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Wind blows any chance of getting out on the water

July 27, 2018

The last fishable weather we had was in the morning July 20; then the wind picked up and it hasn’t stopped blowing since. Small craft advisories have been flying, and the ocean and bay boats have been tied to the dock. The wind has roiled the water in the bay, so even the usually dependable fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park has seen little activity.

Before the blow, fishing was pretty good over bay reef sites for kings, trout, croaker and blues. The Old Grounds, B Buoy and Site 11 produced good numbers of flounder and a few keeper sea bass. The inshore lumps, such as Massey’s Canyon and the Hot Dog, saw some big bluefin tuna and dolphin.

In spite of some nasty weather conditions last weekend, the Paradise Cove Inland Bays Flounder Tournament produced some impressive fish.

First place overall went to Keven Stevenson with a 4.3-pound flounder worth either $10,000 cash or a $23,385 pontoon boat and motor from Shorts Marine. Keven took the boat and motor. David Asnor took second place with a 4.0-pound flounder that won him $5,000.  Third place went to L.P. Faucett, who took home $2,500 for his 4.0-pounder. Nathan Mitchell finished fourth with a 3.9-pound flounder worth $1,000. And in fifth place was Andy Coates with a 3.8-pounder worth $500.

Calcutta was taken by Nathan Mitchell, who added $2,200 to his winnings with a total weight of 6.8 pounds. L.P. Faucett won an additional $1,320 with a 6.1-pound total weight. Rick Ritter took home $880 with a total weight of 6.0 pounds.

Winning the women’s division was Aleah Swithenbank, who caught a 3.7-pound flounder and won $500. Second place went to Theresa Coats, who collected a 3.3-pound flounder to win $250. Wendy Ford took third place with a 3.2-pounder for a win of $100.

Ethan Bealer won the kids’ division and took home $500 for his 3-pound flounder. Second place went to Hayden Slaughter with a 2-pound flounder worth $250. The third-place finishers were Luke Hitchens and Grace Gross with a tie for their 1.9-pound flounder.

The Oak Orchard Boys & Girls Club was awarded a check for $2,215 as a donation from the tournament.

Exactly what to expect after the wind and rain finally stop is pretty hard to predict. No doubt the inland waters will be pretty stirred up and will take a day or two to settle out. I think the key to catching fish will be finding clean water, and perhaps by late in the weekend some will begin to show up.

Offshore, the wind could get the tuna and billfish in a feeding mood. Of course, the seas are going to have to calm down before anyone can get out there to see what’s going on.

Fishing trips

I was able to get out fishing July 19-20, although not exactly where I wanted to go. Harry Yingling, a friend from Maryland, and Larry Weldin, who has a home and boat at Mariner’s Cove on Long Neck, and I planned to fish the Old Grounds July 19. We met at Larry’s at 6 a.m. and were greeted by an east wind that had whitecaps on Rehoboth Bay. Nevertheless, we ran to Indian River Inlet only to find out what we already knew, the ocean was much too rough for three old guys.

Back at the dock, we unloaded the boat, loaded the truck and headed for my house, where Harry’s boat was waiting. Once his boat was loaded, we ran to the Lewes boat ramp and began by fishing the Broadkill River. This resulted in two oyster crackers and one short rockfish.

By now the wind had dropped out, so we tried the bay. We hit the Ferry Wall and fished between the piers only to catch a couple of very small spot.

The next morning we headed back out at the same time, and while the bay was a sheet of glass, my GPS had lost all its waypoints, so we couldn’t find Reef Site 8, where I wanted to fish. At this point we decided to fish the canal and had no better luck there than we did in the Broadkill River the day before.

We saw the Angler heading out of Roosevelt Inlet and followed Capt. Don Churchill to Reef Site 8. Once there, I began using a top-bottom rig baited with peeler crab and bloodworms, and started catching kings, trout and croaker along with a couple of very small smooth dog sharks. Harry stuck with his flounder rig and caught a very large skate.

Around 11:30 the wind began to blow out of the southeast, so we decided to head back to the dock. The ride in was a bit bumpy and the poor guy on the port side got a little wet. And so it goes.

  • Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.

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