With the Holiday Season rapidly approaching sometimes it's hard to think about fishing with the to do lists and the hunting seasons and all the hubbub that goes along with it. However with some of the fishing that we have seen in the last couple of weeks and with the Striper fishery turning on the way it has recently it's kind of hard not to think about wetting a line and getting in on the action while you can!

There is no doubt that we have encountered some tough times this fall with our Tog fishing and with the continuous battering that Mother Nature seems to want to dish out to us but we have most certainly seen some good Tog trips on the inshore wrecks and artificial reefs, the Sea Bass fishing has been very consistent whenever the weather has allowed us to get offshore where the Bass are right now, and finally after all the reports of the big Stripers being landed "up north" these fish have showed up in our region in full force and it is looking as if we will continue to see good action with the Tog, Bass as well as the Stripers right up until the end of the year now.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record the weather has continued to be our worst enemy recently however when we have been able to get away from the docks we have seen some pretty good fishing. The Tog have continued to frustrate us seemingly just about every trip we have made for them but when they do decide to bite we have seen some pretty decent action with these crafty light biters. Since my last report we have actually only fished a handful of days but each trip met with some measure of success. There have been times when the fish are biting aggressively and you can't get baited and to the bottom fast enough, and of course there have been times when you could nearly fall asleep waiting for the next bite. This is the nature of Tog fishing, they are a very temperamental fish especially when you are fishing for them in the Delaware Bay or in the mouth of the Bay. The tides and currents seem to run much harder in this area and it can make for some difficult conditions just trying to fish for them. While the numbers of Tog we have been catching are way lower than what I would call my standard when you put it in perspective we have seen some pretty fair catches. Everyone doesn't get a limit and some folks may not even catch a keeper but you will have this even with the very best of bites with the Tau Tog. We have seen several citation sized Tog landed including our biggest of the year weighing in just shy of 13 pounds and at times the throwback action mixed with the occasional slob has been more than enough to keep everyone's interest. I still firmly believe that as the water continues to cool down that we will see some very productive Tog fishing as we roll into December.

Capt. H.D. has run several extended hour trips for the Sea Bass now and the general consensus is that Sea Bass fishing continues to be very good. On every trip made so far there has been multiple limit catches and the action on these fish since the season opened up again the first of November has at times been fast and furious. A lot of the fish they have been catching are still falling short of the required size limit but patience and perseverance at the rail has made for some very healthy coolers full of tasty Sea Bass on these adventures by the end of the trip. Along with the Bass they have been seeing a few Triggerfish still and several Bluefish that have gone anywhere from snapper to net chopper size. There will be another Bass trip coming up this Saturday November 30th which will be a 12 hr. trip and after that all of the Sea Bass trips will be long-range trips throughout the rest of the year and hopefully into 2014 if they allow us to fish for them. There is a full list of trips on the trip calendar from the home page at fishlewes.com all of these trips now will be reservations only.

With the weather we have been seeing recently and the cooler air temperatures we have seen the surface temperature of the water has taken a significant drop both in the Delaware Bay and along the coastline. Surface temperatures have fallen consistently below 50 degrees now up in the Bay and out front the water temperatures have dropped down to the mid fifties. Baitfish have been on the move and the Stripers have been right on their tails. For the last few weeks the best Striper fishing had been mostly in the upper reaches of the Delaware Bay or well up the coastline off of New York and New Jersey however now the migratory fish that have been moving down the Atlantic coastline are right outside of our front door in force and are willing to take a live Eel or live Spot. Before the Gail winds hampered the fishing over the weekend many fish were landed from the rips between the two capes by private and charter boats alike and a lot of these Stripers were true slobs weighing in well over thirty pounds. The wind finally quit yesterday and local anglers took advantage of the weather and once again threw excellent numbers of these big Linesiders across the docks here in Lewes. The Striper run is officially on and we anticipate some real good catches with these fish in the upcoming weeks for certain!

Remember we have now dropped back to our four day a week schedule with the regular All-Day trips, we are sailing just Thursday through Sundays with both the Tog and the Striper trips. Tog departs at 7:00 and the Striper boat will depart at 8:00 a.m. We will not have any trips sailing on Thanksgiving Day. We will resume on Friday with our Fall schedule. Crabs are provided on the Tog trips and you are welcome to bring any other bait that you would like to try. As the water cools down we will also provide clams. Striper trips will have live Eels on board and a lot of guys also like to bring along live Spot if they can find them. Jigging will also start to work for the Stripers as the water gets colder.

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 one of the upcoming special long-range trips please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing !

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