| Author | Message | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1438 Registered: 7-2000 |
Well, it wasn't as promised, but I met up with Warden, Coolerpup, Dick, Warden's son Jeff, and another fella whose handle I didn't remember, first light Saturday morning on the south side rocks. On the way out, I heard a distant caller, Fishinghal, standing on the rocks. Hal, you look good buddy. Congrats on the successful recovery! Well, anticipating some of those trout [Warden showed that he bought at the seafood market and then snuck out on the point in his creel bag], we certainly put in our time on the point. Warden nailed a 12' bluefish that he proudly displayed on a stringer. Dick got one, and Coolerpup got one. A white bucket gentleman had one decent tog and one questionable tog on bait. We were mixing storms and bucktails tipped with white tails. I had something big on for about three seconds...felt the headshake, then boink! Gave it up. Warden and son went for coffee, Dick went to Fraggin's boat, Coolerpup went home and I fished the low ebb at the bridge. Here's a good one. After getting my storm tails bitten off a couple of times, I switched to a gotcha paddle tail (I think that is right), with 3/8 lead head. Was bouncing the bottom behind the bridge piling, when suddenly I felt a pick up that started moving. I drove the hook home and off to the races. Twenty minutes later I get my first peek at what I thought was a huge sluggish strippppper, even though I was never convinced. It turns out that a cow nose ray, about thirty pounds, went after my artie. I finally snapped my 50# power pro intentionally. Had a big crowd anticipating the huge stripppper, including a guy with a net. Oh well. Fished most of the day, through the afternoon thunder storm, at Fenwick N end. Saw Gene Reynolds and chatted a bit. Strange "southern" fishing day. Son of George caught a pompano and a sandbar, and George caught a spiney puffer! First one I've ever seen in DE waters. I caught a nice kingfish, and in anticipation of more to come, deposited her in the cooler. That was all she wrote...plenty of hits, no fishies. Caught one smokin' blue at the end of the afternoon. Gene, a great guy and great fisherman, caught 4 nice kings, and gave me the current recipe to catching kingies. You want to know zactly what to do to catch kingies. Otay to use a kingfish rig, but NO floats. Bait with fresh, small chunks of spot, readily available at most shops. Change out frequently if the speckled crabs don't take care of the problem for you. Moved on down to the new Henlopen access past the Biden Center, and fished next to the Navy Jetty. Caught five smooth dogfish in rapid succession. When they're there, it seems nothing else is. Sunday, I fished the beach at Woodland on incoming from 13:00 to 17:00. Peeler and bloods, circles 2/0 and no floats. NO MATTER. As soon as I set up, the guy to my N caught a short, <24" stripppper that he kept. I'm thinking, well maybe there's some glimmer of hope. Got two slam style hits, and that was it. I was moving up to larger hooks, but not another decent bite. Was losing plenty of bait to small stuff i could see by my rod tip. One stripppper off the pier, but I couldn't tell how big. I wouldn't have ever believed it, but you wouldn't believe the number of people swimming at Woodland. Not me baby, not there! Smith's bait and tackle concurs that this has been the worst bay surf action ever in memory. | ||
| Skeeterbait
Junior Member Username: Skeeterbait Post Number: 65 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well tried something different. I actually tried floating sand fleas at IRI - early incomming Thursday evening - back closer to the coast guard station. Usually try plugs and such from the bridge and points east. Buddies didn't want to venture out so I hung with them. Got one ugggggly oyster cracker and then 3 stripers. One ~ 14" one ~ 21" and the third I figured to be another schoolie and I was taking my time with it. My buddy says hey net that one so I do and it is 25" and a keeper. Turned into breakfast! Oh and my buddies caught zip. Bragging rights too! I love that. | ||
| Dick
Senior Member Username: Dick Post Number: 1868 Registered: 5-2001 |
Funny about those blues CT. You'll pick one up occasionally on a BT, but when you switch to the storm it's usually one cast and the tail is gone. It was a nice morning on the rocks, we have to do that more often. | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1446 Registered: 7-2000 |
Perfect eatin sizeSkeeter. Were the fleas getting smacked on the drift, or off the bottom? You know they hit it on the drift on the South side, but the current isn't as wild over by the CG station, and it's shallower. | ||
| Coolerpup
Senior Member Username: Coolerpup Post Number: 390 Registered: 10-2002 |
Nice fishin with all of ya. i had a great time on the jetty and look forward to my next trip. I was waiting on George to post with pics but I guess he is still chasing those Trout he TOLD us about  I did fish South on Fenwick from 10-330 when the storms came up. I didnt catch anything but small sharks. I used Peeler, Bloods, and Spot. If I didnt have the family with me I would have moved north, but with 5 kids and just as many boogie boards I didnt want to interfere with the die-hard fisherman that day. Fishing day= FISH HARD Family day = FISH VERY LITTLE But I still kept two rods in the water with bait plus my dad was fishing so I could actually relax a little. AllenC | ||
| Tarpon1
Junior Member Username: Tarpon1 Post Number: 91 Registered: 10-2002 |
CT, I have been using some flies tied like sand fleas and float them near the rocks. The last 2 years I did OK but have not tried it this year yet. I have been too tired to get up early to try it out. Rick | ||
| Warden
Senior Member Username: Warden Post Number: 687 Registered: 8-2000 |
OK, I have the text written but for some reason I can't upload the pics. I hit upload and I get Nothing! Stand by, I'll get it eventually. George | ||
| Warden
Senior Member Username: Warden Post Number: 689 Registered: 8-2000 |
My son and I arrived IRI around 10pm, Thursday night, July 17th. Hit the jetty around 4:30am Friday and fished until 6:30am. Claude (Nighter) was out there before us and he had a nice trout in the live well but after we arrived, we had some blues and a couple of short stripers but that was it. Went back to the camper, ate, etc. and then went to the beach. Went just north of the inlet, set up shop and fished with bloods, squid soaked in peeler and finger mullet. Caught one 13" kingfish on bloodworm. The ankle biters were bad until 1:00 pm when the wind shifted to out of the southeast. The seabreeze made for a nice afternoon on the beach. The picture is of my son Jeff and our beach canopy setup. Simple but effective.  Saturday morning was the "Beach-net storms the jetty" day! More specifically, it was Coolerpup's initiation on the jetty. There was Claude (Nighter), Jon (Dick), Martin(Charlietuna), Allen(Coolerpup), me (Warden) and my son Jeff. There was also an Asian dude Tog fisherman that showed up to add some diversity to our group. And now the pics............... The Gang! CT makes a fashion statement on the jetty. Of course, Martin's red shorts were nothing compared to Dick's "Pink" worms! Did you have to order those pick worms special there, Dick?  Here's the Pup and then Dick on the jetty. Photographic proof they were both there!   And the Pup catches his first jetty fish. Nothing to write home about, but it's a start!  And then here's a shot of me carrying the heavy load of the day's catch off the jetty. Actually, I kept that bluefish for bait for the afternoon's surf fishing but as far as the morning's catch goes, there might have been a short striper here and there and of course almost everyone caught a bluefish but that was about it....  Some of us switched over to surf fishing after the jetty excursion. CT, my son Jeff and I ended up at the North Fenwick beach. The action was hot and heavy as can be seen by this shot of CT intensely watching his rods.....  The one high point of the surf fishing was this fish Jeff caught. Mystery fish....anybody know what it is??????  We fished the jetty early Sunday morning and then the South Fenwick beach in the afternoon. NADA. We got to talking about the situation out on the jetty and we came to learn that Claude had recently retired his tried and true fishing vest; I had thrown away my lucky fishing hat; I mean it was really ugly. I couldn't handle it anymore. And my son left his lucky fishing hat at home. How could we expect to do well under those conditions! Oh, well, at least now the Pup is initiated. When we first got out there in the dark, I set the Pup up casting to the ocean side. All was well until Claude went over to Allen and told him that no one had caught a fish over there since the late 1950s. That Claude had to go and ruin things! | ||
| Shamrock22
Intermediate Member Username: Shamrock22 Post Number: 169 Registered: 10-2002 |
WARDEN, EXCELLENT REPORT AND PICS....LOOKS LIKE A GOOD TIME!!!! IS THAT A POMPANO!!!!! | ||
| Duckman
New member Username: Duckman Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2003 |
That is a pompano.....catch em all the time down in Hatteras. They are excellent table fare. Kind of odd to see so many get caught on our beaches this year. | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1447 Registered: 7-2000 |
Jeez, am I photogenic or what! Nice neck...beach whale. I must have been snoring or something. Thanks for that flattering pic George. You'll get yours. | ||
| Dick
Senior Member Username: Dick Post Number: 1870 Registered: 5-2001 |
I knew it was some how your fault we didn't catch anything Warden. definatly have to do that more often. | ||
| Ravenman
Junior Member Username: Ravenman Post Number: 70 Registered: 4-2002 |
Warden, did you keep the pompano and if so how did it taste? Also, what was it caught on? Oh yeah, good report and pictures. Looks like you had great weather. | ||
| Warden
Senior Member Username: Warden Post Number: 691 Registered: 8-2000 |
CT, Couldn't help myself! I tried to get around in front more to get a good shot of your open mouth but you woke up before I could get the dirty deed done. Dick, It was fun without fish. With fish would be a blast! Rav. The Pompano was caught on a small piece of peeler cast out as far as possible. It was scaled and gutted and is going to be stuffed and then grilled. They are supposed to be excellent tablefare. I'll let you know how it came out.  | ||
| Gosh
Junior Member Username: Gosh Post Number: 77 Registered: 10-2002 |
Great report! Sounds like a good time. | ||
| Skeeterbait
Junior Member Username: Skeeterbait Post Number: 66 Registered: 10-2002 |
CT You asked about the drift on the fleas - well I got them drifting in the current without weight. Just two fleas on a large hook - about 3 feet of 30lb mono leader - and a swivel before the running line. My buddy tried to do it with a bit of weight to get it down and he got zilch except he got hung up several times and was retying while I was catching. Not sure if location makes the difference but they were caught out a bit not right on the rocks like I sort of expected. Tarpon - can you post a pic of those flies? Do you tie one flea per hook? What materials? Sort of surprised that the fish can find a small object like a sand flea at night drifting by but I guess they learned how to get something to eat somehow. Now that I'm thinking of it I also always sort of wondered why black works at night? You would think that what little light there is you would want something they can see. The fish must have some good sensors. Skeeterbait | ||
| Dckhd247
Senior Member Username: Dckhd247 Post Number: 305 Registered: 10-2002 |
Skeeter, THe black works because they are looking up at the bait and can see the profile better with the dark color at night...I hope that makes sense and that it is right...I always thought that it was why... | ||
| Tarpon1
Junior Member Username: Tarpon1 Post Number: 92 Registered: 10-2002 |
The fly is tied one per hook but are the size of a silver dollar and smaller. They are spun deer hair with some orange tied on near the eye. The size depends on the hook size. You just drift them like a cork. The fish hit them with a slurp and away you go. Rick | ||
| Noobie
New member Username: Noobie Post Number: 3 Registered: 5-2003 |
Im interested in the fish you ID'ed as a pompano - last year on a sampling trip with the University of Delaware we caught a juvenile Permit walking a seine net at henlopen At that size it is very difficult to discern whether you have a florida pampano (Trachunotu carolinus) or a permit (Trachinotus falcatus)the only way is to actually count the rays of the anal and dorsal fins. 22 to 27 dorsal rays and 20-24 anal rays it's a florida pampano 17-21 dorsal rays and 16-19 anal rays and it is a Permit. Through the picture with almost certainty I can eliminate African Pampano since the head is not as blunt. | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1449 Registered: 7-2000 |
Good point Noobie. Now that I think about it...humph. We all said "pompano" because we already heard reports that scattered pompano were being caught. Now, pompano get much bigger than permit, right? | ||
| Warden
Senior Member Username: Warden Post Number: 693 Registered: 8-2000 |
The fish is still in the freezer, I'll see if I can get the kid to count rays......... | ||
| Noobie
New member Username: Noobie Post Number: 4 Registered: 5-2003 |
Actually Pampano and Permit both get to about the same average size another way I forgot to mention to differentiate the two would be that a permit has 2 small spines just before the anal fin however in juvenile fish they haven't usually formed | ||
| Warden
Senior Member Username: Warden Post Number: 695 Registered: 8-2000 |
OK, It's a Pompano. I remember seeing the two spines. George | ||
| Skeeterbait
Junior Member Username: Skeeterbait Post Number: 67 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hmmmm A spun deer hair cork. What if we tried drinking a bottle of wine and using the real cork? At least the wine would be fun. How about a spun deer hair silver dollar sized hair ball soaked in shedder oil. Would that work? I'd bet it would. Wonder if a tog would go for it? Hmmmmmm. Anyone use artificials for tog or is that strickty a crab/clam bait fishing proposition? That certainly is all I've ever used for the bait stealing tasties. | ||
| Coolerpup
Senior Member Username: Coolerpup Post Number: 395 Registered: 10-2002 |
Warden......glad you all got into something besides sharks on the north end. That has become one of my favorite beaches to fish not only for catching, but is usually a little less crowded except on Sundays. AllenC | ||
| Seadawg
Senior Member Username: Seadawg Post Number: 696 Registered: 8-2000 |
Skeeterbait, I've caught tog on spec rigs before. Had a guy hold the nose of the boat near the wall, and I picked up several that day. Ron | ||
| Jay_little
Moderator Username: Jay_little Post Number: 1249 Registered: 10-2002 |
A 10 lb 8 oz Tog was caught on the Wahine on a white 1oz BT while trout fishing structure. This was during the spring spawn and they were dancing out of the water and just a tad excitable. There have been times when we have run out of bait and have caught them on just the apron or a single claw from a greenie. So I reckon it can be done when the bite is hot but I don't make a practice of it. | ||
| Seadawg
Senior Member Username: Seadawg Post Number: 699 Registered: 8-2000 |
Ditto with Jay on the tog with lures. I only had one keeper, most were small on the spec rigs, I was just trying it to prove a point to the guy I was fishing with, and was hoping for a striper or trout that day too. I guess if you try long and hard enough (and the fish are hungry enough), you can catch about any specie on just about any lure. Ron | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1453 Registered: 7-2000 |
Speaking of 'tog, I either read on another web site or someone told me that [they swear] they were fishing a wreck for tog that is exposed at low tide (the mohawk???), and tog were jumping out of the water. Was my chain yanked? | ||
| Seadawg
Senior Member Username: Seadawg Post Number: 701 Registered: 8-2000 |
CT, I have never seen it. I've seen them near the surface at the outer wall, and become exposed with the waves, but that is the closest to jumping. For another unusual tog item, a few years ago (before the reefs), I had a trusted friend show me some nice tog that he caught on the south Oyster beds at Port Mahon, while drift fishing for trout. In the middle of summer..... And, it still amazes me how many tog they catch at the pier at Massey's. I've personally seen them caught there. Has anyone caught tog off of the pier at Lewes??? | ||
| Jay_little
Moderator Username: Jay_little Post Number: 1253 Registered: 10-2002 |
Tog will do that during the spawn. I have seen it many times. I would hazard to guess many critters exhibit unusual behaviors during the same situation. | ||
| Dulcinea
New member Username: Dulcinea Post Number: 6 Registered: 5-2003 |
Charlietuna, My dog loves swimming at Woodland Beach if the green heads are not there, heck even my daughter goes in the water. But not me, no way. By the way the Dulcinea is headquartered in Woodland Beach. Last place on the left before the beach, usually three boats in the front yard. If the Dulcinea is uncovered or there is a green and silver Dodge there stop in and say hi. Dulcinea | ||
| Charlietuna
Senior Member Username: Charlietuna Post Number: 1464 Registered: 7-2000 |
Thanks for the invite Keith! I alway check your place out because of the boats around. I keep expecting to see someone there cleaning fish! I'll say hi next time I see life out front. Greenheads!!! Man they are vicious there. BUT I always tour Bug Guard Plus, and as soon as I put that on they would not light. They'd hit ya' and bounce off. If you see a Blue Bronco, Eddie Bauer, with a Gene Reynolds rack on the front, it's me. I usually park on the sand just off the ramp in front of the old bar. Hey, since you're a local, a couple of questions: 1) The other day, I drove through about 6 inches of water on Rt 6(?) at the bridge. Is that the norm, or was it an unusual high tide? 2) What's the story with that place that used to be a bar? Do you know who owns it? It would be cool to ressurect it into a beach bar w/some volley ball courts, front deck, you know. It's a nice piece of property. I see a bunch of 4x4s in the weeds behind it, and there's a light glowing inside the place. | ||
| Mrmarkedwards
New member Username: Mrmarkedwards Post Number: 5 Registered: 12-2002 |
CT the water on the road is the norm go through there during a new or full moon! | ||
| Dulcinea
New member Username: Dulcinea Post Number: 8 Registered: 5-2003 |
Charlie tuna, The fish cleaning station is out back. The water on the road is much better since they raised the road 2 years ago. Nothing to 6 inches is normal, with the right conditions you can get a foot or more. If we can see the yellow line we go through if not we go for ice cream. The gentleman at the old bar is a Mr. James. He is a little eccentric but a nice person. The boats around the house were built by him, he ussally takes them out one time and then does somthing else. Dulcinea |