As far as I’m concerned fishing this past week has been great. Still much better than the business of taking people fishing. Light crowds have dominated the scene at the Wharf again this past week and much of my time has been spent fishing close to home for the Tog. Limit catches have been made on each and every trip with Tog up to 12 pounds. I did venture off a couple days last week in search of the Sea Bass and I can honestly say that we are catching some Sea Bass now.

It’s kind of a good news bad news scenario. Good news is that yes there are Bass and we are catching them, bad news is that the best fishing for them is still out a little further than what we are used to for this time of year. I fished the mid range (60 to 90 feet) one day and had a mix of both Tog and Bass but Tog is what really made the trip. We did see some nice sized Sea Bass in these depths, however not the numbers that I would like to have seen.

I ventured out about thirty miles on Saturday with a moderate sized crowd and some awesome weather. We fished wrecks in the depths of 100 to 120 feet and we had the best Sea Bass action of the year so far for an eight…. Or should I say nine and a half hour day. We actually had our first limits on Sea Bass Saturday with most anglers landing between ten and twenty very nice fish. It was nice to see coolers full of Bass for a change! We also had a smattering of nice sized Ling and a pool winning Cod. Plenty of action on this trip with the Ocean Pouts, Bergaulls, Eels and Sharks mixed in just to keep things interesting. There was never really a dull moment!

With a light crowd and way too much Southeast wind I was back in the mouth of the Delaware Bay on Sunday fishing for the Tautog. Results varied. Some caught a quick easy limit of these crafty bottom dwellers while others wondered how they could possibly loose their bait or their rig so fast and not even feel anything bite. I can’t stress enough the need to have the right equipment while fishing over these wrecks. Light spinning rods with 15 or 20 lb. line just don’t get it. It’s kind of like shooting at geese with dove load! Just not effective. There is just too much stretch with the lighter monofilament lines and you need a stiff enough tip on your rod too keep these fish up when they hit.

Water temperatures are still climbing nicely. I have seen water as warm as 60 degrees on the surface in the Bay and 56 degrees in the Ocean. Sea Bass will continue to gather on the wrecks over the next several weeks and I believe that we will see some great fishing for these Bass in the immediate future without having to run thirty miles. I will be wreck fishing every day sailing at 7:00 a.m. with the all-day trips. Depending on the weather and the size of the crowds it is still possible that we will be targeting the Tog however as each day passes it will be more likely that the Sea Bass fishing will take over. As the water warms the Tog are likely to become less active feeders and bite more finicky with the changing tides making the Sea Bass a better option.

Night fishing will kick off this coming Friday with 10 hour trips running on both Friday and Saturday nights. These trips will be targeting Drum and Stripers for at least a couple more weeks unless the Blues move in. Both Drum as well as some Big Stripers have been landed frequently these past few weeks by the boats that have targeted them.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or if you are interested in booking a charter please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt, Rick Yakimowicz

Thelma Dale V