Fisherman's Wharf Fishing Report August 12, 2004

This past week has without any doubt been one of the best weeks of catching fish that we have had all summer. Private boats, Charter boats and Head boats alike have all been reporting good catches of fish. Flounder, Croakers, and Sea Bass are the inshore mainstay and the big news offshore would be the Yellowfin Tuna.

On the All-day boat Keen lady IV, we have spent an equal amount of time both in the Delaware Bay as well as on the Atlantic Ocean. My last five days however, have all been in the ocean. Our catch has been mostly Croakers and Sea Bass but in five days time of fishing out front, we have managed to catch over 100 Flounders weighing up to 6 lbs. Most of these fish, much like the Flounders that we have been catching up in the Bay, have been caught on or near some type of bottom structure such as rocks or some of the steep hard bottom ledges.

Even though we have seen some descent numbers of Flounder this past week; they are not necessarily what has made our fishing seem so good. Even the best of anglers may not have landed a keeper Fluke by days’ end. This is one reason why I’d rather be lucky than good. What has made our fishing so much fun is the action that we have had, and the variety of fish that we have seen coming in over the rails.

Croakers have still made up the bulk of our catch but we are now starting to see a nice smattering of Sea Bass mixed in as well. If it were not for the 12-inch minimum size restriction on the Sea Bass our numbers of these fish would be much greater. A lot of the Bass are falling just shy of 12 inches. This should be a good sign for the fall run. We are also seeing some SpikeTrout, Kingfish, Bluefish, Mackerel and we even had a Thresher Shark hooked up a couple of days ago. This variety of fish makes for some real interesting fishing action.

I expect this type of action to continue in the upcoming weeks. We have several options available now with places that we can catch these fish. Weather and tidal conditions play a major role in where we will fish on any given day and for which species we might have the best action with. Regardless of whether we choose to fish in the Ocean or up in the Bay, I believe that some of our best fishing of the season is yet to come!

The Offshore-fishing front is in full swing now. As of today our private charter boat Lewestown Lady has returned to the dock three days in a row with good catches of Yellowfin Tuna weighing in up to 60 lbs. Capt. Benny says that there are still some weekday openings and a couple of weekends open if you want to get a charter together for this red hot offshore action.

I also want to remind you that we will be starting with our 22-hr. Tuna trips with the Headboat this month. This may be your best option for Tuna fishing if you are by yourself or you have only a couple of people in your group. These trips will all be running on one of the big boats for your comfort. There is limited space available and it is suggested that you reserve your spot in advance.

If you would like more information on trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to reserve a spot on one of the upcoming 22-hr. Tuna trips please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA or check out our website at fishlewes.com


Until next time Happy Fishing!
Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
fishing@fishlewes.com
Keen Lady IV