Fishing despite the rough seas, wind

Rough seas and heavy winds made for some harder fishing in the surf, but we have been catching fish. Definitely reminds you of fall fishing, and the fish seem to be anticipating the temperature change. This is the time of year when both summer and fall fish are in our waters at the same time.

Tropical stream

We have seen spiny boxfish or burrfish in the surf and a snowy grouper was caught in Rehoboth Bay over the weekend. Tropical fish from the gulf will make their way up the coast following water temperatures and food as the warm Gulf Stream travels up the east coast. You never know what kind of tropical fish will travel into our waters. Last year a few gag groupers were caught near Massey’s Landing. Pompano, as well as lizard fish, always make an appearance late in the summer they were early this year. I haven’t seen too many lizard fish this year, but they have been in the back bays as far up as north Jersey. You would be surprised what kind of tropical fish will make it up this far and beyond. Several years ago a townsend angelfish was caught off the coast of Scotland - a long way from home and the wrong side of the Atlantic. Back in my aquarium days I had most of these fish for sale in my shop. It is strange to see a fish on a line that I used to sell for forty dollars in the shop. The fish that make it up this far will not survive the temperature change when we move into fall and winter. That’s the nature of things and has been occurring for a very long time.

Strong Bluefish showing

Bluefish have made a stronger appearance the past few days being caught on mullet rigs or cut mullet on top and bottom rigs. We were catching them at 3Rs the other day in some seriously heavy surf. The water was as frothy as a double latte with cheese. Waves were easily seven feet tall and rapidly hitting the beach and the wind was ridiculous. Casting into the heavy northeast wind was difficult but we managed to hold bottom with six ounces of weight. The fish were either real small in the eight-inch range or upwards of sixteen inches. Still a fun day in the surf. Once we tired of fighting the wind and waves we checked out the Indian River Inlet and watched guys catching croaker one after another. They (the fish, not the guys) are bigger and bigger this year, like the size you usually see in the Chesapeake; averaging two pounds, and a blast to catch on light tackle. Short striped bass and keepers are at the Indian River Inlet. The best bait has been sand fleas along the rock walls or bouncing eels on the bottom of the inlet. Spot will work well for bait if you can manage to catch smaller ones, most of the ones being caught are monster sized this year too. Many are using the larger ones and chunking them up for bait. You can catch a spot with Fishbites bloodworms and then use the spot to catch larger fish. Honestly, enough large spot make a decent meal it is like cooking panfish; you just a need a bunch of them. The same goes for the croaker; they also make for a good meal.

Flounder still biting

Flounder are still the hot catch and that bite has hardly slowed down all summer. Jigging for them in the surf works well, or sand fleas on a flounder rig. Look for them just behind the first breaking wave they are in there feeding on sand fleas and small baitfish. The Delaware Bay has them all over the walls, sites, and the flats near Cape Henlopen. Minnows, cut bait, and chartreuse Gulp are working.  This year it has been almost impossible to not catch a flounder. At least the keeper to non-keeper ratio is smaller this year. You don’t have to catch fifty fish to only get one keeper.  As the temperatures drop more, the flounder will move out front and head for deeper waters to winter ‘til next year. The Old Grounds is still hot for flounder and a few charter captains I know have seen marlin out there breaking water. Mahi are still being caught on occasion out there. With the lack of storms this year the water is almost like the blue water you see thirty miles offshore. Tautog season will start again on the twenty ninth of September and I now a lot of people are excited to see that. I have a friend who keeps seeing albacore schools not far from the point and outer wall near Cape Henlopen. Some days they are close to shore and other days they are a half mile off the coast. I would love to catch one of those from the surf; that would be a fun fish to land. Eating them not so much, I wouldn’t feed one to the dogs. Catch and release is the ticket for them.

The change of fishing seasons will bring about a switch-up for baits. Mullet has been the ticket for bluefish in the surf right now. Eventually we will switch squid for surf clams, mullet will still work but not be easy to find fresh. Speaking of mullet, everyone wants to know where they went and I have seen very few around recently. Stripers love whole chunks of surf clam as do the drum. The big red drum are off Assateague Island and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few at Fenwick Island soon. Some nice-sized puppy drum have been caught at the outer wall and haystacks the past week. Guys are hitting them on sand fleas fishing for sheepshead and spadefish. Triggers are still making an appearance out there as well. The diversity of fish is the best part of fishing Delaware tidal waters. Some days you never know what you are going to catch. Cooler water temperatures will chase those fish off and make way for larger bluefish and striped bass for the fall run. Right now the bass are schooling up and getting ready for the run, and many of our resident bass will join the Atlantic migration. I know a few guys have hooked up with forty-inch striped bass and have let them go, which is good to hear. They are the breeders we need to keep them in our waters. Because of these cooler temperatures, the crabbing has dropped off a great deal in the inland bays.

The great white shark Katherine just pinged the other day not far off the coast of Ocean City. She is a fourteen foot twenty three hundred pound great white that was tagged near Massachusetts in August of 2013. I love watching the tagged sharks on the Ocearch site. This freaks a few people out, but honestly it is the ones that aren’t tagged you have to wonder about. We are lucky to see a few of them move up and down the coast thanks to the tracking tags. Septima, the tiger shark, has not pinged in a few weeks, but that one was near the Indian River Inlet not long ago. Sharks, skates and rays are always out in the surf and it is impossible to not catch one, just put a piece of dead fish on a hook. There have been a couple of small threshers caught in the surf recently near Cape Henlopen. Some live squid are being netted in the Indian River Inlet at night under the lights, and the stripers are tearing them up as well.

Well, another season has come and gone and it has been a pleasure keeping you updated on fishing our waters and beaches. I hope we all have a mild, relaxed winter, and I’ll see you back here soon for some fun in the sun at the sandbox. We will have some nice days even in the winter and all you beachcombers keep an eye out for storms because in the winter you can find all kinds of great stuff on the beach at low tide after a heavy storm. Believe it or not you can fish in the winter here when the water temperatures are mild. Keep up with the area on our website www.delaware-surf-fishing.com and the Facebook page and we will see you soon.

Fish On!