Delaware Fishing Report July 30th

Glad the heat wave is over. The fish probably are too but they can move to cooler waters, all we can do is go sit in the air conditioning. The water temperatures are leveling off after the heat wave. The tides are perfect this week, morning and evening high tides.

My favorite times to fish. Catch the incoming tide early in the morning and fish into the late morning, go home avoid the heat. Go back later in the day and do it again.

The inland bays are still falling to seventy degrees at high tide and up to eighty at low tide. The Upper Delaware bay is in the eighties, and the lower is in the mid seventies. This all depends on the tides and when you are out there. Good temperatures for fishing regardless. The cooler evening temperatures are helping keep the temperatures down at low tide.

The surf has been producing the usual summer suspects. Fishbites and bloodworms have been the best baits, squid is working as well. The only issue with Fishbites is finding them, the stores are having trouble keeping them in stock. Top and bottom rigs for the win. This past weekend the kingfish were hitting cut bait chunks more than anything. They will even hit mullet rigs.
Weakfish, spot, croaker, sand perch, cusk eels, pompano, kingfish, short bass, flounder, cocktail blues, and of course jersey flounder (skate).

The small summer blues are here in force. The cocktail blues are swimming by thee beaches in large schools with Spanish mackerel still mixed in the schools. They are moving into the inland bays. You can see large schools when the water is calm, and watch them feeding. The Indian River Inlet action has been great for anglers on the incoming tide, almost daily. Look for schools passing by in the surf.

The Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier has seen some great catching … Dave Beebe …. “Yesterday (Monday) was just a solid day of fishing in the pier area. Heard and saw of plenty of keeper sized flounder, the Spot bite was steady, and there were scattered catches of Kingfish, Trout, Blowfish, sharks, and skates. One keeper flounder was caught right in the wash at the base of the pier and another at the far end, so if you fish the high tides, they are everywhere. I even saw a small one caught in a tide pool at low tide a few days ago. Gulp and minnows seem to be working equally well right now. There have been schools of foot long bluefish working the peanut bunker and glass minnows around the pier, and just like the big boys of spring, they come close enough to get caught several times each of the past few days. The surf has a good number of kingfish and the same blues cruising up and down the surf line. The tides are perfect for the next few days – a high tide early in the morning and again early in the evening. Mid day? Go clamming! ”

Striped bass slot fishing in the Delaware Bay and tributaries has been great action. The Canary Creek, Broadkill River, Lewes canal cross roads has been a good area. Fish are back int he creek or up the river and move around with the tide and bait. Bloodworms work well in that dirtier water. They will hit lures like swim shads and bucktails. Rattle traps will get them excited as well. There are some larger bluefish mixed in the schools.

The striped bass action at the Indian River inlet has been killer with sand fleas. Just get a five gallon bucket of fleas and you can have a great time whacking bass. Toss a handful of fleas in the water and seed the rocks. Once the fish get excited start throwing in a flea on a six aught hook. Once in a while seed the water again to keep the fish interested in that area.

The Delaware Bay is producing spade and trigger fish at the walls. Spear-fishermen are having better luck than hook and line droppers. They have the advantage of seeing fish then shooting them. We have to hope for a the bite and can’t see a thing. The reef sites are producing; kingfish, croaker, pufferfish, triggers, spades, weakfish, and flounder. There are a few other random catches in the mix.

Offshore action for the charters has been good. Hit up a charter and get out there. Marlin, tuna, tilefish, and all the usual suspects.

The Chesapeake has been great striped fishing … Stefan Talabisco … “Me and Boots were itching to get on the water and catch some fish. I called Captain Donnie Bayne of the Miss Asheri out of Rock Hall, Maryland. It was an impromptu trip scheduled for the evening. We caught a few smalls with live spot and then We trolled for the big ones. We both limited out on Rockfish ”
It is great to see Boots back on the water fishing. He had a small issue last year breaking his back on a fishing trip during the Flounder Pounder. Glad you’re back Boots!

Crabbing has been excellent around the inland bays. Less complaint of jacked crab pots this year, but it is still occurring. Clamming is good.

Night time is the right time in the summer. It is the best time to fish into the wee hours of the morning for all kinds of fish. Big rays are a popular nighttime catch. The best shark fishing is at night, you just have to be more careful, not easy to handle releasing a shark in the dark.

Fish On!
Rich King

Indian River Inlet tides …
2019/07/30 Tue 01:23 AM 0.33 L
2019/07/30 Tue 07:30 AM 2.52 H
2019/07/30 Tue 1:07 PM -0.04 L
2019/07/30 Tue 8:12 PM 3.49 H
2019/07/31 Wed 02:13 AM 0.15 L
2019/07/31 Wed 08:25 AM 2.63 H
2019/07/31 Wed 2:00 PM -0.21 L
2019/07/31 Wed 9:03 PM 3.59 H