and forth between the shoreline.  You just never know.   Otherwise the surf has produced a ridiculous amount of spiny dogfish and skates.  Some of the dogs have been hard hits and fights.  We have seen some heavy knock downs but nothing on the line.  Those hits are what stories (lies) are made of.

 

Vanessa Torres ... Just a selfie, with Mr cow on the loose, From Chick-Fil-A ... these cows created quite a show yesterday in Milford running down the highway, just Moooooving along. They were finally rounded up and no people or cows were hurt.
Vanessa Torres … Just a selfie, with Mr cow on the loose, From Chick-Fil-A … These cows created quite a show yesterday in Milford running down the highway, just Moooooving along. They were finally rounded up and no people or cows were hurt.

The tautog action has been good for the boats that have gone out and so has the sea bass action.  Many of the sea bass anglers are contending with large gator blue fish, the yellow eyed devils are hitting their fish on the retrieve and in some cases being caught.  Like the state record bluefish that hit a couple of weeks ago by Dr. Luis Mispireta.  The anglers are bringing a few nice blues back to the docks at Lewes Harbor Marina.  The Katydid has been filing the cooler on her trips out nearly every time and they always come back in with fish.  Check out the business directory for a charter or head boat.  White perch and channel catfish in the tidal creeks has been some hot action on bloodworms.  So all in all the fishing is not that bad if you are content with not catching large striped bass from shore or close to shore for that matter.  If you feel like getting into chest deep cold water with waders on you can always do a little clamming.  Crabbing for the most part is done, you can use hand lines year round but I have not seen too many crabs around the piers.  The inland bays are averaging fifty-one degrees.  The Delaware Bay is averaging fifty-two degrees and the surf is as well.  You will be fishing an incoming tide in the mornings starting around 10 AM, chart for the weekend is below.  November’s Indian Summer spoiled us and my bird bath is frozen this morning.  Such is the way of winter and we have a Nor’easter predicted for next week so it is going to get right snotty out there. The joys of winter weather.  Have a great weekend and be safe.  Watch out for any rogue cows crossing the highway in Milford heading to Chick-Fil-A.  It’s a Delaware thing.

Related Articles
1 of 642

Fish On!!

Rich King

IRI Tides NOAA … 

12/04 Fri 02:58 AM 2.26 H
12/04 Fri 08:51 AM 0.53 L
12/04 Fri 03:10 PM 2.37 H
12/04 Fri 09:24 PM 0.34 L
12/05 Sat 03:53 AM 2.36 H
12/05 Sat 09:51 AM 0.53 L
12/05 Sat 04:01 PM 2.31 H
12/05 Sat 10:09 PM 0.32 L

 

 

 

Buoy 44009 … 7:50 AM 12/4/2015

Wind Direction (WDIR): NW ( 320 deg true )
5-day plot - Wind Speed Wind Speed (WSPD): 15.5 kts
5-day plot - Wind Gust Wind Gust (GST): 21.4 kts
5-day plot - Wave Height Wave Height (WVHT): 3.9 ft
5-day plot - Dominant Wave Period Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 5 sec
5-day plot - Average Period Average Period (APD): 4.1 sec
5-day plot - Mean Wave Direction Mean Wave Direction (MWD): NNW ( 334 deg true )
5-day plot - Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 30.44 in
5-day plot - Pressure Tendency Pressure Tendency (PTDY): +0.08 in ( Rising )
5-day plot - Air Temperature Air Temperature (ATMP): 47.1 °F
5-day plot - Water Temperature Water Temperature (WTMP): 56.1 °F
5-day plot - Dew Point Dew Point (DEWP): 37.2 °F
5-day plot - Wind Chill Wind Chill (CHILL): 40.3 °F
5-day plot - Wind Speed at 10 Meters Wind Speed at 10 meters (WSPD10M): 15.5 kts
5-day plot - Wind Speed at 10 Meters Wind Speed at 20 meters (WSPD20M): 17.5 kts

 

Facebook API came back with a faulty result. You may be accessing an album you do not have permissions to access.

 

Comments are closed.