Beach Fishing Plenty of sunshine, but gusty winds churn up water

[Sam]

There is no doubt about it; the times are changing here on the local angling scene. Mercurial weather has made local navigation somewhat treacherous, and of course the off colored water seems to have slowed down what was a pretty decent striper bite.


Capt. Rick Yakimowicz reports that the daily headboat out of Fisherman's Wharf has had some "typical" tog fishing during the last week. Anyone who has spent much time pursuing this wily critter knows that when this fishing is good, it can be really good. But when the tog aren't "snapping", well, it can make for a long day. Tog often are pretty tidal, meaning that they will feed during a particular stage of a tide more than another. With the current running pretty hard during this stage of the tide, often the slack water periods produce the best tog action.

Shore side anglers can do some tog fishing along the rocks of Indian River inlet. Dunking green crabs or frozen sand fleas are the best way to lure some of this wrasse out of the rocks and crevices in which they hide. Size 3 or 5 Virginia style hooks are good choices, and of course enough weight to hold bottom.
Capt. Rick also reports seeing more and more sea bass starting to show in his wreck fishing trips. Late April and early May are the traditional times that we start to see more and more bass on the inshore grounds, and, happily, these humpbacked fish are often some of the biggest of the year. It's hard to beat clam for sea bass, as the voracious fish really seem to like this bait, but squid can do a creditable job as well. Sea bass fishing should continue to improve if and when we get some consistently warm weather.


Striped bass fishing in Delaware Bay slowed somewhat on the heels of last week's storm. Those anglers that ventured out reported less legal fish being taken and the big numbers of "shorts" thinned out. Anglers reported a lot of floating debris ranging from logs and sticks to lawn chairs and other items swept away by the storm. Hopefully this fishing will come around some as the water clears of sediment. In the meantime, take your time running.


Indian River inlet continues to show signs of life on the rockfish front, with some decent fish being caught on both bucktails and long leaders rigged with pink flies. Some rogue bluefish have also been tallied from the inlet as well. Bluefish are also starting to trickle along the open surf as well, with some snappers being reported from the suds from Assateague on north to the inlet itself. Cut bait such as bunker or mackerel, as well as mullet, as accounted for the blues.


Flounder fishing is showing some signs of life in the back bays. For all of you that were concerned about being able to catch a limit of flounder in March and January, good news! The season on flounder will remain open year round, with the legal size being pushed up a full inch to 18 inches. According to DNREC the new regs go into effect on May 11th. Despite those who believe it's great to be able to have all that extra time to nab all those big fluke swimming out there, the regulations are expected to reduce the catch by almost 30% over last year's tally. No doubt they will.


Finally, it seems there is more massaging going on with the proposed General Fishing license currently in the House. You'll remember from last year this proposal would require licensing for fishing in Delaware's tidal waters as well as fresh. Again, while I have no doubt that there is a vocal segment for these new regulations (marketed as a tool for better management and improved facilitates; being against this license can be akin to being against motherhood and baseball), it's hard not to think of those folks not fortunate enough to fish every weekend, or even once a month. They vacation during the middle of the summer and salt water fish a few times a year. Closing your eyes, you can envision them boarding a headboat that will have to pay additional fees to cover their license and fish for flounder in the Delaware Bay that they will more than likely be too small to keep. Hopefully, those folks can take solace in the fact that they will be allowing those of you lucky enough to get up early and catch a few big flatties from the reef sites, or can afford an ocean-worthy hull, or catch that surprise flounder fishing for rockfish in the fall that you just couldn't live without, the chance to do so.

Source

[Flatfish]

4 at 18" is great news for me. Each year since size minimums were imposed back in the early 80's, the size and number of my catch has been improving.