Big Bass In The Surf

striped bass, rockfish, linesider, delaware seashore state park, 3rs, delaware, sussex county, — 2019 ... Joe Miller caught this striped bass Saturday on a DS Custom Tackle mullet rig.

herring point, gordons pond, cape henlopen state park, low tide, beach, waves, rehoboth, groyns, jetties, jetty — Low tide at Cape Henlopen is exposing some very wide beaches. These look like Jersey beaches now with low flat surf areas, and structure in close. You can walk around the groyns or jetties at low tide. The sand from Rehoboth’s replenishment is filing in the beaches making them wider.

There have been several nice striped bass catches in the surf. Big migratory keepers hitting bunker chunks, some caught on plugs.
The weather the last few days was perfect striped bass weather. They like the water rough and nasty it makes for easy pickings for feeding. You just have to be in the right place at the right time to catch. Just because you see a few fish on the internet does not mean if you get out there you will automatically catch a large striped bass. These east winds are helping push a lot of cold water this way which is helping keep bass near the shore this spring. The overcast days are perfect conditions too.

“I caught three yesterday (Monday) in that nasty soup of a surf throwing plugs. I released them in the wash and left the camera in the truck. You can’t mess around with these fish when you are releasing them after a fight in this heavy water. They need to go back right away. If you stop to take pictures you may as well harvest the fish.” J.”I’llin” Dillon

Ocean city beaches and Assateague are producing keeper bass. The oceanic pier bayside in Ocean City has had some great nights for bluefish with the occasional striped bass. Then other nights the action is mild to nonexistent. Night time is the right time for catching large striped bass, but the afternoon has produced for a few people as well. These fish are on the move, spawned out, hungry, and heading north.

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These big bass are fun to catch but I urge you to release them so we have more bass for the future. These fish being caught are over 10 or 15 years old and have managed to survive a violent environment, the ocean. That makes them the alphas of the group, great genes to pass on to future generations. Bass are still being caught north of us in the Delaware River and Upper bay. That action will slow down and stop soon over the next couple of weeks. Bunker chunks are the ticket up there as well.
How you handle your bass for a clean release, has a lot to do with their survival. Study up on releasing striped bass and all fish for that matter.

Fish On!
Rich King