Eastern Marine Fishing / Crabbing Report ~ 07/04/09

With Mother Nature giving us a steady diet of rain, anglers have been a little discouraged about this summers fishing experience. Murky water, pond bottoms being constantly turned over and low fish counts have been a few of the frustrations expressed by Eastern Marine customers. There have been a few silver linings in those dark clouds overhead though.

On the fresh water scene Bill Weitzenecker ventured to Lum’s Pond and caught a splendid 7 lb 15 oz Hybrid Striped Bass that measured 26 -1/2″inches with a 17″ inch girth. Congratulations Bill on your outstanding catch and thanks for your patronage. Larry Guthrie said the Rainbow bite was a little slower in White Clay Creek but he was having good success on Small Mouth Bass using Heddon Tiny Torpedo’s which we stock here at Eastern Marine in all colors and sizes. Larry also said he has relied on Berkley 3″ Trout Worms in a tequila sunrise pattern to combat the fast moving and muddy water when targeting Rainbows. We also stock a full line of Berkley Trout Worms in 9 different colors. You may want to call us and find out when we will be getting our next shipment, because these baits fly of the peg hook. Beck’s Pond has produced some enormous Chain Pickerel. Jeff Short had pictures of Pickerel that he said went 28 inches and folks I was impressed with the girth of these fish. They reminded me more of Northern Pike as opposed to the thinner snake like Chains we normally catch. A trip to Haven Lake was an especially interesting piece of news and I would like to share it with you. An Eastern Marine customer who wished to remain nameless (so his boss wouldn’t find out he was playing HOOKIE) conducted an experiment while having a slow day with his fishing partner, who is also his brother. This point of the story is key due to the fact that both brothers are fiercely competitive, especially with each other. Brother #1 wanted to increase his chances due to the water conditions as we spoke about earlier and purchased a bottle of Berkley Gulp Alive, in the Crawfish scent. Brother #2 scoffs at #1 saying if your technique was as professional as mine you wouldn’t have to blow money trying to keep pace with me. After a slow morning brother #2 had 3 Largemouth to #1’s skunk and the two decided to fish until evening after having a nice lunch. During lunch brother #2 says, ” Why don’t you break out some of that Berkley Gulp Crawfish attractant” and started to laugh loudly. This was when the idea hit brother #1 to truly field test his new purchase. Both brothers 1 and 2 threw exactly the same swim bait in size and color scheme. They both used medium action 6′6″ rods, Shimano 4000 class reels, and 10# monofilament. They even slowly fished the same structure and shoreline. The results were amazing! Brother #2 had to admit that brother # 1 out-fished him 3 to 1. “It was tough watching my brother put it to me like that but we had a deal and I couldn’t get a squirt of that stuff to save my life” My brother kept saying it wont be a true test if we switch up now, while he tried hiding a big cheesy grin. Anyone who is interested in these new Berkley products should come here to Eastern Marine where we have the largest selection of Berkley Power Baits, Gulp & Gulp Alive in the area. I myself was on this bandwagon 3 years ago and never leave for a trip without some representative of this product weather it be fresh or saltwater. This product has my endorsement.

On the salt water side of things news from the upper Delaware Bay has been positive while the lower bay has been a little slow. Anglers fishing the Cross Ledge have gotten into some impressive stripers to the 40″ range while chunking fresh bunker. Matt Campbell and uncle Dave said for this time of the year the fish are long, stout and plentiful on the ledge. Ship John as we spoke in my last blog is still producing good stripers and a few Weakfish. In the lower bay, buoys F and G have been giving good reports out of Mispillion. Out of Lewes the outlook was a bit brighter. Robert Smith Jr. caught Small Black Sea Bass, Trigger Fish and Croakers to 10″inches, hopefully this means we will have a good Croaker run this year in the Delaware Bay. Robert also said he got into some spot while drifting the Lewes area. Verizon Mike went on a trip with the crew of the Karen Sue and hammered enormous white chins. Mike is going to be sending pictures to our store of these Tautog and the biggest is 14 lbs. Congrats Mike and thanks for your report, patronage and willingness to share good fishing news with us here at Eastern. A few anglers also reported some small Weakies out of Lewes near the Hay Stacks. For those interested in slamming big Sea Trout we have live Peeler Crabs in stock all summer long. Nothing gets a big Tide-runners attention like a live peeler!

On the Crabby side of things reports are improving every day. The Tred Avon, Wye and Chester Rivers are giving up crabs. It wont be long now and we will be trotting and potting in our local rivers like the Sassafras and the Bohemia. Jamie White went to the Tred Avon today and collected a bushel and 1/2 of nice 7 3/4″-8 1/2″ crabs. Jamie said a lot of the crabs were nice heavy blackbacks. Barber Bob Whited also crabbed the Tred and managed 3/4 bushel last Saturday and another 1/2 bushel on Sunday. Bob said he was in 9-14 ft of water and his crabs averaged 6+ inches. Greg got 2 bushels while Trot lining in 8-9ft of water on the Chester River. Anyone in need of flats of chicken necks call Eastern Marine on Tuesday mornings and ask for me Mike Bowen and we will special order you what amount you need for next crabbing trip. Orders are placed and pre-paid on Tuesday and pick up is on Fridays.

Out in the ocean on the offshore scene reports of big sharks at B buoy have been received. Some of our customers claimed anglers spent hours and multiple pass offs but to no avail. Rich Krump said they were hooked up before they had a chance to get a good slick working. Rich said fishermen on his boat became dehydrated and cramped after strapping in to what he claims was a Thrasher or an enormous Bull Shark. Yellow fin Tuna are abundant all over the Poor Mans Canyon and are averaging about 40 lbs. Anglers are catching them on the troll with Bally Hoo, Sea Witches and Green Machines. Well until next report lets hope for some good weather and better fishing.