Fishermen's Wharf Fishing Report 8/12/08

After last weeks positive report I am happy to say that I can follow up with a similar report for these past seven days of fishing as well! Water temperatures are gradually approaching a more normal degree, fish seem to be on the move and given the right conditions we have actually been bringing some pretty impressive fish back to the docks with the Full-Day trips.The bulk of our catch on the all day trips is still Flounder and if you haven't heard our Flounder in Delaware have to be a minimum of nineteen and a half inches to keep. What this means is when you do get a keeper you have a very fine fish. Some lucky anglers have actually been able to beat the odds and land a limit or near limit catch of these big Flatties but realistically if you bring home a couple keeper Fluke and catch a few Bass you have done well! Conditions have been our biggest killer this past week with either too slow or no drift or too much drift all together, there is always a fine line between success and failure with these Flounder but when everything clicks we have been bringing them in and the average fish is around four pounds. Our biggest one landed this week was just over seven.

We have been able to mix it up a little with a few keeper sized Sea Bass and some Ling adding a little variety to the catch, all tolled we landed more Sea Bass this past week than I think I saw for nearly the entire month of July. Don't break out the freezer bags just yet though it's all-relative. When you catch next to none for so long, sixty or seventy keeper sized Sea Bass caught in a week's time most certainly seems like an improvement.
There was also some good news up in the Delaware Bay this past week. Seemingly overnight just this past weekend Croakers made a showing on both sides of the Bay. It amazes me how over the past several years everyone complained about catching nothing but Croakers however this year with their clear absence it seems that everyone has really missed these little scrappers. There has been no doubt that everyone has been doing the proverbial Croaker dance since early in July and now maybe some of these prayers have been answered. Half-Day trips as well as some of the private charter boats have been getting in on this action for a few days now and hopefully these Croakers will continue to filter into the Bay and make for some good late Summer and Fall action! Capt. Mike has reported that on his evening Half-Night trips the fishing has been the best with some anglers being able to land double digits with Croakers that will average about a foot long biggest so far about fifteen inches. Half-Day trips have generally been seeing a variety with Croakers, Snapper Blues, Blowfish, Kingfish and various assortments of junk fish providing fair action for most onboard. Remember that kids continue to go for free during the remainder of August when accompanied by an adult. This is a great opportunity to get the little ones into the fishing scene.

Offshore fishing has also been productive this past week. Yellowfin and Bluefin Tuna have been landed as well as good numbers of Mahi and even Wahoo. Capt. Bennett had a day trip out to the edge of the Baltimore Canyon this past weekend and was rewarded with eight Yellowfin Tuna up to fifty pounds and a bonus Wahoo that weighed nearly forty pounds and came into Lewes flying more flags for the Yellowfin than any boat so far this year. Capt. Benny still has several dates available with the Lewestown Lady open for charter and is also taking names for some makeup trips on the days he is not booked. For more information on these makeup trips please email me with your name and a phone number where you can be reached so we can let you know the available dates.

We also have several more dates scheduled for the extended range deep drop trips fishing for Tilefish, Sea Bass, Tuna and Mahi. A complete listing of dates for these trips can be found on our special trip link from the home page. These long-range trips require reservations made in advance and are limited space trips. Remember deep drop means that the water is likely to be 300 feet deep at a minimum and could quite possibly be close to twice that depth so the appropriate gear is necessary. Most guys have been using 40 lb. braid or heavier and some have even been utilizing the electric reels on these adventures. Rental equipment is available.

Even though we have seen a few chilly mornings lately the water temperatures are much warmer than they were a few weeks ago. For the most part now our Ocean surface temperature has been close to seventy degrees and on a few occasions we have seen some of that crystal clear water that we are accustomed to seeing at this time of the year. The overall outlook for our late summer and early fall fishing is looking much better now than what it at one time looked as if it would be. There is undoubtedly a good number of nice Flounder around, Sea Bass are biting a little better, the Croakers are beginning to show up and there is still a good charge of Snapper Blues and small Trout up in the Bay. We will undoubtedly be seeing some good fishing in the days and weeks ahead. We will be continuing with our full summer schedule sailing daily with the All-Day trips at 7:00 a.m. and Half-Day trips sailing three times daily; 8:00, 1:00 and then again at 6:00 p.m.

If you would like more information about any trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private charter or reserve a spot on one of the special trips please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

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