I always joke with my friends when I'm trying to compose a fishing report after a tough week of fishing that I'm trying to make chicken salad out of chicken $#&*... There has never really been quite as good of time to try and do that as there is right now. Even though the overall picture for fishing and catching fish in our region at this time I would have say is very good to say the least, we are right now coming off of just over a week of the most disappointing Sea Bass opening that I have ever witnessed.

May 19th was the much anticipated day and with the reports that we had been getting from commercial fishermen and with what we had seen with the Bass on some of the wrecks while we were still targeting the Tog earlier this spring, we were hopeful for some decent Sea Bass action. What we saw during the first week after the big "opener" in my opinion however was nothing more than just a mere flash in the pan compared to what we used to be able to do with the Sea Bass at this time of the year. We caught a few fish and we caught some very nice ones too, however it became painfully obvious on the very first day that there were nowhere near the amount of Bass around that we should have at this time of year and it was likely going to be a very long week unless more Sea Bass on the move showed up in our area. The first few days did show a little sign of hope, there were some stops that we made with good action and busy work and a decent amount of keepers in the mix however there was just no backbone to the amount of fish over any given wreck or reef structure that we fished. On a good stop I would drop back over the structure and have as many as eight or ten rods or more bow over as soon as they reached the bottom with biting fish but the action more often than not would only continue for a short time before we caught up most of the life that was living on the wreck and we would have to move on to another location. This process would be repeated time after time all week long and by the end of each day some lucky anglers would end up with maybe eight to a dozen keepers but the toll would go downhill from there. Normally some of the places that I fished would hold enough fish to stay anchored for literally hours however this year that is just not the case. There just doesn't seem to be any real numbers of Sea Bass around for anyone fishing in the mid Atlantic region at this time. From Ocean City Maryland to North Jersey all reports are the same or even worse; a very distinct absence of any true numbers of Sea Bass.


WHY? This is the big question and I cannot even begin to give you a logical answer. With all the restrictions and closures in place now we would hope to be seeing some sort of progress within this fishery, however over the past few years we have witnessed a distinct decline of the inshore Sea Bass run during the spring of the year. The fishing does seem to be a little better much further from shore and it is entirely possible that it will improve for us as the season progresses and the water temperatures continue to rise, it typically does. I spoke with Capt. H.D. earlier today and he was offshore nearly 70 miles on a deep drop trip targeting the Bass and the Tiles and he was seeing some decent numbers with the Bass fishing in depths that were likely deeper than the amount of braid that I have on most of my rods. While it's certainly not uncommon to see the Bass that deep, it does make one wonder why they are in that depth of water now and not inshore where they would normally be at this time of the year. I was sound asleep by time he returned to the dock but the final report was lots of action all day most anglers had a 50/50 mix with some Jumbo Sea Bass and some nice Blue Line Tiles several anglers had a limit of big Bass . I lost contact with him later in the day But Capt. Alicen was at the dock when he got in and she saw the catch. As far as the Sea Bass go is likely that if you are interested in any real numbers of these fish, this will be the type of trip that you need to go on. It certainly appears that we can't show you too much with the regular full day trips as far as the Sea Bass are concerned. We have several of these long range trips scheduled and as the Bass move and depending on what depth we can catch them in the best, there may be even more trips on the schedule for Sea Bass however they will be extended hour trips only so we can get you on the best available fishing. The dates for these trips are posted on the trip calendar from our home page at fishlewes.com


With my regular Full-Day trips by Memorial Day weekend (only 5 days into the Bass season) I found it hard to catch enough Sea Bass to feed a sick cat anchoring over structures and decided that given any decent drifting conditions that is what we would do in hopes of catching more than we could catch while anchored over the wrecks. This was a little disappointing too. There are still quite a few Spiny Dog Sharks around and the "old grounds" just were not producing any numbers of keeper Sea Bass either on the drift. We did however see a few decent Flounders showing a ray of hope for what lies ahead for us in the weeks and the months ahead. On Monday 5/26 with some favorable conditions and some good sticks at the rail we switched around our rigs and our baits and gave the Flounder our full commitment. It was a good plan! I know for a fact that even during the peak of the best of Flounder seasons, we will have worse days on Flounder than what we saw today. I was pleasantly surprised with a nice pick of Flatties and by the end of the day they added up very nicely and we saw some really pretty fish to boot. Our Biggest Flounder today was just shy of 8 lbs and we also had a handful of Flounder that would tip the scales well over four pounds! Everyone on the boat had more than enough for supper and I see a lot more of this in my future when the conditions are right. I can't print what both my mate and myself said about Sea Bass fishing after this leisurely Fluke trip.

Back closer to shore the inshore Drum fishing has been phenomenal. Private boats, Charter boats, and even our Half-Day boats have been getting in on the action of the Delaware Bay Dinosaurs that have been staging and feeding close to the beach this spring. Drumfish ranging from 30 to nearly 90 pounds have been all along the bay front beach line and have been pleasing anglers now nearly the entire month of May. This will undoubtedly go down in the books as one of the better years for the Drumfish in recent history and hopefully the action will continue well into June. Croakers and Kingfish have also made a good showing over the last week or so and hopefully is also a sign of good things to come for the remainder of the year. It's been a while since we have seen any real numbers of Croakers before the month of June. I will take this as a good omen.

Our fishing season is really just getting started this year and I think we have an awful lot to look forward to and a lot to be grateful for. Other than the disappointing start with the Sea Bass, right now you can target and most likely stand a good chance of catching everything that we normally see in our region this time of year, even the offshore fishing for the Tuna Fish is off to a great start already. I will continue with my regular Full-Day trips sailing daily at 7:00 a.m. I expect to be doing a lot of drifting the old grounds and catching Flounder and a few Sea Bass so stock up on the jigs and the teasers! Half-Day trips are still just weekends but will start daily in June. Half day trips will target primarily Croakers and Kingfish and possibly Drumfish with a light crowd. We will run evening Drum Trips on Friday and Saturday nights.

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.

 

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

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