Delaware Surf Fishing Report

Hoping For Striped Bass Weather This Weekend

The Delaware surf has been calm waters the past few days, it is a nice change of pace. Over the weekend if this rain hits as predicted, that will all change. Yesterday and today, two days ago was supposed to be overcast and that changed. Just waint fifteen minutes and we get new weather.
Nasty, wet, windy, overcast weather is perfect for fishing for striped bass in the surf during the day. Night is the best, but an overcast day is the next best thing. Especially when striped bass are migrating. Saturday is looking nearly seventy degrees and really wet.

The short striped bass action is picking up along the Delaware beaches. Most anglers are piling up at the southside inlet beach. You can can walk and fish al the beaches. That spot is just like fishing a barrel so it gets popular.
If you walk, surf cast, and have a mile of beach to yourself. Don’t stop under a surf anglers lines that are set and cast. Tangling up is guaranteed and now you just unset that anglers’ lines. The braided line gets chaffed too by the hooks, thanks for that. Move along and stay away from the surf anglers set up. I can’t believe a “true” angler, who regularly complains about fake fishing, doesn’t even get that. There is ample room elsewhere to catch twelve inch bass on a nine foot rod. There are numerous locations to walk on and surf fish the Delaware beaches. No need to get on top of a set up surf angler.

The skates and dogfish have been the top action otherwise. But few keeper striped bass have been caught on the beaches from Ocean City to Cape May. We soaked bunker chunks for a few hours yesterday. Even went Bob The Garbage man style with Anise on a chunk for a twelve hour soak. No love, but skates. Short bass casting just about anything. The nine foot googan was bailing twelve inch fish two at a time. Water was clean, not Carolina blue clean green, but clean.

The black drum are inbound, getting closer to Assateague daily. One was caught last week. Everyone wanted to go south. Friends in Virginia today are already landing fish.
Catches are moving up the coast from Virginia. It won’t be long now. Beach Plum Island State Park and Broadkill Beach will become the “spot” for black drum, but the fish have to get from point A to point Z. There are a lot of points between B to Y to fish for drum.
Fenwick Island State Park and the town usually sees some action and ocean city beaches. Eventually catching black drum as far north as Slaughter beach. The charter and head boats will be on the coral beds looking for the big drum. The anglers can hear the fish “drum” under the boat. Doing that in a kayak can be a little exciting. Try the Lewes charter boats. they can get out there quick and make a great trip of it

The weird catch of the week goes to Richard King at Port Penn Bait and Tackle. He caught a mackerel in his bunker nets. All the way up Port Penn area. “I have never seen these fish this far up here in all my years of fishing. This is a first. We had a few rock in the net too”
Last year there were mahi mahi in the Delaware Bay under the weed line. A friend of mine caught a porbeagle shark in that weed line. I think the drop in shipping etc. has allowed the Delaware River and the bay to flush out a little more the past year. One of the by products of covid lockdowns and the drop in the supply chain was a serious drop in pollution. Would be great if we could learn from that and keep it up. Did you know way back in the day (50’s) anglers would catch marlin at the Fenwick Shoals. Porgies were around the inland bays. Whole different water around here back then, that is now much farther offshore.

The surf will warm up soon and we will start seeing more catches. The NOAA coastal water temperature guides and buoys are not all working for temperatures at the moment. The coastal average is forty five degrees. Some of the coastal and bay buoys are reading temperatures. Use the National Data Buoy Center to check the buoys off the coast. Links for The Coastal Temperature Guide should be working at some point, it was two days ago. Some of NOAA”s products are down.
Masseys ditch is bouncing between forty-nine and fifty-one degrees. Water temperatures are increasing roughly a degree each day in the ditch. Crabbing is picking up around the inland bays in the shallower back bay areas. Short striped bass action around structure and rips has been productive on ultralight gear.

The surf is already warming up in the south. If you want to take a drive.
Virginia has black drum. Carolina is seeing kingfish, northern puffers, and big red drum. Assateague is starting to see more of a variety. Dave Moore Shark Whisperers Guided Tours … “I caught a northern puffer today and smooth dogfish are here, won’t be much longer now”.

Soon we will see more of a variety of fish in our waters. In the mean time it is just fun to go surf fishing to see what shows up next. No, the kingfish are not here yet. Those fish are still in Carolina moving north, but you won’t know when anything first gets here if you aren’t fishing.