August is rapidly coming to a close but the fishing scene is really just kicking into gear. Despite a few shots from Mother Nature over the past seven days we have actually had our best week on big Flounder with my all-day trips! Good numbers of Flatties from five pounds up to nine plus pounds have come over the rails just these past several days. Even with the weekend wind we were still able to continue seeing limit catches of nice Flounder for several lucky and skillful anglers.

Just about all of my fishing time was spent in the Ocean this past week with the exception of today 8/22. The third day of east winds made me opt for the Delaware Bay instead of fighting the six and eight foot swells out front. Today our happy anglers were blessed with way more Croakers than they wanted along with a few Snapper Blues and throwback Flounder and the seas were relatively calm!

We seem to have had a little more wind recently than what would be expected for this time of year but it really hasn’t effected our overall production. There were a few times that we had to go with the super heavy weights on the drift and there was even a couple days that we anchored over some rocks and were still able to catch nice fish both Flounder and a few Sea Bass. The deck is getting shuffled a little and more fish seem to be on the move. We saw Croakers and Snapper Blues in the Ocean for the first time just this past week while fishing for the Fluke. This is not a bad thing, I promised a variety catch and it seems as though that this is what we will have!

Half-Day trips continue to see good numbers of mixed size Croakers on just about every trip however some of the winds we have had seems to have effected the Bay much more than the Ocean at times making water clarity less than desirable and drifting conditions tough. Half-Day trips should continue to see good action with the Croakers for several more weeks along with a mix of a few other fish.

As the Summer winds down traditionally this has always been one of the best times of the year to catch fish and this year should be no exception. There is a spread of Croakers up in the Delaware Bay that stretches for miles and there are still reports of good to excellent Flounder fishing on both sides of the Bay along with large schools of Snapper Blues everywhere. As these fish start to filter their way down the Bay and stage in the mouth often times we have the best fishing of the year within a few miles of the inlet. It’s always good knowing that the best may be yet to come!

Full Day trips will continue to target the Flounder and I do anticipate a nice variety on some days with Bass, Blues and Croaker. The Sea Bass seem to be biting much better than they were most of the summer however many of these fish still fall way short of the minimum 12 inch requirement. This fishing is very similar to the way it has been the last two years when all of the sudden the keeper Bass came out from wherever they had been hiding and provided a good fall run.

We are still taking reservations for the offshore Tuna trips first of which will be Labor Day weekend departing Sunday evening and scheduled back at the dock Monday afternoon. These trips are basically a 22-hour trip dock to dock and we will be running these trips with the 110-foot vessel Thelma Dale V. Bunk space is available for everyone and you may want to bring a sleeping bag and a pillow.

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

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

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