Pacemaker Fishing Forum

I wasn't originally planning to go anywhere over the weekend, but when I was offered a reservation at Cape Henlopen by somebody who couldn't use it, I had to take advantage and get in one last flounder trip for the year.

Saturday I started at Roosevelt inlet, I think I got there around 7:30am. Fished for 2 or 3 hours and caught one tb flounder. I spent the next several hours driving around looking for somewhere to fish. I drove to IRI and back, and checked out all my usual spots, but it was just too crowded. This is why I don't normally fish on Labor Day weekend.

I went back to Roosevelt late in the afternoon when the crowds had thinned. I jigged for maybe 2 hours and c&r'd one trout that was maybe 13-14". The only other fish that I saw were very small snapper blues.

Got up the next morning and launched my yak at the pier. What a slow day it was. Between the pier and the inner wall I think I had 5 or 6 bites over 6 hours. The croaker that were swarming 2 weeks ago appear to have vanished, and so had most of the flounder. Thankfully I did get one keeper on a gulp shrimp, so the day wasn't a total bust.

Action didn't look much better from the planks. I only saw a handful of spot come up. Two weeks ago the spot fishermen were bringing up double headers as quick as they could cast.

That afternoon I drove around looking for un-crowded spots again, but it just wasn't happening. I would like to know what the population of Delaware is on a holiday weekend. As far as I could tell, most of PA and MD were there.

I made brief visits to the canal and Roosevelt and got the skunk. Not much else to do.

Got up bright and early on Monday and headed for some rocks. I started throwing a small tandem swimbait rig in hopes of catching some snappers for bait. My first hookup was a double header of a 14" trout and a blue.


I was able to catch some 5-7" snappers, and threw them out on a bottom rig while I jigged with my other rod. The first couple snappers I threw out there were mauled by slightly larger bluefish, and the third one was inhaled by a flounder just shy of 24".

I stayed until the outgoing tide came to a stop, and only caught 1 tb flounder in that time. I left for home at 11am in hopes of beating the traffic, but didn't make it back until 4:30.

I did not beat the traffic.