After a string of cancellations we finally managed to get away from the docks this past weekend for some more of that fabulous deep-water fishing that we have been enjoying so far this year.

Despite some cold conditions and some snow and freezing rain across our region late last week by the weekend the winds were light and the ocean was gorgeous. By Friday morning so many folks had called to cancel for Saturday’s Sea Bass trip that we had to pull the plug for another day. It’s a shame because the ocean was nice and the fishing was good. Capt. H.D. ran the only trip that left the docks on Saturday in search of birds instead of fish.

Paul Guris’s Sea Life Paulagics had arranged for a winter offshore bird watching trip that met with great success on Saturday not only with the various species of migrating birds that you will find in the offshore waters this time of year but also with the bonus of a big pod of Whales that were feeding right here in the mouth of the Delaware Bay.

The best news for the weekend though would be the successful fishing trip that we ran from Sunday night into Monday. With the weather window that was in the forecast Capt H made the call that set the wheels in motion for the annual fishing adventure organized by Kennett Square mushroom moguls Herb Guest of Kennett Square Specialties and James Davidson from CO2 Boost and Davidson and Pizzini. We geared up and departed the docks around midnight Sunday.

With a light and variable forecast, anticipation ran high for the anglers on this trip and nobody would be disappointed. The Ocean looked more like a pond then a vast body of water and the decision was made early to head right for the deep waters inside the canyons to our south. The fishing was awesome right out of the gate! We saw a nice variety with Jumbo Sea Bass and Blue Line Tilefish on each of the three stops that we made. Sea Bass anywhere from throwback size up to about six pounds were coming from the depths all around the boat and Tilefish up to twelve and fourteen pounds were bringing anglers to their knees winding them up from the 50+ fathoms of water sometimes two at a time! Other than a handful of Conger Eels, a few Bluefish and one Wreckfish, Sea Bass and Tilefish are what filled the boxes and ultimately made the day.

The water was crystal clear and your eyes would be glued to the surface waiting to see that “color”, so you would know the battle would soon come to an end after reeling all the weight up from the deep water. From an anglers standpoint this became almost like work after a few drops. It would take no fewer than 45 to 50 seconds for your rig just to reach the bottom and the bites were nearly instantaneous. If you went more than a few seconds without a bite you knew you had the dread of reeling up your rig to put more bait on the hooks. This work was well worth the effort though; with the beautiful fish coming up around the boat I didn’t see anybody giving up self-included!

By days end our arms would be sore from all the cranking and the totes would be full of fish! The only one that didn’t seem to mind the cranking would be Jimmy, his new electric reel was the talk of the day amongst the other anglers, Jimmy and whoever else was lucky enough to be using the rod was bringing these fish up from 325 feet of water with ease all day long! Believe me there were times I was quite jealous of that setup and by the way my arms are still sore.

We only have two more of these offshore trips on the schedule for this winter, March 8th and then again on March 22nd. If we do decide to throw in any more extended trips I will post the dates here or on the websites special trip link. Water temperatures for the offshore waters were around 46 degrees and around 42 degrees along the coast this is good for the migration pattern with the Sea Bass and we should have good success for several more weeks. As I had mentioned earlier there is an abundance of life here in the mouth of the Bay at this time and we will keep a close watch out for the availability of the Mackerel, it is possible that we could have a good inshore run on them this year at any time given the water temperatures and all the life that we are seeing close to home right now, if not all of our efforts will be for the Tautog and or the Stripers when we do resume our daily schedule this Spring. I will try to keep you posted with any updates.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to reserve a spot on a special trip or book a charter please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until next time Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale V
catchfish@verizon.net