Plenty of action for midsummer fishing

OCEAN

The Old Grounds and A Buoy have given up their share of keeper flounder this week. Jim Jones fished A Buoy and caught three flounder with the biggest measuring 21 inches. There have been a few reports of boaters successfully trolling spoons for bluefish at Fenwick Island. The Offshore bite is producing bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Tony Vansant, Joe Walker, John Peel, and Charles Stumpf fished the Hotdog and brought back multiple bluefin tuna to the Lewes Harbour Marina with the largest weighing 97 pounds, 12 ounces. Bobby Fitzwater fished between Massey’s Canyon and the Baltimore Canyon and hauled in three yellowfin tuna with the largest weighing 80 pounds. A few white marlin have also been caught at the Baltimore and Washington Canyons. Action at the Indian River Inlet has been slow, but a few flounder have been caught. Brad Young, Anthony and Brandon Brozosky fished the inlet with gulp and caught three keeper flounder and a sea robin. Anglers are catching flounder in the Indian River Bay as well with live minnows and squid working the best. For anglers that want to hit the surf, this week’s catch has mostly been kingfish with bloodworm serving as the top bait. Haven Road, Conquest Beach, and 3R’s Beach have all been good spots to catch kings.

DELAWARE BAY

Weakfish are making a comeback at the Ice Breakers. A personal note: For those that remember in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, weakfish were plentiful and anglers could guarantee fish on any given summer day. For the last 15 years, seeing a weakfish in Delaware was a rare site. Now that the population is making a return, be thoughtful to catch only what you are going to eat. Weakfish don’t have a good survival rate after being released, and if weakfish are able to come back in the numbers that they once were; it would make for great summer fishing for years to come. On to the stripers ... Anglers are catching slot limit stripers in the upper bay at the Yellow Can, Augustine Beach, Collins Beach, and Woodland Beach using bunker and bloodworms. There are plenty of white perch and catfish to be caught in the bay at Woodland Beach and Port Mahon with bloodworm as the preferred bait. Jason Veasey caught a nice 10-pound catfish on a bloodworm while fishing at Augustine Beach. Flounder fishing hasn’t been as consistent as last year, however, anglers are still catching them at various reef sites in the bay with bucktails and minnows. Richard Wright fished outside of Lewes and caught flounder measuring up to 20 inches while using an Eastern Marine flounder rig. Anglers are also catching kingfish at the lower bay reef sites. The Cape Henlopen fishing pier has produced the usual summertime catch of croaker, spot, and flounder. Most of the flounder have been undersized. Bloodworm is the bait to use for croaker and spot. In Maryland, Eastern Marine reported anglers finding luck fishing for stripers at Swan Point in Rock Hall. Anglers are fishing the early mornings between 5:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. as well as the evening in about 19 to 20 feet of water. Richard Wright also fished Swan Point this week and caught two stripers at 28, and 30 inches using bunker. Richard Schoonmaker fished at Swan Point using bunker and managed stripers measuring up to 24 inches. Anglers trolling the Belvidere Shoal with BKD lures are also finding keeper stripers.

RIVERS

There are plenty of white perch and catfish being caught in the C&D Canal with bloodworms working well for the perch, and bunker for the catfish. Eastern Marine reported decent smallmouth action in the Brandywine River at the non-tidal section. Shiners and trout magnet crawfish have worked the best on the bass. Ed Raymond landed a 2-pound, 6-ounce smallmouth using a shiner. Anglers have been catching musky in the 7- to 8-pound range at Monkey Hill near the Brandywine Zoo on spinnerbaits. Jeronimo Booker fished the Market Street Bridge on the Brandywine and hooked up with a 28-pound, 4-ounce striper along with a 4-pound largemouth, a 3-pound, 4-ounce smallmouth and a musky using stick baits and rapalas. Anglers are also live-lining bluegills to catch some of the larger muskies in the Brandywine. There’s also a decent amount of white perch being caught in the Brandywine on bloodworms. For anglers searching for flounder, the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal is still holding flatties. Haley Zuber checked into Rick’s Bait and Tackle with a 3-pound, 12-ounce flounder that she caught in the Canal. Bethany Shickley weighed in a 2-pound, 4-ounce doormat at the Lewes Harbour Marina. She fished at the Roosevelt Inlet. In Maryland: Richard Clendening and Jason Veasey fished the Susquehanna River and caught a plethora of smallmouth bass with the largest weighing 3-pounds, 8-ounces using whopper ploppers. Veasey also caught a keeper striper on a soft plastic, and Clendening netted a 6-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass on a Fat Albert grub. Anglers are also catching keeper stripers trolling below Port Deposit on the Susquehanna.

PONDS

Anglers are catching bass and crappie at Paper Mill Pond on minnows and shiners. They are also catching them fishing at Lums Pond on the right side of the boat ramp, and at Garrisons Lake on frogs and senkos. Barb and Mike Trexler fished the spillway at Noxontown with bloodworms and minnows and caught white perch and a few short stripers. The Delaware State duck and goose call competition will be held at Captain Bones Bait & Tackle, located at 3195 S. DuPont Hwy in Odessa, Saturday, July 29. Registration is at 8 a.m. The champion will earn a trip to the world duck and goose call competition in Arkansas. For more information, call Captain Bones at 302-378-3377.

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