Fisherman’s Wharf Fishing Report June 23, 2009
Read more local fishing reports here |
Fisherman’s Wharf Fishing Report June 23, 2009
Read more local fishing reports here |
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ItÂ’s been another decent week of catching Flounders here at the Wharf despite some weather that that seems more like spring than the beginning of summer. Overcast skies, rain, fog, and some moderate winds have dominated our region for way too long now. Fortunately for us though, there seems to be quite a few Flounders around shining a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy skies that we have endured for so long, and when everything clicks just the right way we have been able to land some very nice fish in spite of this unpleasant weather!
When I tallied up the numbers so far for the month of June it surprised even me. We have had some serious numbers of Flatties coming in over the rail in the last few weeks. Since the beginning of this month we have landed over 500 keeper sized Flounder for just over 1400 Flatties caught! Personally I think that's pretty impressive for the small amount of passengers that we have been carrying. They do add up! Our pool fish on any given day has been over four pounds and more often than not ends up tipping the scales at nearly five or six pounds. Our Biggest Flounder so far this season was just a little over eight pounds. Ill be the first to admit we have had some long slow days, but that goes along with fluking. I would sign a contract today to guarantee this type of fishing for the rest of the summer.
For those of you that love to fish for these Flounder or those that have never really fished for them and want to give it a try, all signs are leaning towards a great season in the days, weeks, and even the months ahead. Traditionally our best flounder fishing usually kicks in during the dog days of summer. We always said the hotter it was, the better the fishing will be for the Fluke. If this theory holds true we should be in store for a lot of fun this summer!
As most of you already know Mother Nature has not been doing us any favors over the past several weeks. Just one glance at the graphics on the Weather Channel or your local news and you would think that we are having nothing but rain and thunderstorms on a daily basis. This is really a typical summer forecast donÂ’t let it fool you. ItÂ’s no secret we have had our fair share of miserable weather but for the most part we have not had that much wind from any major weather systems and the seas have been mostly calm, we just havenÂ’t seen too much of the sun. This past weekend was the first time that we saw the weather really mess up the Ocean in quite some time and it only lasted a little more than a day.
Water temperatures are still warming nicely even with the lack of sunshine and the fish seem to be on the move. The first Yellowfin Tuna and a Mako Shark have already hit the docks here in Lewes from the offshore grounds and I anticipate more good inshore fishing each day that the conditions are right with these Fluke. While most of my fishing the last two weeks has been out in the Ocean there is also a good number of Flounder up in the Delaware Bay and we have the option to go either way with the varying conditions on any given day. Most of our fish in the Ocean have been in at least 75 feet of water and often as deep as 100. There will be times when we might just be better of in the shallows of the
Bay and this option is readily available if need be. I do expect most of our trips to be out front though when the conditions allow. I will continue drift fishing unless it is absolutely impossible to hold bottom, these fish are spread out over literally miles of open bottom and drifting is by far the best option for catching them. When we are drifting the open bottom of the “old grounds” some of our best drifts are in some of the stickiest of bottoms, be prepared to loose a few rigs. Fluke killers, beaded hooks, and Jigs have all had equal success. It seems like on the days with the slowest drifting conditions the anglers that are jigging seem to make out the best. It’s nothing fancy just a heavy bucktail maybe as big as four or five ounces and a teaser along with it. You will work a little harder fishing this rig but it works!
You have to think that Mother Nature will swing around and give us some more seasonable weather any time now the odds are in our favor. We are sailing every day now, I have only missed one trip during this entire month of June and that was due to a lack of sponsors. My Full-Day trips depart the docks at 7:00 a.m. and we return around 4:00 p.m. Flounder is our main target and we will also see a few Sea Bass and some Snapper Blues in the mix. We are also running Half-Day trips daily three times a day sailing at 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. and then again at 6:00 p.m. for the evening trip. Half-Day trips are seeing a few keeper Flounder and various assortments of other species including Blowfish, Sharks, and Skates to keep things active while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Croakers. Drum Fishing is done for the season.
Capt. H.D. will be running a special Long-Range trip this weekend departing the docks midnight Saturday night and returning late Sunday. This will be a deep drop trip targeting Tilefish and whatever else Capt. H.D. may find. There are still a few spaces available but this trip is limited so if you are interested reserve your spot as quick as you can.