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Feeding blues and crabs at the fishing pier

October 8, 2016

This run of bad weather has done nothing to improve the fishing in our area. Over the past two weeks, most fishing trips on open water have been cancelled and the more sheltered waters just aren’t producing much.

Last Monday, Larry Weldin and I planned to leave his dock on Long Neck at 0700 and head to the ocean in search of flounder, croaker, blues or anything else that might take a bait. I was a bit late, as always, but this time I had a good excuse; Route 5 was closed because the flood over the weekend had washed out the road.  

In spite of a good forecast, it was raining when I left my house and it was still raining at Larry’s. While it is highly unlikely that either of us would melt, we decided to give the rain about a half hour to stop. It didn’t. Not only that, but the wind began to pick up and we decided that getting a wet butt and being knocked about in a rough ocean was something both of us had experienced before and did not care to repeat.

By the time I got back home, the rain was letting up and within an hour or so the sun came out. The wind, however, continued to increase.

At this time, I made an executive decision. I was going to fish somewhere and the pier at Cape Henlopen State Park looked like the best bet. I retrieved my pier cart, took some frozen clams out of the freezer and swapped my boat rods for my pier rods then headed to Cape Henlopen State Park.

Their weren’t many fishermen on the pier and except for the guys cast netting for mullet, most everyone was gathered at the far end.  I trudged on down, set up my bait rod with a top-bottom rig baited with clam in hopes of attracting a spot or croaker. What I did attract were tiny blues and crabs. Between those two critters, I had empty hooks within a very short time. And the sad truth is, I just didn’t care. I was outside, fishing and enjoying the other folks on the pier. This included a family fishing behind me with two little boys that found everything they saw very interesting.

I ate my lunch (peanut butter and jelly on oatmeal bread) and was just settling in for my afternoon nap when a friend, who was cast netting for mullet, dropped me off a half dozen. I changed my top-bottom rig for a single 4/0 circle hook and began to fish with one of the live baits. The first one was attacked by little blues and reduced to a head in a very short time. The next mullet I worked along the pilings and while this kept the blues at bay, it didn’t attract a big flounder or anything else.

At the end of the pier, I flipped the mullet toward the old pilings and I think those tiny blues must have been waiting for it to hit the water. Snip, snap and gone.

The last of the mullet expired by the time I got to use it, so I cut it into two filets and used those on my top-bottom rig. The blues and crabs couldn’t have been happier.

Even if I didn’t catch much, fishing on the pier was better than not fishing at all. I did notice several very serious anglers there, some with homemade carts and a good collection of outfits and tackle. This reminded me of the folks that fish the piers in North Carolina, and in fact, one of those well-equipped anglers caught the only good fish of the day, a 22-inch flounder.

The pier at Cape Henlopen is one of the best bargains in Delaware. For only $5 you and as many people as you can cram in your car can fish all day. You don’t need any special tackle, as a 6- or 7-foot spinning outfit is more than enough. There are nice restrooms, a pavilion and a very good tackle shop there.  As the fall moves on, I expect to see a good run of spot and croaker here and perhaps a big bluefish or two.

Once this spate of nasty weather moves by, there will be some very nice conditions in store for southern Delaware. Take advantage of these beautiful days and come on out to the pier.

Election

I have no intention of getting into the current political mess in the national election, but since all politics are local, I think it is a good idea to find out if your state senator and representative hunt and/or fish. Make sure to let them know you do and both sports are very important to you.

  • Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.

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