Despite some cruel blows from Mother Nature our spring wreck fishing continues in full swing. As most of you are aware the weekend weather pattern that we just can’t seem to get away from this year has hampered our fishing efforts on almost every Saturday for well over a month, however, we are still seeing excellent action on almost every trip!

We continue to fish and anchor over wrecks in the mouth of the Bay and all along the beachfront. Blackfish, more commonly known as “Tautog” are still what makes up the bulk of our catch however in the past few days we have been seeing a nice smattering of Black Sea Bass. Local boy Keith Russell from Lewes is pictured here with his citation sized 12 lb. Tog he landed on Sunday’s trip. Keith took a holiday with Fisherman’s Wharfs own Capt. Billy Talbot and between the two of them had a nice limit of Tog and a few big Sea Bass to take home for a Mother’s Day dinner! Keith didn’t enter the fish pool on this day but it was the biggest fish landed.

The question that seems to be on everybody’s mind is when will the Sea Bass start? I wish I could give you a good answer but quite frankly I just don’t know. For several years in a row we have had the luxury of a strong early Sea Bass run. Last year’s start was a little different possibly due to water temperatures and it seems like this year may be very similar. I have discussed this at length with some of the “old timers” and they assure me that there has been many a year when they wouldn’t look for any Black Bass until the middle of May, and in some years even later. I hope this proves to be the case for this spring. (By the way, some may argue, but I do not consider myself an old timer!) The bottom line is, we are starting to see a few Bass now and I firmly believe that it will only be a couple of weeks before we start to see some good catches of them.

 Even though the Bass have not been as cooperative as we would like, I assure you that fishing has been very good. With the exception of only a couple of trips, limits of Tog have been common and we have seen a few bonus fish to boot. Jim Wiseman started his party boat year off right this year with an 11 lb. Pollack that surprised no one more than I. Jim caught this fish on his first drop fishing over an inshore wreck no more than 5 miles off the beach. Outstanding catch Jim!! We have caught way too many citation-sized Tog over the past couple of weeks to mention or picture them all, but I do want to mention my 1st mate Capt. Benny’s 10-pound plus fish he landed while working with me just yesterday. We had been catching a few Sea Bass and Capt. Bennett was fishing with a light rod and reel when this beast hit a crab bait in 75 feet of water. Talk about shooting geese with a dove load. This was quite a battle with a light stick!

Another outstanding catch was made just last Friday on the day before the big blow. Bong Jae Kang from Alexandria Va. Landed this citation Striper as well as another smaller sized Rockfish while fishing over a shallow water wreck in the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Bong had already caught a limit of Tog and was relaxing in the increasing northeast breeze when this beauty doubled his rod! I have seen several Stripers caught while wreck fishing this spring and they are always a welcome sight even though they were not the target species. A few of the other species that we have seen over the past week would be Sharks, both Spiny Dogfish and Smooth Dogfish. We have also landed several net-chopping sized Blues and a lot of those bait snitching Bergaulls. The Tog however has stolen the limelight and is the fish that has kept anglers standing at the rail, perched like Great Blue Herons waiting to strike, on any given day. These fish are crafty and slick and they will make a grown many cry, but most of all they are a lot of fun to fish for as well as catch. I expect to see a lot of good days with these Tog in the immediate future and I also look forward to being able to make up a catch with just Sea Bass. The water temperature is slowly climbing and it is just a matter of time. Eventually we will get some spring like weather and we can finally put away the long johns and hooded shirts.

If you would like more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to make a reservation or book a charter. Please check out our website at fishlewes.com or give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.


Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

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