The weather has certainly not been doing us any favors over the past couple of weeks and during what would typically be one of our best few weeks of catching nice variety catches of fish we sit tied at the dock again for a few days due to yet another coastal wind maker.

Three weeks ago it was hurricane Bill that churned up the Ocean, Two weeks ago a tropical threat named Danny ruined yet another weekend. With those two weather systems behind us now this week we have still another pesky coastal low-pressure system off our coast churning up the waters and keeping fishermen chomping at the bit on shore waiting for a break in the rough weather.

Despite all the bad weather we did manage to get away from the docks all but two days last week and get in some decent fishing. After a deserving two-day break we were back hard at it last Thursday but the fishing was less than spectacular and the Ocean was still churned up most of the day. We fished the “rips” close to home and had some pretty good action with short Fluke and snapper Blues but ultimately only a couple of keeper Flounder were caught. Friday’s forecast got blown out the window with much more wind than anyone had anticipated and anchoring was about my only option with the winds still blowing in excess of twenty knots for the better part of the day. I made several anchors over wrecks and artificial reefs however the fish and the Ocean won this battle we had very little to show for the effort. We did see a variety with Sea Bass, Fluke, Croakers, and Snapper Blues but again most of the fish went back. A few folks ended up with a good supper but it was a long tough day.

The winds finally gave us a break for the weekend and enabled me to get back to the deep water of the “old grounds” on both Saturday and Sunday. I can best describe the fishing as frustratingly good. Action was at times fast and furious with both Flounder and Sea Bass; you could hardly get your line to the bottom without getting bites or a fish. Sounds good right but remember I said frustrating, and that it was. Throwbacks of both Flounder and Bass were coming up around the rail almost too fast to count and a lot of them nice sized just not legal! Good fishing all right but not a lot going in the box. Saturday alone we landed over 300 Flounder for just 20 anglers the bad news was we only had 15 keep able Flatties. We actually landed more keeper Bass over the weekend both days than we did flounder. The Bass were ferocious all weekend tearing up our Fluke baits on nearly every drop of the line. Sunday’s trip was similar with the throwback action and with just a couple dozen anglers we landed 18 keeper Fluke for well over 200 Flatties landed again keeping more Sea Bass than flounder.

By Monday the weather had once again taken a turn for the worse. East and Northeast winds were blowing around twenty knots again and I was forced to fish the shallow rips close to home. With just twelve hearty anglers on board we managed 9 keeper Flounder for over 80 caught and lots of action with Snapper Blues and small sharks to keep us entertained. Not too bad for a crappy day I thought. Now we are tied up to the docks again waiting for the winds to abate. As I write this the winds are still blowing out of the Northeast around twenty knots and are forecasted to continue until Thursday seas out front are a steady eight feet. I think the ropes will stay on a little longer.

The deck is most certainly being shuffled both in the Bay and in the Ocean. In the last two weeks I have seen water temperatures dip several degrees and a lot of fish on the move. Surface temperatures that were up to nearly 80 degrees are now hovering around 73 no doubt due to the churned up waters, lack of sunshine and the shorter days. This trend will likely continue over the next couple of weeks. As for what to expect on the fishing scene, we will bounce right back into some more good to excellent fishing, after all this is the time of the year for that fabulous fall fishing. I do expect to see more with a variety of fish in the upcoming weeks with Flounder, Sea Bass, Croakers, and Blues. When the conditions are right we will still be able see good numbers of Flounder but unless we can start adding up the nice keepers the way we were a few weeks ago or the conditions are such that we are better off anchoring, it is likely that more of our time will be spent fishing in areas where the variety catch will ultimately put more fish in the coolers.

I do expect most of our time will be fishing over the hard structure bottoms of the old grounds or over the artificial reefs. Drifting will still be our best option the way these fish are spread out now but I will be anchoring whenever the drift conditions get tough. There does seem to be a lot of Sea Bass on the move lately and I expect to continue seeing better numbers with them almost daily in the next several weeks. Throwbacks will be plentiful but we will also see some nice keepers going in the box.

The winds will eventually stop blowing they always do, and I will continue running daily with the all-day trips departing the docks at 7:00 a.m. and returning around 4:00 p.m. Our catch will vary from day to day but I would anticipate a variety catch with Flounder and Sea Bass fishing mostly over hard structure bottom. We may also see some Croakers and Snapper Blues in the mix but I will be primarily targeting the Flounder and Sea Bass every trip. Our Half-Day boat will be running just two trips a day now until the end of the month sailing at 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. targeting mostly Croakers. Half-Day trips have also been seeing a few Snapper Blues and small Trout on some days.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private charter or make a reservation for 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