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Fisherman's Wharf Fishing Report

Fisherman's Wharf Fishing Report June 5th, 2014


As the summer season rapidly approaches we are now in the full swing of our fishing season. Even though we have had a very cool spring as far as the temperature goes, the water temperatures continue to slowly but steadily climb and we have been seeing some pretty decent fishing both in the Delaware Bay and out front in the Ocean. There has actually been a few days out in the water now where we could finally take off the long sleeve shirts and the hoodies and enjoy the sun!

The Delaware Bay so far this spring has shown us hands down some of the best Drum fishing in recent memory which has lasted over a solid month now. Croakers have already shown up in some very good numbers along with some Kingfish and small Trout that seem to have massed in the shallow sloughs of the Bay, and out front in the Ocean we are already starting to see some decent catches of Flounder on the "old grounds" and there are still some nice Sea Bass and Ling for those that venture a little further offshore fishing over some of the deeper shipwrecks and structures much further off of the beach.

On my all day trips I have pretty much given up on the anchoring over wrecks and reefs now and will basically be drifting from here on out for the remainder of the summer unless the weather forces us to drop the anchor. For the first week in June I have to say I am actually impressed so far with the number of Flounder we have been able to see since we started drifting. With favorable drifting conditions we have already been able to rack up some fairly decent numbers with the flatties and so far the average size of the fish has been really nice. I have only fished primarily for the Flounder now for just over a week and we have since then landed four citation fish weighing over 7 pounds and a couple dozen nice doormats that would tip the scales at over four and five pounds and we are really just getting started. It's fairly early for these fish in the grand scheme of things, and the numbers will generally only get better as the season progresses and we get into the warmer summer months. So far we really haven't even taken advantage of the smaller fish size regulation that we have in place this year, with the exception of just a few, our fish have mostly been either clearly a throwback or clearly a keeper. As more and more fish congregate over the rocky bottoms we will most likely be doing a lot more measuring and a lot more inviting of some nice fat 16 plus inch Flounders home for supper. It is really nice to have started out with some quality sized fish though and hopefully this is a sign of what is to come later in the year.

Without a lot of wind lately our water temperatures have steadily increased. Surface temperatures up in the bay have read in the mid to upper sixties now most of the time and in the Ocean our surface temp has also jumped up several degrees reading in the low to mid sixties just this past week. I suspect that the bottom is still much cooler especially out front because we still see the occasional Spiny Dogfish and there are times that the fish we catch still feel as though they have been in a refrigerator. This could also be the contributing factor as to why the Flounder at times just don't seem to bite that well. We have had a few ideal drifts where we just weren't getting too many bites and often when you do get a Flounder bite they don't seem to be following the bait for any amount of time. You may only get one or two shots to plant the hook in the right spot and then the fish is gone. Overall however the water is much warmer than it was just a couple short weeks ago. We are also now starting to see a few brown and red Robbins as well as some smooth Dogfish in the mix showing a sure sign that the whole column of water is warming up.

Our outlook is good for the weeks and the months ahead. With the amount of Croakers already around up in the Bay, and with the good sign of Flounder that we have already seen it looks like the fishing is going to be good for both the Half-Day and the All-Day trips. This time a couple of years ago there wasn't hardly a Croaker to be found until nearly July. A lot of the Croaks that are around now are already a shade bigger than the bulk of what we saw last year and they will only get bigger as the season progresses. Half- Day trips are only running on weekends right now but will begin running daily on Friday June 13th. Croakers should be the mainstay for the Half-Day fisherman and the Jr. anglers alike. With the All-Day trips I will continue to sail daily drift fishing for Flounders and likely a few Sea Bass. All bait is furnished on all of our trips. For the time being even though I said we have shed some clothes I suggest that you still dress in layers, when the breeze kicks up it is still rather cool out on the water and it is much easier to shed clothes than to put them on if you don't have them with you!

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private charter or reserve space on an upcoming special trip please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA. Also be sure to check us out and "like" us on facebook for all recent trip photos and any further updates and special offers for trips sailing out of the Wharf.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale IV
catchfish@verizon.net

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