Just Walked In...

[CJ Bernardo]

Good afternoon, fellow anglers and boating people. I just walked in from an afternoon pounding the banks at the nearest pond and thought I'd turn my attention on the Internet towards something related towards my favorite summertime activity. Luckily, this looks like as good a place as any to start.

Being a native son of the state of Delaware, those of you who know the state could guess how easy it is to find an open strech of fresh water or access to the river and bay here. While I would love to have gotten my inflatable pontoon boat out on these waters (at least the waters not affected by the tide or stronger river currents), I've been more or less limited to stampeding around on the banks whenever possible. The fishing has been quite good for a big lug like me who hasn't wet a line in several years, but I feel like I should be able to get out there and find some of those spots that I couldn't reach for being too deep to wade towards or isolated from the available paths.

So I've come home after catching a couple of bluegill at the local pond and have decided to make myself a presence at whatever web forums people who share my interests in this field exist. I hope you'll all be a good neighbor and fishing buddy for me.

[Robja]

Welcome CJ

[Jer]

Welcome aboard!

[clt_capt]

Welcome aboard.

[Agitated88]

Welcome aboard CJ...I've got family around Lewes, and YES, there are opportunities all around your area to wet a line.

[CJ Bernardo]

Glad to read it on here.

At present, I wrapped up my "weekend" with a quick stop by a couple of spots near my home: the Brandywine Creek up in downtown Wilmington and at Lums Pond State Park a few miles south of the house. Both gave me surprises which made up for some of the frustration of recent weeks.

The Brandywine was running a bit deeper and muddier due to the rain of the past couple of days or so, but I was able to pull in a pumpkinseed sunfish using a white maribou road runner jig on an ultralight rig that I had pulled out of the basement this morning. This will be my default panfish and small stream rig for the rest of the season.

Lums surprised me with a largemouth bass on a Creme midgit crawler rig on the same rod while retrieving it on a cast past where a school of bluegills had set up their nests in the back of a shallow cove. The bass was about average size for the body of water -- about a foot in length and weighing in at a pound or so but, on 2-lb test monofilament, that pound felt like three or four. I put 'em back, of course...

I'll be checking back after I get an inflatable pontoon boat (a CA Colorado) put back together and set up for the summer pond fishing in a few weeks or so.

[gottaflylee]

Welcome, looking forward to reading your reports and seeing your pictures...

[joeksr]

C J. Welcome aboard.
Used to live up your way.
In fairfax shopping center there is an outfit that does canoe trips down the brandywine.
I've done it a couple times with my kids and grandkids.
Seen some nice size fish (do not know what they were) in the deeper spots but haven't fished it.
Look em up, Bring a light rod or 2,
some worms maybe.
Small anchor wouldnt hurt for when you find a fishable spot and good luck.

[CJ Bernardo]

Don't be surprised if there are a few good-sized bass in the Brandywine, joeksr. However, most of those fish might've been creek chubs or some related species of sucker. I've caught a few approaching 12 inches during the autumn run.

Brandywine is known for some good sized bass. People have reported lunker smallmouth near Alpocas Woods but I haven't been able to get to the spot (lots of private developments down that way and I have yet to try and find a trail leading to the creek in there), but I did have both smallmouth and largemouth of decent size caught in the tidewater below the first dam, fishing the creek just as the tide started rising during a drought that was hitting really hard a few years back. Most of the fishes that do hit are either pumpkinseeds, rock bass or smallmouth basses.