Delaware Regional Fishing Report: Big blues, a record catfish top this week's bites

OCEAN

DNREC announced its first Elite Angler award to Thomas Passwaters. He earned the award after landing five trophies this year (chain pickerel, crappie, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and a white perch). Surf fishing can’t get much better than it has this week. Bluefish, black drum, and a mix of keeper size, and short rockfish have been close to shore along the Delaware coast. Ryan Kapocsi landed five bluefish, all in the 10-pound range, at Fenwick Island on low tide. He was using finger mullet. Bluefish have been schooling at Cape Henlopen and at the fishing pier. Julie Stevenson caught a nice blue in Lewes on bunker. Heather Snodgrass also got in on the action with a bluefish in Lewes. Lures are working too. Jason Schuster got a 15-pound blue to hit a popper at Cape Henlopen. He weighed in the fish at Lewes Harbour Marina. Joe Viscuglia landed a blue at the Cape Henlopen pier on bunker. John Goode netted a 14-pounder, and Lane Goode an 11-pounder on bunker at the pier as well. A few flounder were also caught from the pier. Most were undersize. For boaters big bluefish can be caught at the Inner Wall with lures, and bunker. Black drum are also being caught in the surf. Jack Austin hauled in a 17-pounder, and Jeff Sherwood a 15-pounder on clams at Cape Henlopen. The Indian River Inlet has heated up with bluefish action. Lures have been the best method. A mixture of short and keeper size rockfish are also being caught at the inlet at night on bucktails. A few dogfish have been caught at the Inlet mixed in with the stripers. Tog fishing is still hot, as charter boats continue to bring in their limits.

DELAWARE BAY

Rockfish action has begun to slow down, however, there are still plenty left in Delaware waters to make a trip. Cut bunker has worked well at Augustine Beach, Yellow Can, and Woodland Beach. Keeper rockfish were caught at Broadkill Beach on bunker, while black drum are being caught at Broadkill on clams. The white perch continue to bite from Augustine Beach down to Port Mahon with bloodworm as the best bait. A dead juvenile humpback whale washed into shallow water at Port Mahon. Stormy weather is hampering efforts to recover the animal and study its cause of death.

RIVERS

White perch are biting in numbers on the Leipsic River, and at Duck Creek. Small rockfish are being caught with the perch on bloodworms. There are still plenty of trout at White Clay Creek. Earthworms, PowerBait, grubs, spinners, and jigs have all worked well. A new state record catfish was brought into Taylored Tackle. The record 25-pound, 5-ounce blue catfish was hooked by Gavin Spicer in the Nanticoke River on bunker, the fish measured 32 inches. Bobby Smith brought in a 12-pound, 12-ounce snakehead to Taylored Tackle that was caught in the Nanticoke near Seaford Hospital on senkos. There are still a lot of throwback stripers in the Nanticoke. Decent size crappie are biting at the Laurel Spillway. There have also been a few reports of flounder arriving at the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.

PONDS

Robert Miller brought in a citation 1-pound, 3-ounce black crappie to Captain Bones Bait & Tackle. He caught it at Noxontown Pond on a minnow. Crappie and largemouth bass have been biting well at Silver Lake in Dover, and at Garrisons Lake on minnows and shiners.

Email your fishing info and fishing photos to jtaviano@delawareonline.com or tweet @JeffreyTaviano.