It's been another pretty good week of fishing here at the Wharf, with a few nice breaks in the weather we were able to see some pretty decent fishing with both the Sea Bass and the Tog. We have also seen a lot of decent Stripers coming to the docks frequently .

I managed to get out five out of the last eight days fishing for the Tog and both of the special Sea Bass trips also made it out over the weekend along with a couple trips out fishing for the Stripers. Even with a little too much wind on Saturday both the Tog and the Sea Bass bit fairly well. Striper fishing had been real good all week up until Saturday when the hard Northwest winds put the kibosh on the bite. With all the wind Saturday the mouth of the Delaware Bay and the rips in between the two Capes were more like a washing machine that was filled up with muddy water on high agitate! The Stripers just didn't bite and most who tried made it an early day.

Sunday started out much better; the prior days winds in excess of thirty knots had dropped considerably and everyone looked foreword to a much nicer day on the water. The Stripers were hungry right out of the gate Sunday morning but as the day progressed, between the boat traffic and the dirty water coming back with the tide, it became a little tougher as the day wore on. Some got um early and some didn't but there was once again several very nice Rockfish landed from Lewes. Capt. H.D. had a much more comfortable day offshore on Sunday with the Bass than they had encountered on Saturday also, while both trips were a success, Sunday was a much more enjoyable day to be out on the water. Both trips saw most anglers with limit or near limit catches of Sea Bass and plenty of action with the throwbacks to keep everyone busy.

Tog fishing has continued to be pretty decent on just about every trip. With the conditions dished out over the weekend all of our Tog fishing was actually out front in the Ocean. Those of you that have been with me recently know that we had been seeing some very decent fish in and around the mouth of the Delaware Bay but the Bay was just not an option over the past weekend with the velocity of winds forecasted against the tide in the Bay all day long. While we still saw very good numbers of keepers with the Tog my last three days, the size of the fish ultimately were a little smaller on average than what we had been seeing While we had been up in the Bay. We had plenty of action with the Tog for the most part and the fish were decent, but there was a lot of measuring and lots of throwbacks, really fun fishing though and we still had a lot of fish over four and five pounds.

Our water temperatures have taken what I would call a significant drop. Just this past week surface temperatures in the Bay and along the coast out front have dipped down to fifty degrees and even a little cooler early in the mornings. Surface temperatures twenty miles off the beach are still hovering around a chilly fifty-five. The migration is on in full swing! Stripers and Bluefish along with massive schools of Baitfish have been sighted under Gannets and Gulls up and down the beach along with several pods of Whales looming in our area. The vast majority of these fish have still been outside of the magic three-mile line where we are legally allowed to land the Stripers, but several schools have actually been inside the line providing some fast and furious action for the lucky ones that have stumbled into the birds with the right jigs at hand. With the cooler water it is likely that there will be more and more of this surface action taking place along the coast in the upcoming weeks.

We have dropped back to a shorter schedule now in December, I will be sailing just four days a week now fishing for the Tog on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Mondays. We will continue trying to sail daily for the Stripers up until the middle of the month. Tog trips depart the dock at 7:00 a.m. and I fully expect to have continued success with these fish up until the end. Striper trips are scheduled to depart the dock at 8:00 a.m. and as long as the weather is decent it is likely we will have a trip sailing on any given day. Striper fishing will also continue to be good for several more weeks.

Our Sea Bass fishing is limited now to just special trips and we have several more on the schedule to finish out the year. As the water continues to get cooler these fish will be pushing further offshore so the long range trips will be your best option. Reservations in advance are required for these trips as space is limited. There is a complete list of dates on the special trip link from the home page at fishlewes.com Sea Bass season will close on December 31st, 2010 and the preliminary regulations imposed for 2011 will make anyone that loves fishing for Sea Bass just about sick, the fishcrats are going to stick it to us again. If you want to get few before it closes there is no time like the present the way it sounds it may be your last chance for a while.

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 a special trip please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale !V
catchfish@verizon.net