Fisherman's Wharf Fishing Report September 16, 2004

After what had seemed like a never-ending easterly blow, we did finally manage to get away from the docks again on a daily basis as of last Friday. With hopes of a variety of fish I ventured out to the grounds right where we had left off a few days ago. The Bottom was covered with fish and we proceeded to catch them.

Croakers have made up the bulk of our catch this past week but there have been enough Snapper Blues, Spike Trout and Flounder mixed in to keep things interesting. I have seen more keeper sized Trout caught in the past few days than I have seen in a long time. Some of these Trout have been as big as a couple of pounds.

As of this writing I have sailed every day for six days straight. The catch has been somewhat consistent with most anglers being able to walk away with a nice catch despite the fact that we can not keep the Sea Bass. The Federal closure on the Bass will remain in effect until September 22nd at which time I fully expect to see as good, or even better numbers of these fish than we have seen all season.

The Flounder have remained somewhat elusive since we’ve had all the wind but they are still around and we have been seeing a few of them landed with each trip. Boats that have concentrated specifically with catching Flounder have been seeing a little better numbers than I have seen, but it is still a far cry from the action that we have had with the round fish making this mixed bag fishing the better option. Some days we have landed as many Flounder as the boats targeting just the Flatties plus we have had good numbers of Trout, Croaker, and Blues to boot.

It is entirely possible that we will be seeing some good Flounder action again in the next few weeks given the right conditions, however as long as we continue to see a good mixed bag catch I will continue to try for this type of action. This will put more keeper fish in the box by the day’s end and will also allow those that wish to catch just Flounder to still have a good shot at them.

Our fishing will continue to be good for several weeks. There are still a lot of fish in a lot of different locations. The Croakers, Trout and Snapper Blues are spread up and down the Coastline for over 30 miles as well as way up in the Delaware Bay. There are also Flounder everywhere including some of the Back Bays. All of these fish will be staging in the mouth of the Delaware Bay and along our coastline allowing us a perfect opportunity to try and catch them this fall.

We will continue with the All-Day trips until the middle of December. Don’t forget that we will also be running several special trips for Sea Bass, TauTog, and Tuna. We do request that you reserve in advance for all special trips. If you would like more information on any trips sailing out of the Wharf please check out our website or give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA .


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