Beach Clean ups and a fishing report

Last Saturday we had fifteen people meet for a beach clean up at Beach Plum Island.  I want to thank everyone for coming out and helping, these weekly clean ups are doing well for our beaches, kudos to all of you.  The 684 ladies did a great job, and are going to start keeping an eye on that area more this year.  They treat that beach like their home .  Beach Plum was trashed heavily from the last storm.  Due to the heavy winds a few days later most of the wrack line was buried in sand.  The day of the storm there was debris and trash piled three feet high and six feet wide, it was a mess.  The group did manage to remove over five hundred pounds of trash from the beach regardless.  We would have collected more if we went past the restricted area, but we knew we could not go past that area.  A few days after the clean up Jeff Weaver went back to the beach and collected even more trash.  You could clean a beach here daily and still pick up garbage, it is a shame, but it is from stuff that washes in from the Delaware River and Bay.  This stands true for any beach on any coast line, our oceans and bays are full of it and most of this winter trash comes from inland sources.  We need people to police themselves better when it comes to litter and trash, and unfortunately that is where the source begins.  This Saturday we will be cleaning in Delaware Seashore State Park during the beach grass planting DNREC is hosting.  We will start at Keybox beach access and work our way to Faithful Steward just north of the Charles W. Cullen bridge (Indian River Inlet bridge).  We will meet at 9 a.m. in the parking lot at Keybox road, hope to see you out there, bring gloves and I will have plenty of trash bags.  Donuts are good too, we like jelly and glazed (hint) … coffee is not an option, it is a requirement.

Fishing has started to pick up in the Delaware River and Bay areas.  There are shorty striped bass showing up from Smyrna to Old New Castle.  The fish are getting active for the spring run.  Some have been caught up to twenty six inches.  A thirty inch striped bass washed up on Lewes Beach the other day and unfortunately was bird food, but that is a good sign there are keepers in the mix.  Please catch and release the females so we can have more for the spawning season.  I know a few netters that have seen some nice sized fish when they are catching perch near the Smyrna area.  Bloodworms have been the best bait for striped bass and the perch are hitting minnows.  Only store I know locally that has minnows right now is Rick’s Bait and Tackle in Long Neck.  Bloodworms have also been working for the perch and some nice sized catfish in the Broadkill River.  James and Jay were fishing the Nanticoke River today in Seaford near the drawbridge and hit a few shorty striped bass there as well, on a new Viper lure I am looking forward to checking out.  They topped the lure off with a little bit of gulp and this weekend we will be checking out this combination.  The fish will be moving soon, spring is here officially by the date (vernal equinox), but the temps in the surf are still averaging thirty nine degrees.  It will be a little longer before those temps warm up and we see fish in the surf, especially the ocean side beaches.   The Delaware River farther north has been averaging forty one degrees and slowly increasing.  A few more nice warm days will help the temperature increase.  We do have another cold front heading this way for the end of March.  I too am tired of fluffy rain and cold days.  Today I saw turtles at Silver lake in Rehoboth and last night peeper frogs were crossing the road inland, possibly a toad too, I was driving at the time and managed to miss that one hooping across.  You can hear the peepers at night and some have already laid their eggs.  More and more osprey are showing up , Mac and Kent Davis built a very nice osprey nest platform this past weekend.  I am looking forward to seeing it occupied this year, it is located near slaughter beach, the boys did a great job under the supervision of Willie the Bulldog. It will not be long now, so get that gear ready to go, it is almost time for some serious catching.

Fish On!!

Rich King

All Delaware Surf Fishing gear is now on sale from now until April 15th … there is a 25% off coupon in the shopping cart.  We just wanted to help everyone during tax time and to say thank you for all of the support over the years.  Thank You