Local fishing scene heating up

By Alice Mankins
Special to the Coastal Point

George at Cedar Creek Bait & Tackle reported stripers being caught in the deep water in the Anchorage and Brown shoals. At F buoy in the Anchorage, there have been a few flounder; also in Broadkill Slough. George said he looks for trout to start running this week.

Joe at Lewes Harbor Marina reported some nice trout being taken on shad darts with long squid strips while fishing close to the beach. Matt Martin of Dewey Beach had a nice 11.6-pounder and Jason Massey of Lewes had trout up to 11.18 pounds.

Last Friday, Lewes Harbor Marina held the annual Lewes Canal Flounder Tournament with more than 200 anglers participating. Top honors went to Brian Baily at 5.43 pounds, second place to Mark Horvath at 4.63 pounds and third place to Todd Stevenson at 4.39 pounds.

There have also been a few black drum taken on the coral beds and that will only get better.

Rick of Rick’s Bait & Tackle reported good flounder fishing in Indian River Bay. Denny Strong of Long Neck had four flounder up to 5.5 pounds. Drifting around marker 19-20 or the slough in front of Holt’s Landing seems to put anglers on the more productive spots.

On the pier at Massey’s Landing, there have been some tog and blues taken during the day and some stripers taken at night. Screaming Reel Sport Fishing, chartered out of Rick’s Bait & Tackle, had its first run to Delaware Bay and returned with a nice 38-inch striper. The anglers were the Mike Cadwell party.

Clarke from Old Inlet Bait & Tackle reported good numbers of bluefish and shad being taken on the incoming tide. Spec rigs or bucktails will do the trick for these fish. Tog are steady from the jetty, but there are lots of throwbacks.

As for striper, drifting the rip in front of the Coast Guard station with live eels or bucktail has produced fish up to 35 pounds.

Speaking of 35 pounds, Doug Davidson of Dagsboro caught a 47.5-inch, 35-pound striper on a live herring. David Baer of Frankford had a 25-pound, 7-ounce striper.

Action is pretty good along the Delaware surf. Bluefish are being taken on whole mullet or cut bunker.

John DiBuonaventura of Media, Pa., had nine blues up to 30 inches on cut bunker and one striper measuring 35 inches. Vince Soranno of Bethany Beach had five blues up to 22 inches on cut mullet. George Phillips of Selbyville had one 32-pound striper caught on cut bunker out of the Fenwick Island surf. Gene “Popeye” Reynolds of South Bethany had a good catch of blues, up to 37 inches, taken at 3R surf.

Inshore fishing is starting to pick up also. We have heard of sea bass at Site 10 — mostly undersized, but it’s a good sign.

As for our local headboats, the Judy V out of Indian River and those out of Fisherman Wharf in Lewes are all running daily and reporting fair-to-good catches.

Until next week, good luck and see ya on the beach…