Lewes Harbor Marina Bait and Tackle
217 Anglers Rd
Lewes, De
302-645-6227
http://lewesharbourmarina.com

Fishing Report - Delaware Bay / Atlantic Ocean

December 3, 2009 - Full Moon Brings Bass
Striped bass action was very good around the recent full moon. Crews told of hot catching at 8B Buoy, in The Valley, and at Overfalls. Drifting live spot was productive, but the supply of those baits is about exhausted. Eels produced fish too. Guys using artificials also did well. Bucktails tipped with plastic worms were effective. Gulp! Sand Eels and Jerk Shads also tempted rockfish, as did Shimano Butterfly jigs and other metal lures like A27 diamond jigs that imitate sand eels which are plentiful at the Bay mouth. Stripers and bluefish have been full of sand eels. Some anglers caught stripers by baiting up with sand eels that other caught fish spit out on the deck. Trolling Stretch 25+ and 18+ plugs yielded plenty of rock too. Bright color patterns like chartreuse and Cabo Sunset worked well when water clarity wasn't good. Chrome/blue was also good. When fresh bunker was available, some big bass fell for chunk baits. Harry Aiken checked in a 45.8 pound lunker he caught on a "lump up the Bay" Thanksgiving Day. Even though some large linesiders still remain in the Bay, there have been a lot of short fish around in recent days. Captain Chris on the Skipjack hosted the "Fishin' Bitches" Monday, and they culled a limit of 20 keepers out of 38 bass caught. Their bites came while using a mix of spot, eels and bucktails during ebb current at 8B Buoy and Overfalls. The same day, the guys aboard Miss Caroline were back at the dock early with a limit of 10 rock to 19 pounds they took while pulling Stretch 25's at Overfalls. On Wednesday, fishermen on the Tranquila caught nearly 50 stripers, and kept 11. Dave and Joe Walker, and Brent Wiest also had at least 50 Striped bass Wednesday, and kept their limit of 6 quality fish. Plenty of fat slammer bluefish were mixed in with rockfish. A fair number of flounder were also hooked by striper fishermen. Some were pretty impressive, like the 30 inch 8.82 pounder Billie Jo Hunter had aboard the Lil' Angler. A fish like that would likely weigh well over 10 pounds in the Summer. The full moon may have been good for striped bass, but it had had adverse effects on tog fishing. Strong currents and dirty water made it tough for toggers along the Inner and Outer Walls and Ice Breakers. Water temperatures are still above 50 degrees, and once the currents let up and the water clears, blackfish should bite on the rocks again. Surf fishermen tangled with big bluefish while casting cut bunker and mullet from the beach at Herring Point.