| Author |
Message |
Tiderunner
New member
Username: Tiderunner
Post Number: 13
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 9:37 am: | |
I have gone fishing in Delaware Bay two saturdays in a row and have only caught several throwback flounder. Went on sat. 6/29 and fished in Broadkill slough, the shears and around the outer wall without any luck. Only sharks and skates. Has anyone had better luck in the bay with flounder this season? |
Jay_little
Moderator
Username: Jay_little
Post Number: 88
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 5:03 pm: | |
Tiderunner, The reports out of Bowers echoes your experience. Check out Duffy's post on the 2001 NMFS survey.
Weakfish down 74%
Flounder down 44%
This is dismal. The good news are stripers are up 9%. |
Seadawg
Senior Member
Username: Seadawg
Post Number: 403
Registered: 8-2000
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 5:17 pm: | |
I have caught only nice ones, but they have been as bycatch (fishing reefs for trout, etc.) and very few, 5 keepers all year and 1 throwback.
I did catch a 25 incher dangling my line over the side while eating a sandwich, it almost stole my rod from me. So, in other words, I've also been very lucky this year too! |
Ninja
Senior Member
Username: Ninja
Post Number: 635
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 8:32 pm: | |
Its a structure thing gang. Heard first hand reports of some awesome trout action after dark on structure.
Jay do you think the stripers are up due to the lower slot for us? What about Jersey? |
Captbob
Advanced Member
Username: Captbob
Post Number: 203
Registered: 8-2000
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 8:37 pm: | |
Just for what it's worth- I was in Jersey a week ago and on this tv show about fishing in De Bay the host said he caught numerous stripers in the 60 ft slough. He claimed he cut their stomachs open and all had small flounder about 2" in length inside. He counted the flounder inside a cow and said there was 53 flounder in her stomach! He is advocating hammering the stripers harder to thin them out so we can get more flounder. Locals in OC have been saying this same thing for a couple of years now. Whether it's true or not I haven't a clue. Again, posted for what its worth, nothing more or less. |
Ninja
Senior Member
Username: Ninja
Post Number: 638
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Monday, July 01, 2002 - 8:43 pm: | |
Wow Capt. thanks for the info. I have heard and read stories of guys live lining small flounder in the inlets and surf in Jersey years ago. I guess I now know why. I guess you could live line anything that swims for stripers. |
Bobw
Senior Member
Username: Bobw
Post Number: 723
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, July 04, 2002 - 9:51 am: | |
I opened a striper from OCMD last fall that had 10 small flounder inside.It looks like the stripers do some damage to the flounder,but isn`t it mother natures way.Actually who can name anything reasonable that stripers don`t eat.
This is another reason to stop the comms from destroying the baitfish stocks.
Bucktail Bob |
Duff2
Intermediate Member
Username: Duff2
Post Number: 168
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 04, 2002 - 11:53 pm: | |
Like I said in a post during the winter, Lots of folks thought, myself included, that the large number of blues in the 70's were wiping out everything else. But Blues don't eat crabs, flounder or even as much trout as the bass do.
It also seems the del river smallmouths have not settled in yet possibly because the stripers have not left yet. This may be due to the higher than normal water levels for this time of year.
I also saw cormorants(spelling ??) comming to the surface in IRB last week with baby flounder in their jaws.
Duff |
Striperswiper1
Senior Member
Username: Striperswiper1
Post Number: 1085
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Friday, July 05, 2002 - 9:34 am: | |
Anybody believe that flounder catches(last year) were down 44%, but we still overfished our total quota.
Bob, I definately agree about the baitfish stocks. Some are claiming that malnutritioned stripers is the cause for the 1/2 infected stripers below the bay bridge.
Yeah, those stripers are hogs, they'd even eat a toadfish if the mood struck them right. I've seen it happen!
Mark J |
Harborcoat
Junior Member
Username: Harborcoat
Post Number: 87
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, July 07, 2002 - 9:39 pm: | |
I fished the DE bay last week and the flounder fishing stunk. Maybe if the bunker weren't being slaughtered the stripers wouldn't have to eat flounder. Tight lines |
Tartansailor
Intermediate Member
Username: Tartansailor
Post Number: 199
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 09, 2002 - 11:17 pm: | |
Anybody try the ship channel where its real deep? |