# Fishing at Delaware Breakwater



## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Hi folks,

I'll be spending last 10 days of August in Lewes, trying to secure enough fish for a single dinner 
Yup, you read it right. That's my goal lol

This Summer I spent two weekends in July at and around RI, decorating the bottom with number of jigs, lures and rigs, with no feedback from any legal sized fish. What's even worse, the others around me were equally successful. I saw no keepers caught and I've got not much hope going. Spent about 12 hrs. a day at the water.
While I didn't mind it much back then, this time I'll be fishing with the picture of the in-laws in my mind: they will be sitting at the table, with the forks and knives in hands, checking the clock 

So, I am taking desperate steps. I am bringing my kayak. Even thinking about hitting the Head Boat.
I will have to provide.

I will have to provide!

Here is the question: Is fishing from the breakwater wall/rocks at CHSP allowed? Something tells me, that might be my ticket.
I was hoping to be able to take my yak to it, and then hop on... 

I have a feeling I'll get a "no", but I thought I'd ask anyway.
I know people do fish around it from the boats and kayaks, but can one stand on it too?

Regardless, which species are expected to be found at that location this time of year? 
(intentionally didn't say *caught* though lol )

Any info is appreciated, and will provide a significant slack from the In-law department.


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

I feel your pain at IRI this season. 
Except for the epic Jumbo Blue run back in May, which I got to be a part of w/ my biggest being 37" on a bucktail, the place has been all but happening.
Wonder if those choppers have something to do with what we see now.

Never heard of anyone fishing "on" the Breakwater Rocks. You can Yak it with a very good chance of getting a whole bunch of stuff, early or in the evening; trout, spadefish,triggers, tog, flounder, trout, blues etc.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

If want fish to put on the table jump on a headboat.


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Cali,

I second your thoughts about latest Blue run. Those things have sure affected this year's season. I am no biologist by any mean, but I do know what kind of damage they are capable of making. They have an impact in certain parts of the Mediterranean Sea, where they were not present till 10 years ago, or so. Mullet and baitfish numbers reduced, European Seabass has changed permanently feeding habits and locations, etc...

Nonetheless, I love them still. The main problem is, I love catching other fish too lol

That 37" whale, did you get it during the spring massacre, or on a separate occasion? That is something I am yet to see, let alone catch.
My compliments, and congratulations!

Who knows, they might stop by in similar numbers this fall again? We shall see.

Also, thank you for the info about the wall provided. It appears to be a bait-type of area.
It is what it is. No lures - no problem, I'll adjust. 

Anyhow, I'd still like to hear if anyone knows can one land on the breakwater wall itself and fish from it. I like the idea of being able to fish both sides of it without 1 mile worth of paddling. Just turn yourself around, and there you are 

Catman, thank you as well. What you propose makes complete sense. I recon I'll spend first two days decorating the bottom of the bay area, and only after that I'll do the boat. And only in case I don't find any angler willing to sell his daily catch to a guy who just broke off about two pounds of gear  

On top of that, could anyone recommend any Head Boat going out of Lewes that had decent results this Summer?
My folks loooove flatties, but will take even a bluefish, as long it is not frozen


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## whenican (Feb 21, 2013)

There's also charters going out from the IRI Marina behind the inlet. I would stop by a few bait & tackle shops in the area to get the latest poop. Also, when saltwater fishing isnt happening then freshwater fishing is...& vice versa, so hit up some DE ponds if necessary. Good luck & let us know how happy the in-laws are.


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

You can fish the inner wall and outer wall mostly tog there but anything might bite. If you are alone or novice I wouldn't do it stay around the pier and get some flounder there and the privet pier. The current at the wall can be swift. I've fished there quite a few times and have had to run from storms against the tide not fun.


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

Headboat recommendation:

Thelma Dale, a 130' steel hull, very comfortable. $90 a head, full day. They normally target flounder and seabass. I've always done well on her. It's out of Lewes on Fisherman's Warf.

Rehoboth Star out of Indian River Inlet, Del. He does 1/2 day during the week and full day on weekends.

Also try and google: Ocean City headboats


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

Fish IRI at night. Topwater plugs - dark colors for moonless nights - white colors for full moon nights - Rapala X-Rap has been my killer lure for full moon fishing...

Check the tides and plan your trip at night to catch the incoming or outgoing tide - I have done well on either...

Sandcrab


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## Mastrbaitr (May 7, 2014)

Flounder has been good at IR for me. Whole squid I cut into strips.


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Wow. You people are great. I love this place!

Tank you very, very much.

The breakwater wall: So far, I've been out only two times to the Ch. Bay on my Trident. I typically spend my yak time in the fresh calmer water. Well, I might go all the way out there only on a very calm day. Will see. I am not afraid of lots of paddling, as long as I know I won't get blown out to the open Ocean 
With all that being said, the public pier (now closed to the public) suddenly sounds much better 
As far as fishing the private pier, what would be your advice about respecting the "privacy" of it? Do the owners mind a kayak being somewhat close to it?
I don't want to get into exchanging mean looks with those people, the fish is not worth it.

I've done couple of headboat trips from OC before (none this year). Twice I went to a reef, and got only black bass. Some folks got flukes, but really poor fishing both times. Last time, I did the bay headboat trip, accompanied by my brother. Well, that was a good one. 
Twenty-some people caught 7 flounders (I caught none). 
What is so good thing about it then? Well, my brother caught 6 out those 7 himself 
Did I forget to mention that he fishes once a year on average? Yup, a guy totally not into fishing at all, but he was killing them, and skates too. Good thing is he is not a bragger, otherwise I would have thrown him overboard. Folks on the boat stopped fishing and were watching him. One guy offered to pay him another trip, just to fish with him lol

However, these boats are still the best bet in my mind. I'll let you guys know how it went.

What Sandcrab and Mastrbaitr just posted above got me excited. More than anything, I'd like to get some blues and mini-strippers on a plug. And in mid time to score a fluke perhaps.
Boy would that be sweet (time to wake up now).

(sorry for my long and all-over-the-place posts, I can't wait for another two weeks to go by)


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

suspender said:


> Wow. You people are great. I love this place!
> 
> What Sandcrab and Mastrbaitr just posted above got me excited. More than anything, I'd like to get some blues and mini-strippers on a plug. And in mid time to score a fluke perhaps.
> Boy would that be sweet (time to wake up now).


I enjoy night fishing at IRI because (1) No crowds, (2) fish are there. Have to time it right with tide stage and moon...

Also, you live very close to some of the best freshwater trout fishing in the state. Do you trout fish? I make pilgrimages to Western Maryland a couple of times a year to specifically target browns, rainbows, and cutthroat trout...

Send me a PM and I'll provide more info on either. 

Sandcrab


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Hi folks.

The time has come for the report:

*The In-laws got their supper. *
I fed them, and they were fed more than once 

The mouth of IRI: This place is always great to be at, but in three afternoons and evenings spent here basically nothing was caught on artificial, by either myself or others. Fished there last time the night before the full moon. The weather was great, but no blues were breaking and nothing was hitting my Krocodiles and plugs. Nothing on topwater, nothing on swimbaits...

The X-Rap is one great lure, it has awesome action to it. It doesn't cast as well as SP minnow per se, but it can sure be drifted and then retrieved from a far. Great, great action. Thanks Sandcrab!

Headboats: I went for a full day. It was a good trip, three people got their limits, with biggest fluke caught being around five pounds. I got 3 keepers, 5 throwbacks, and a nice Seabass. 
And a *Sand Shark* (while waiting for a deckhand to unhook it, I stared at that thing. Boy, does it remind me on someone I always get to spend my vacation with... and feed too...)
The fish that day ate almost everything, but the minnows were the ticket.
Very happy with the outcome (so were the in-laws...khm, khm...). 
All three flukes were about 17-18 inches long.

Due to family duties assigned, I couldn't do full days anymore, so instead I focused on Croakers for the rest of vacation. 
I've averaged about 8 fish per 3-4 hr. outing, and would lose about 2-3 on top of that to rocks. It didn't help that I tried using even an 11' and 6 oz surf road, the bigger fish would even then zip back in rock like a rocket. It was due to "hidden" boulders deep infront of me. But that is where the fish were.
These guys were all between 8" and 12".

All in all - it was a time well spent. The weather was perfect for beach activities, there was enough fishing action (not too much). Even got to bring some fish home with me.

Looking forward to come back as soon as this Friday early morning, for a day.


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

Nice report!

What headboat? Rehobeth Star?


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

I sailed with Thelma Dale.
I went during the week, and since Rehobeth Star does full days only on the weekends, this boat was the obvious choice.
Thank you very much for recommending it, I have only good words for the Captain and his crew. Really nice and civil people, very helpful and amazingly, not fed up with the turists. 
Now, there was a local older guy (Capt knows him) that was harassing people on the boat with never ending comments throughout the day, even kids, but I guess nothing is ever perfect.
Anyway, he wasn't bothering me to the point when I couldn't fish. 
What I had problem with(out) was my rod&reel combo that I somehow forgot to bring wjth me, so I had no choice but to fish with a rent-a-broomstick, literally older than me.
And I am not exactly a spring chicken, to be honest 

In the end everything was good, even the old nuisance slowed down after he started catching fish.
Everybody got a piece of action. 

Now, I might do another trip with them this Friday.
Or, should I try the Rehoboth Star too?
Still debating wheter should I stick with croakers or go out on the open water.
Help?


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

suspender said:


> I sailed with Thelma Dale.
> I went during the week, and since Rehobeth Star does full days only on the weekends, this boat was the obvious choice.
> Thank you very much for recommending it, I have only good words for the Captain and his crew. Really nice and civil people, very helpful and amazingly, not fed up with the turists.
> Now, there was a local older guy (Capt knows him) that was harassing people on the boat with never ending comments throughout the day, even kids, but I guess nothing is ever perfect.
> ...


Stick w/ Thelma Dale and fish flounder. They're getting some big girls(doormats) near the wrecks inshore. Don't forget your own set up. *Rent Rods SUCK!*

Might want to check out *Capt. Monty's Morning Star*. Need to call for reservations, he's limited load(max. 25 per.). Best Skipper on the coast and out of Ocean City....that's who I would go with. 

Bring a medium to heavy spinning outfit rigged up w/ a swim bait or bucktail also.....there's Dorado(Mahi) on the wrecks this time of year too.


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## Sandcrab (Mar 20, 2002)

suspender said:


> ...The X-Rap is one great lure, it has awesome action to it. It doesn't cast as well as SP minnow per se, but it can sure be drifted and then retrieved from a far. Great, great action. Thanks Sandcrab!


Hope you used the white model for fishing with a full moon!

Sandcrab


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Cali,

Thanks again for another good advice. I'll go with the Morning Star next time, to compare it with others, and try some new grounds. Plus, I like the additional room available at this deck.
I gave up on going this Friday, since weather shall get a bit choppy that day. Too bad, since I already obtained approval from Boss (the one at home).
Regarding Dorado - are they close to the bottom at these locations, or suspended in mid column? I never fished for those in such location.
Here we go, now I got another digression to fluke fishing

Btw, has anyone tried real jigging at these "fluke" wrecks? I am talking about aggressive jigging, as for Tuna and such, with heavy metal jigs/spoons.
Something tells me there should be a Blue or two willing to hit these?

Sandcrab, I listened to your advice, and got the white X-Rap. 
I don't know, it seemed like Blues were just not there at the time I was fishing.
I also noticed, this end of August didn't feel as fresh and chill-ish as some previous did. Could that be the reason for nothing hitting the lures?

Or was it the anxiety, caused by constant image of my hungry and mad in-laws


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

suspender said:


> Cali,
> 
> Thanks again for another good advice. I'll go with the Morning Star next time, to compare it with others, and try some new grounds. Plus, I like the additional room available at this deck.
> I gave up on going this Friday, since weather shall get a bit choppy that day. Too bad, since I already obtained approval from Boss (the one at home).
> ...


Dorado are surface fish. Look for any kind of floating structure which they love to hang under, ie. wood or trash floatin around, or under kelp paddies. You can normally seeing them swimming down to maybe 10' if the water is fairly clean. Watch em 'light up' and jump when hooked; purple, green, blue, gold etc.

Jigging summer flounder on the wrecks you typically use 2-4oz bucktails or Spro jigs tipped w/ meat or Gulp'. And you need to be fishing braided line for success.


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## suspender (Jun 26, 2015)

Just a quick report on the latest headboat trip...

I went with the Morning Star yesterday.
Tried the jigging but it just wasn't happening. The fish wanted only the bait and me being stubborn was missing action for first 2-3 hrs., so I switched to bait and soon got my limit of four.
There were 3 identical between 16"-17", and the fourth one was measuring a 23" (with a 10" ling in it's stomach).

Got many, many shorties too. 

The day was right, and the fish were feeding hard, so the ENTIRE boat limited out.
What a day!
The majority of fish kept was between 16-18" , with 5-6 fish over 20", and the biggest one was pushing toward 26".
Only several seabass caught, and no other fish, it was a fluke day!
One spot we hit was just out of this world, everybody was catching them there. It was crazy! While I was reeling my fish in I looked around, and EVERYBODY I could see was either reeling the fish in, or getting a bite. It was like this for good five minutes. Never witnessed anything like it.

Once again Cali, thanks for telling me abut this boat.

If you guys picking a date to go out, I would recommend go this week, these guys are killing them right now.


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## CaliYellowtail (Jul 28, 2014)

suspender said:


> Just a quick report on the latest headboat trip...
> 
> I went with the Morning Star yesterday.
> Tried the jigging but it just wasn't happening. The fish wanted only the bait and me being stubborn was missing action for first 2-3 hrs., so I switched to bait and soon got my limit of four.
> ...


Awesome! Great report. Glad you got a limit of flatties.
Skunk is not in Capt. Monty's vocabulary. 
Actually most headboats the last few weeks have been on these fish working the wrecks. Phenomenal year for flatties.


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