For anglers, 'June Swoon' not quite over yet

It appears that reports of the “June Swoon” being over may have come a little too soon……

“June Swoon” is a term coined  by local waterman for that period of time when the big “tide runner” trout have left and the flounder action hadn’t really settled in yet. 

Now we have some trout around but for sociological reasons can only keep one. Don’t get me wrong — the clear majority of them are a far cry from “tide runner” size, but plenty big enough to be legal. 

Being able to keep a few would probably help out economically a lot of towns up along the Delaware Bay that are, for lack of a better word, floundering. 

Speaking of flounder, Capt. Rick Yakimowicz on the all-day head boat out of Fisherman’s Wharf in Lewes reports that they have had good catches on the boat these past couple weeks, with fish into the five-pound range. There are, he said, some good days and bad days, and picking a good day is critical to success.

“Things are very condition sensitive right now,” he explained.  “There don’t seem to be quite as many fish around as there were at this time last year.  So, you have to drift just right to put together numbers of fish. Still, though, things look promising, as we have seen several limit catches of fish and pool winners into the five-pound class.”

The one-inch size minimum increase may also have an impact.

“We have seen a lot of fish that are between 16 and 17 inches,” explained Capt. Carey Evans of the Lewes charter boat Grizzly.  “That has certainly had an effect.”

Elsewhere, offshore anglers have been finding some tuna out in the canyons, particularly down in the Poorman’s. There have been some short yellowfins there, but enough nice fish to make the run worthwhile. 

Kingfish have been filling around the edge for anglers both in boats in along the surf.  Dan’s Tackle Box in Milton revealed that bloodworms,either artificial or real ones, along with small chunks of mullet have been luring these tasty fish ashore for dinner. 

There once was a time when kingfish were an unknown fish in our region. People just didn’t know what they were and, really, with all the big trout and blues around who could blame them? 

Now, though, it’s what we have given the regulations and dearth of certain species.

Hopefully all of this wind will sometime get on out of here. Until then, good luck and good fishing!

Reports, comments or questions to captjackrodgers@comcast.net