Kitts Hummock

Kitts Hummock is a small private community on the Delaware Bay, that has public beach access. Located about three miles from Dover Air Force base. It is the last bay beach you come to before route 9 merges with route 113 and 1. The area was named Kitts Hummock in 1738 by Jehu Curtis. In the late eighteen hundreds there was a hotel and tavern there. The hotel was appropriately called the Bay View Hotel. Many people in Dover visited the area to escape the heat. There are seasonal facilities, small amount of parking for the public, and this is a carry in and carry out area. Please keep this and other communities clean when you visit. You will have to walk in with your gear, and it is a good beach to launch a kayak or SUP from. The water near the shore is relatively calm but the currents are faster the farther out you get. After storms you can find shells and sea glass.

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Kitts Hummock is a registered Horseshoe crab Sanctuary, this is another great place to see the shorebirds that feed on the crab’s eggs, like the red knot. Horseshoe crab surveys are also conducted on Kitts Hummock. If you want to help the crabs just by flipping them back over this is one of the best places. Remember not to grab them by the telson (tail). Every year the beach is covered with thousands of horseshoe crabs. Nearby attractions just off Kitts Hummock road are the John Dickinson Plantation, Ted Harvey Conservation Area, and The St. Jones Reserve (3,750 acres). The St. Jones Reserve component of the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve (DNERR) is located on the north shore of the St. Jones River, off Kitts Hummock Road, south of Dover in Kent County and includes a portion of Delaware Bay

delaware, kent county, dover air firce base, delaware bay, beach, kitts hummock, ted harvey preserve, dickinson plantation, st jones reserve, DNERR, St Jones River watershed, Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, — Kitts Hummock beach looking south

Like all Delaware Bay beaches the fishing is decent. Lot of dogfish and skate action. Channel catfish are even caught on occasion closer to the guts. There is a drain pipe for the marsh behind the beach area that is good structure to fish. Croaker, trout or weakfish, speckled trout, flounder, spot, striped bass, bluefish, puppy drum and even the large black drum can be caught from Kitts Hummock beach. Top and bottom rigs are your best bet with squid, clam, or cut baits. Bloodworms are a favorite of schooling striped bass.. The artificial baits work well too, Fishbites formulas bloodworms being the most popular. Gulp works well for flounder on flounder rigs or jigged on bucktails.