After almost a solid month of good Sea Bass fishing I’m afraid that the wheels may be starting to roll off of the wagon. Heavy pressure over the last couple of weeks and the lack of moving fish has made excellent Sea Bass catches a little less frequent. Despite the fact that we had a few really good trips just this past week it seems as though the spring run of Sea Bass is drying up.

As I stated we did have a few really nice trips over the past week but we also had a few bummers. You can chalk some of this up to just fishing but the plain and simple fact is that the Sea Bass just do not seem to be rebuilding around the structure the way that they were just a couple of short weeks ago. Perhaps a little Northeast wind could help, maybe we just need more migrating fish, I don’t know. Even some of the “secret spots” are not producing the way that they sometimes do this time of the year; there is just no backbone to the biting fish.

My best luck continues to be anchored over wrecks and rocks and oftentimes the areas that I have anchored over with the best success have been so small that only certain areas of the boat see most of the action and the fish are caught up in a couple short drops of the line. On the bigger wrecks where everyone gets in on the action it seems like we catch up most of the Bass in the first few minutes then it turns to a grubby pick, and then turns to mostly Blackfish. Some of The Tog have been real nice in size, but we will get just a few Bass mixed in.

I must say I didn’t really expect them but we have seen a lot of Blackfish (tautog) limits over the past several days. This to me proves that the numbers of Bass over the structures we have been fishing just aren’t there; you always catch the Bass first. This past Saturday’s trip alone we saw a dozen or more Tog that would tip the scales in double digits or more with quite a few spring limits landed around the rail mixed in with nice Bass. Had the state of Delaware not discontinued its citation program I may have had writers cramp between the Tog and Big Bass weighed in over the weekend. These fish were very impressive.

I’m not certain just how long I will be sticking with the wreck fishing, time will tell. Weather kept us tied to the docks both Sunday and Monday and after missing only one day in the last three weeks it really didn’t break my heart. We were back out today 6/05 and the catch was similar to the better days of last week. Top hooks landed between 10 and 15 Sea Bass along with their limit of Tog, and the numbers went down from there. Once again there were quite a few limits of Tog around the rail with the biggest fish around nine pounds. The Fluke up in the Delaware Bay did not bite too well today. We had quite a bit of southerly wind along with rain the last couple of days and this may have hindered the Flounder bite. Water temperatures continue to rise with surface temps in the Ocean as warm as 62 degrees and Bay water temperatures a tepid 68. Fluke fishing has been hot and cold up in the Bay however there have been quite a few Flatties brought in that have been well over five pounds. With the right crowd and the right conditions we could be up there trying on any given day. We will also have days where we will be drifting the open bottom in the Ocean expecting a mix of Bass and Flounder. Unless there is a major movement of Sea Bass to the structures anchoring will be phased out to the drift in the upcoming weeks when the conditions are right.

One of the best things we have going for us at the Wharf is our location. When we break the inlet we can either turn left and go up the Bay or we can make a right and be in the Ocean. There will more than likely be a few days in the next couple of weeks that I struggle with this option as far as which is the best way to go but I will be using all available resources to help me make the best choice and show you the best day of fishing that I can!

If you are looking for a cooler full of Sea Bass bring a smaller cooler and a couple of friends to help you fill it up, it will be better again later in the year. If you are looking for a great day on the water with a chance of catching some fish; come on down I will do the best that I can! Good numbers of Fluke are just around the corner.

We are pretty much in the full summer schedule now I will be running the Full-Day boat daily sailing at 7:00 a.m. and returning to the docks around 4:00. Half-Day trips are running three time a day; 8:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. and then again at 6:00 p.m. We also are running Dolphin and Whale watching trips now. If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a charter please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Keen Lady IV
catchfish@verizon.net