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



By Eric Burnley Sr.*

Updated: Sept. 30, 2011

DELAWARE BAY The bay is not exactly a hot spot right now, but if you work the reef sites there are some kings and flounder available. Head boats out of Bowers Beach are able to put together a catch in the bay while the boats out of Lewes are fishing in the ocean.

A few keeper rockfish have been caught on peeler crab and bloodworms at Woodland Beach. White perch and catfish are taking peeler crab, cut bunker and bloodworms from the C&D Canal and Augustine Beach.

With tog season reopened I expect the Outer Wall and the Ice Breakers will be seeing more activity. Rockfish should start to make their presence known at these same two locations.

Broadkill Beach has produced bluefish. kings and the occasional croaker. The same fish are also taken out of the Broadkill River.

Spot fishing is still good from the Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier. Bloodworms and FishBites have been the best baits.

INDIAN RIVER INLET We stopped by the inlet on Wednesday afternoon and very few anglers were fishing. I suspect this had more to do with the hard running outgoing current than anything else. I was looking for mullet and saw none.

A few jetty fishermen are finding success by live-lining minnows right in the rocks. They are catching keeper flounder and a few short rockfish.

Tog season is back open and there will be a lot more anglers soaking crab baits from the sidewalk and the rocks. My guess is they will have some success, but the fishing should improve as the water cools.

Massey’s Ditch has been productive for flounder and small black drum. It won’t be long before rockfish join the list of species available there.

SURF FISHING I have been on the beach three or four times during the past week. We have been catching small blues and equally small smooth dog sharks. The best bait has been fresh mullet cut in chunks and fished on small hooks. There have been enough 12 to 14-inch blues to make a few meals, but they don’t show on every trip.

On Tuesday of this week the beach at Herring Point was littered with large and small pieces of wood. By Thursday morning most of the wood had gone back out to sea. This was not new wood. It looked like it had been in the water for a long time, possibly on the bottom of a creek or river that feeds into the Delaware Bay. It is not a big hazard on the beach, but in the water it will cause serious damage to any boat that is unlucky enough to encounter it.

INSHORE OCEAN With an improvement in the weather boats have been able to run 20 to 30 miles offshore and fish the wrecks located there. The result has been limit catches of sea bass on clam or squid bait. One charter boat out of Lewes was able to limit out the entire six-man party.
Further inshore, B Buoy, A Buoy and the Old Grounds continue to hold fair numbers of sea bass, with a few keepers mixed in the catch. Ling have also been taken here, but flounder are scarce.

OFFSHORE OCEAN Marlin are still out there along with loads of dolphin and a few more tuna. The number of boats making the long run is dropping off, but the ones willing to spend the cash are finding success.

Overnight trips have been successful for not only the usual species, but also good numbers of tilefish caught by deep dropping in the canyons. This is a labor intensive project that can put a lot of meat on the table.

FRESHWATER The one fish that seems to be available in good weather and bad, in muddy water or clear and from the ponds to the tidal creeks is the white perch. Right now they are biting on bloodworms or peeler crab just about everywhere.

Catfish are loving all this muddy water and have been caught as far south as Woodland Beach. Cut bunker and peeler crab are the top baits.

In the ponds, bass and crappie will be feeding more aggressively as the water cools. Minnows for the crappie and crankbaits or plastic for the bass.

TOG There are some very dedicated tog fishermen out there and they ply their trade from the jetty at Indian River Inlet on out to the inshore wrecks.

The fall season that just opened will bring these folks out in droves and most will find good success.

The old adage, “ Hit e'm before they bite” was coined for tog. These fish feed by sucking in the bait, usually some sort of shellfish, crushing the shell, extracting the meat and all of this quicker than the blink of an eye. The fact that the hook seldom enters the tog’s mouth is another reason they are hard to catch. This is also the reason circle hooks are no more effective than "J" hooks when trying to catch a tog.

I have found by slowly raising the rod tip I can feel the slight increase in weight as the tog first takes the bait. Combine this with braided line and my cat like reflexes and I only miss two out of three bites.

In the last few years I have been using Gulp! crab for bait. I cut each crab in half and put this small bait on my hook. Gulp! is pretty tough and will withstand a couple of tog bites giving me more chances to set the hook. Real crab bait is gone on the first encounter with a tog.

The Outer Wall is a favorite location for tog fishermen. They anchor their boat out from the structure and then motor in close enough for the mate to toss a grapple of some kind into the rocks. I have observed this operation on more than one occasion when the captain filed to get in close enough for the mate to make a successful toss. After a few tries the relationship between captain and mate begins to become a bit strained. When the captain and the mate are related by blood or marriage things get really nasty. This can be almost as entertaining as watching the action at a boat ramp on a busy Saturday afternoon.

One thing anyone who anchors close to the Outer Wall must be aware of is the size of the waves moving in from the ocean. A big sea can place a boat on the rocks before the crew has a chance to take any corrective action. So far this has only caused a damaged boat, but the potential is there for a serious incident complete with DNREC officers having to make out death reports.

I have seen boats tied to the south end of the wall with a nasty sea running. This is stupidity personified. The boat is pitching around so violently that the crew can hardly fish and on at least one instance all hands were tossed overboard. Only dumb luck kept them from drowning.

As the water cools and the tog fishing heats up don’t get so involved that you forget to be safe. I hate to see those obituaries that begin, “He died for a fish."

*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.