Surf Fishing After The Storm

A little during and after the storms yesterday we hit the beach. We ran south to Faithful Steward to get away from the storm edge if only for a minute. No one was out there which we expected. The beach is sloped or cut off with a ledge be careful before sunrise or at night. The surf zone is wide with a tide pool and sand bar. You’ll need waders the water is still chilly and numbs your feet. The ledge will smooth out soon enough, just be careful. Get too close and it will collapse.

We are hoping fish were pushed towards the beaches during the storm ad the stirred up sand will encourage them to feed closer to shore. The short bass are in the wash feeding on sand fleas. Get your line past the first wave that lifts up and you will be in the “zone”. A sand flea rake on that sand bar or in t he tide pools will produce a lot of bait.

The drum stating to show up in the Delaware bay probably got pushed to the Jersey side with all that heavy wind yesterday. It is gong to be grassy at the bay beaches for a little while, especially on the incoming tide. Sand fleas, blue crabs, and clams for drum bait.

The crabbing is still excellent around the inland bays. The water temperatures are holding above fifty degrees, aside from that one drop a few days ago. I expect the waters to keep warming up slowly . So far we have had a mild ride into spring. Crab pots, rings, trot lines, and hand lining are all producing.

No matter where you decide to fish there are fish to catch. Respect the new rules in place or we lose more access. People are angry they can’t walk on surf fish and are doing it anyway. That is going to get all of this shut down. There are fishing areas that have signs stating to social distance and park in certain areas. Please respect the open access many of us fought so hard to get. Yes, we are still asking for full access, but we will take what we can get right now.

April 14th to April 20th tides at Indian River Inlet

2020/04/14	Tue	02:36 AM	2.88	H
2020/04/14	Tue	08:45 AM	0.32	L
2020/04/14	Tue	2:57 PM	2.16	H
2020/04/14	Tue	8:33 PM	0.35	L
2020/04/15	Wed	03:43 AM	2.76	H
2020/04/15	Wed	09:52 AM	0.41	L
2020/04/15	Wed	4:04 PM	2.14	H
2020/04/15	Wed	9:43 PM	0.43	L
2020/04/16	Thu	04:48 AM	2.69	H
2020/04/16	Thu	10:53 AM	0.42	L
2020/04/16	Thu	5:09 PM	2.18	H
2020/04/16	Thu	10:50 PM	0.43	L
2020/04/17	Fri	05:47 AM	2.66	H
2020/04/17	Fri	11:47 AM	0.38	L
2020/04/17	Fri	6:05 PM	2.27	H
2020/04/17	Fri	11:49 PM	0.36	L
2020/04/18	Sat	06:37 AM	2.65	H
2020/04/18	Sat	12:33 PM	0.33	L
2020/04/18	Sat	6:53 PM	2.39	H
2020/04/19	Sun	12:40 AM	0.28	L
2020/04/19	Sun	07:20 AM	2.64	H
2020/04/19	Sun	1:13 PM	0.28	L
2020/04/19	Sun	7:35 PM	2.52	H
2020/04/20	Mon	01:25 AM	0.21	L
2020/04/20	Mon	07:58 AM	2.63	H
2020/04/20	Mon	1:47 PM	0.24	L
2020/04/20	Mon	8:13 PM	2.65	H

Water Temperature Map of the Central Atlantic Coast
The surf and Delaware Bay are in the lower fifties.