After a few more long days sitting at the dock wishing we were fishing we have been out now for several days in a row and with any luck our “daily schedule” will truly become daily. We are starting to see a few Sea Bass now on our regular full-day trips and the Tog fishing continues to be outstanding at times. Water temperatures are approaching 60 degrees in the Bay and about 56 or 57 in the Ocean.

As the weekend approached perigee tides affected the Tog bite up in the Delaware Bay. Strong currents had these crafty bottom dwellers at the top of their game this past weekend and the bite was sometimes short and sometimes only on the flops of the tide. We were however able to make a day of it on Friday actually landing several limits with the Tog and still seeing some quality fish but it was not without pain, at times we were using nearly a pound of weight in less than 50 feet of water just to stay in touch with the bottom!

With Saturday’s crowd turning out to be the biggest of the year I thought it best to try and get away from the hard running currents, we took off hoping to see some Bass and maybe Tog out a little further away from the heart of the strong tides in the mouth of the Bay. We weren’t disappointed. We ended up catching Sea Bass all day long and some lucky anglers would even wind up with double digits or a few more by days end. There were however lots of folks that only landed a few keepers for their efforts. Small fish were abundant and bites were constant but the numbers of keepers just didn’t add up for some. This is just the beginning of the spring run of Bass though and as this water warms and these fish migrate inshore to spawn it’s only going to get better.

Sunday’s trip ended up being somewhat of a special one, it was really one of those days that you would actually want to write home about. We started out the day with just about all limits of Tog for the entire boat up to ten pounds and basically had all we needed by 10:30. I ventured out a little deeper and found a few really nice Sea Bass for a bonus catch. We also had lots of Sharks to keep you on your toes and way too many more Tog. They were biting and we had no choice but to throw them back. Nice ones too our biggest was just shy of 12 pounds and I know we threw several back that were over six and seven pounds. If it were always that easy! On Monday we were back to reality again. We did have a nice mix with Sea Bass and Tog on Mondays trip but once again that strong current got us late in the day and catching a Tog was like pulling teeth late in the day.

Unfortunately we will be hit with the fishcrats double whammy at the end of this week; the Tog fishery will be shut down and the new Flounder regulations will take effect. As of May 12th we will no longer be able to land any Tautog and the Flounder we catch will now have to be 19 ½ inches to keep, all efforts will be concentrated toward catching Bass over wrecks for several more weeks after that until the Moby Fluke show up. Your last chance for Tog this spring will be in the next few days.

As I stated earlier it does look like our daily schedule is becoming more frequent. As long as the weather is nice and we have a few folks around we will be getting out every day. Wreck fishing will be the main menu and I expect to see some nice days with the Sea Bass. Expect to fish anywhere from 70 to 120 feet of water anchored over wrecks or other types of sticky bottom and likely no more than ten or twelve ounces of lead should do.

We will also have one more 18-hour long-range trip departing this Friday night at midnight fishing for Tilefish and Sea Bass if you would like to try the deep drop trip. Reservations in advance are required for this trip and there is limited space. Night fishing for Drum and Stripers will also be running this Friday and Saturday night departing at 6:00 p.m. a close friend of mine reported catching an 83 pounder just two nights ago!

We are finally getting into the full pace of fishing here in lewes now, the weather has been good other than some fog, the gnats are biting while were cleaning fish, and anglers are bringing in catches of Drum, a few Stripers, Blues and Flounder as well as the Sea Bass and Tog. It’s started!! Plan your day and come on down.

If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to make reservations or book a private charter give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

Until Next Week Happy Fishing!

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