The storm we had last night is producing some heavy waves this morning and into tomorrow. Fishing will be doable but just hard to hold bottom in the surf. Maybe the north-east winds will push some fish into the beaches. Otherwise aside from skate dogs and the occasional puffers and short striped bass the surf has been quiet. The big blues moved up as far as New York, but in some areas that normally would not see these fish they are still around. The Rehoboth bay in some fo the flats areas are seeing big blues blitzing bait in less than a foot of water. They are also thick in the Broadkill River. We figure they are following bait and with the cooler water temperatures it is prime feeding grounds. I would hate to be a bait fish in that area right now, I doubt much is safe. Anglers have been hammering blues upwards of 15 pounds. They are also showing up randomly on Beach Plum Island, Broadkill Beach, Prime Hook, Slaughter Beach and South Bowers Beach. They will make an appearance for a short time and if you are there you will get into them. They are hitting on bunker and mullet. They are also heavy at the Henlopen flats near the end of the old pier, along the pier, and inside the inner wall. I don’t think I would wade fish for them, that could get ugly. Kayaks and small boats will abide. Fishing the bay beaches will be your best bet to get into the blues from the surf. These fish are not blitzing the ocean beaches like last week, but there is still some action.
The warm temperatures next week should help trigger the final stage of the striped bass spring run. Many of the bass being caught up north and in the Chesapeake bay have spawned out and will start moving soon. Hopefully the bluefish left some food for them near out shores. Striped Bass spawning season is still in effect until May 31st and the new striped bass limits will take effect on May 11th. I have seen a lot of nice fish caught and released in the spawning grounds. We have shorts randomly in the surf down here, and the Indian River inlet is producing shorts on both jetties. Spoons, poppers, plugs, or on the fly have produced rocks from the rocks. The inland bays have a few schools on the move here and there, you just have to find them. Masseys Landing has seen a few shorts,and hopefully other species will start hitting there soon.
Shad have been at the Indian River inlet and a week ago the shad run was in an area of the White Clay Creek that has not had a shad run since the late seventeen hundreds. The partial removal of the Hale-Byrnes dam last December has cleared the way for this historic run. Now the shad can return to their ancestral spawning grounds and no longer just gather at the foot of the old dam. Shad lives in the Atlantic Ocean for five or six years then return upstream in fresh water creeks and rivers to spawn. Eventually the plan is to remove all of the dams on the White Clay creek to allow these fish to make it all the way to Pennsylvania. Shad darts and small spoons are great lures for shad and catching them on flies. The creel limits on American and Hickory shad are no size limit and 10 per day per angler in any combination. The Nanticoke River and its tributaries are closed to keep shad, everywhere else is open. The Nanticoke is also a spawning ground for striped bass and falls under the spawning season regulations. Many shorts have been caught near Phillips Landing on Broad Creek, as well as shad. Shad are thick in the White Clay area and Christina Rivers and have been treating anglers to a good time catching. Trout are still heavy action up there as well.
Flounder fishing is getting better and better from the VFW slough, a traditional hot spot, to the Lewes Canal. They are all over the inland bays so you should have a decent chance of catching flounder in many areas. The Indian River Inlet is producing as well along the rock walls on the sandy bottom. Boats tend to crowd the popular hot spots and many of us tend to find other places to fish. Sometimes the best place to fish is where everyone else isn’t. I have seen that pay off more than once for many anglers and it makes for a much more relaxing day. Trying to maneuver around a flotilla of boats is never any fun, unless you are going for the redneck yacht club. Gulp and minnows are the choice baits for flounder. You can use Gulp on a drift rig just like the one that is used with minnows, or jigging on a bucktail along the bottom. A tandem bucktail rig works very well in this case, especially at the flats of the Cape Henlopen pier. I would imagine some great flounder fishing will happen there, just be careful wading with all those gator blues. In the surf the flounder will be right behind the first breaking wave feeding on sand fleas and small minnows. Sand fleas are certainly in the surf and are always a good bait to try for all kinds of species. You just have to dig them up, i find them on my spoons and metals treble hooks when retrieving the lures.
Drum are as far up as New Jersey, but a few beasts were caught at Assateague Island the past few days. Clam is the best bait for them and a couple have been caught on Delaware Bay beaches. Broadkill Beach and Prime Hook to name a few. It wold be nice to see a drum run in the surf like last year. The conditions are right and it is about that time of year so you never know. The waters are warming up every day, Masseys Landing is fluctuating a few degrees between tides. The surf is averaging fifty-two degrees throughout the day. The Delaware Bay is warmer up north than down here and temperatures will continue to increase. The temperatures this morning at 6 a.m.were …
Masseys Landing temp … 54 … peaked to 57.8 at low tide
Delaware Bay … Lewes DE … 52.9
Brandywine Shoal light … 53.1
Ship John Shoal … 56.8
Reedy Point … 57
Delaware City … 58.3
This rough weather will churn up the waters, silt up the bays a bit, but it should all settle soon. Clamming has been good for the commercial boys if you feel like braving the chilly waters. Crabbing has just started up, so expect to not catch many of them this soon in the season, but they are starting to show up in pots. Warmer waters will help with that, and we have yet to see how the stock survived the icy bays from the winter. Have a great weekend and safe travels.
Fish On!!
Rich King