Delaware Fishing Report: When, Where, What and How They're Biting

By Eric Burnley Sr.*

Updated: July 13, 2012

DELAWARE BAY

The reef sites continue to produce good numbers of keeper flounder for those who can work the various structure effectively. The bait must be on top of the structure and this does result in the occasional loss of a rig. Bait with strips of fish, squid, Gulp! or live minnow or spot on a single hook Captain Mitchell’s Delaware Bay Green Machine with enough weight to reach bottom.

The Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and the Broadkill River are seeing some flounder, but it is a slow pick. The same area is giving up slot rockfish to anglers working along the bank early in the morning or around dock lights at night. Baits for flounder include minnows, squid, Gulp! or live spot. The rockfish will take small surface lures, jigs and plugs cast to the shoreline.

Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier is giving up small spot, croaker and the occasional trout. Bloodworms have been the top bait. Live minnows worked close to the pilings have produced the occasional flounder.

The white perch bite has been very good with large fish caught on bloodworms and peeler crab from all the tidal creeks and rivers. Slot rockfish have been taken from the same locations on the same bait.

Small croaker have been caught in the lower bay and hopes are high for a good run of bigger fish later this month. Squid and peeler crab make excellent croaker baits.

Crabbing remains good in the tidal creeks.

INDIAN RIVER INLET

Drifting with live spot remains the best technique for catching keeper flounder at the Inlet, Indian River Bay and in Rehoboth Bay. Live minnows, squid, spearing and Gulp! also catch flounder with the larger fish going for the live spot.

There have been some keeper flounder caught from the jetties on bucktails, live spot and Gulp! It is good to see shore based anglers getting in on the flounder action.

Most of the rockfish caught out of the inlet fall below the 28-inch minimum size with the occasional keeper taken on plugs, live spot, bucktails and sand fleas. Just about any location along the shoreline has been productive with Bubblegum Beach one of the easier to fish.

Bluefish ranging from 10 inches to over 5 pounds have been taken with the best bite on incoming water. This does not happen every day and metal lures work best.

SURF FISHING

The beach is seeing a better class of fish with some decent size kings caught over the weekend from both Cape Henlopen and Delaware Seashore State Park. Bloodworms, both real and imitation, did the job on the kings and a few small croaker and spot.

Blues were also caught from the surf on cut mullet or bunker. Most of these fish have been small with a few decent size snappers in the mix.

INSHORE OCEAN

The sea bass and flounder bite remains good from sites 9 and 10 on out to the Old Grounds. Clams and squid for the sea bass while flounder are caught on those baits as well as strips of fish or Gulp! on bucktails. These fish are spread out over a very large area and if you don’t have success in one location don’t hesitate to move to another. Last Friday when the bite slowed around B Buoy we moved down to A Buoy and hit a few more keeper sea bass.

The bluefin and yellowfin tuna bite has been good at the Hot Dog. Chunking has become the more productive technique with the best action very early in the morning. The most successful boats will be anchored in their favorite location long before the sun breaks the horizon.

OFFSHORE OCEAN

Offshore trolling has produced a more diverse selection of fish from blue and white marlin to dolphin, wahoo and tuna. Anywhere from the 50-Fathom Line to the deep is good with temperature breaks and weed lines the best fishing areas.

Several boats will be running overnight trips trolling during the late afternoon then chunking all night. In the morning it is back to trolling before heading to the dock. These trips can produce a wide variety of fish with meat for the box and billfish for excitement.

FRESHWATER

It is still an early or late bite for bass anglers fishing the ponds. Scum frogs are working along with other surface lures and slowly worked plastics.

I am sure the Brandywine River is crowded with kayaks, canoes and tubes on the weekends, but those who start early can expect to find a few smallmouth bass waiting for crawfish either alive or artificial.

The local spillways hold bass, crappie and sunfish all looking for cool, oxygen rich water. These locations are usually cooler for the angler as well during these dog days of summer.

LEARN TO SWIM

The drownings of three boys in Maryland last week highlights a serious problem with many young people: they can’t swim. Apparently, these boys stepped into the Marshyhope Creek to cool off, not realizing the water is quite deep very close to shore. We will never know for sure what happened there, but if these boys had known how to swim perhaps they would still be alive.

I taught myself how to swim in Naamans Creek by holding onto a tree branch until I was able to both kick and move my arms. Later I went to swim classes at the Wilmington YMCA and completed my lifeguard training at the YWCA.

I know there are more swimming pools in schools than when I was young, back before the dawn of time, and I suppose the YMCA still offers swim classes. In the interview, the pastor of the church the boys attended said he has been trying to interest the community in providing a swimming pool along with other youth activities since a similar tragedy occurred several years ago.

If you have children please see to it they learn how to swim. I recall when I was in Navy boot camp and they took all 120 men in my company to the pool and asked us to line up with swimmers on one side and non-swimmers on the other. Those of us who could swim were outnumbered 10 to 1.

You never know when you or your child could end up in the water. Perhaps a car accident; a slip near a pond or stream; a backyard pool. If the child knows how to swim he or she will probably survive.

One is never too young or too old to learn how to swim. My daughter-in-law is currently taking swim lessons and my granddaughter has known how to swim since she was very small. Even children who know how to swim must wear their PFD when on a boat and should be wearing one anytime they are playing near the water.

And always remember to wear your PFD when on the water.

*Eric Burnley Sr. is a native Delawarean who has fished the waters of his home state for more than 60 years. He has been a full-time outdoor writer since 1978, with articles appearing in most national magazines as well as many regional publications. He has authored two books, Surf Fishing The Atlantic Coast and The Ultimate Guide To Catching Striped Bass.