The Point Opens September 1st

The best sign of end of the summer season is the point opening.

(August 27, 2021) … We wait all summer for this day, with gleeful anticipation. It is one of our favorite places to fish. Pro tip, for some reason almost every year the fishing is horrible the first week or so. We don’t care and go out anyway, because you never know and we want to see our favorite place.
The point is often confused with Herring Point which is on the opposite or Rehoboth Beach side of Cape Henlopen State Park. Back in the day the point was known as the Point of Capes before Fort Miles was established and then Cape Henlopen State Park renamed her the point.
She changes shape every year. Sand moves north along Delaware’s beaches and is deposited at the point and the flats. The one issue now is the point is growing, creating issues for the outer wall and the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse. That we call the spark plug. If it gets worse she is in danger of toppling into the ocean. The scouring occurring is digging out more sand between the point and the lighthouse.

Fishing the point has many options, oceanside back to the bayside flats, and the space in between the two. There are a few “rips” that start at the bayside point and push water to the churning rips of the point on the outgoing tide. The bayside point is where the bay flats area meets the edge of the point (shoal). Swimming in this area is not recommended and discouraged. Water rescue at the point today by the DSF crew was an interesting time one year. Many a time we tell kayakers and SUP users to not go beyond this area. Some listen others have a colorful reaction. So we dial 911 and wait to hit send. That is a great way to get shot out into the Atlantic ocean.

The point itself is like a large washing machine and is deceptive. The sand in the water reminds you of a sand bar in low water, but it is really the edge of a giant shoal. Almost a hundred feet deep at the bottom towards the lighthouse. Fishing there is different. Casting into the rips and churning water looking for bluefish, striped bass, and weakfish. We “drift” the point on weekdays. Casting eight to ten ounce plus weights on a line with a fly and spoon. Letting it drift in the current around the “corner” hoping to get hammered by a big fish. You have to walk along the point, follow the current, and hold your surf rod straight up. When you complete the “drift” reel in, walk back, and repeat. Holding bottom there is not possible, but many try. Sometimes you can hold along the edge and catch fish it depends on how she is shaped up each year.

The space between the bayside point and the actual point is shallow on the edge then deep, much like a shoal or giant sand bar and we fish it as such. Usually the bluefish schools will move along the shallow areas. You DO NOT need to step into the water to cast, at that point you are standing in the fish. That are within ten feet of the shoreline most times. We watch schools of bluefish move right down this shoreline all the time.
Flounder will sit in these areas hitting mullet as the schools swim by as well. This is a good place to cast net for mullet then use them for bait in the same spot just a little farther out. When you cast out farther your weight will stick in the moving sand or get jammed up on the edge of what some think s an old wall. I have some scuba diver friends in town for a while. We might be sending them down to check this out this year.

The sites and sounds of the point are like no other Delaware beach. Pelicans diving on fish. Horseback riders, planes, charter and head boats heading out to fish. The ferry floats by constantly loaded with cars and passengers headed to and from Cape May. Pilot boats ripping through the heavy currents taking their Delaware river pilots to the big ships offshore. SUP’s and kayakers getting jammed up in the rough water hoping we don’t have to rescue them. Gorgeous sailboats running the Delaware Bay to Cape May or just out for the day. You never know what you will see at the point on the daily. Beach combing is amazing too.
Overnight surf fishing trips are a blast there, the sunsets are dope!

When she opens, we will be sure to give you a tour of all her new features. We are also doing a beach clean up there on September 2nd.