The Delaware Fishing Report offers information on when to fish, where to fish, which species are biting, and how to catch them. It is written weekly by veteran Delaware angler Eric Burnley, Sr.

Delaware Bay

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The string of mild weather allowed boats to venture into open water and they found some tog just waiting to be caught.

Delaware Bay produced big striped bass that had to be released and white perch were caught just about everywhere.

Patty at Captain Bones in Odessa reported big striped bass caught on bloodworms and cut bunker at Woodland Beach, Green’s Beach and at the Power Plant.

These are all well over 40 inches and should be handled with care and released while still in the water. Non-offset circle hooks must be used when fishing with bait for striped bass.

At Smith Bait in Leipsic Steve had just about the same report. Big stripers at the Power Plant and Woodland Beach on cut bunker and bloodworms.

There are white perch and small stripers in the tidal creeks and rivers and they may be caught on bloodworms.

Indian River Inlet

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Old Inlet Bait and Tackle told us that early in the week some tog were caught, but later it was just small stripers taken very early in the morning on white bucktails. Adding a Gulp! swimming mullet in white to the bucktail will improve your chances of a hookup.

Surf Fishing

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No report.

Back Bays

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No report.

Inshore Ocean

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Lewes Harbour Marina told me that the flounder tournament will no longer be the Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament. It is now the Lewes Harbour Canal Flounder Tournament. Contact the shop for more information.

The shop did report that the Katydid sailed several days during the week and brought back good numbers of tog each day. Ben Cavalier caught and released a 9.2-pound tog for a catch and release Delaware Citation while fishing on the Katydid. Billy and Joe Mister, Bruce Carlton and Jim Osborne caught a limit of tog.

Henry Lewis fished the Broadkill River for a nice catch of white perch with two Delaware Citations, the largest weighing 1.2 pounds.

Offshore Ocean

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No report.

Freshwater

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Patty at Captain Bones in Odessa had many Delaware Citations for trout. Here are just a few.

• Austin Alderman, 11 years-old, caught a 3.92-pound rainbow trout out of White Clay Creek
• Weston Miller, 10 years-old, had a 2.53-pound rainbow from Wilson Run
• Cole Flanagan, 11 years-old, caught a 3.02-pound rainbow trout from Rittenhouse Park on a Rooster Tail
• Ethan Hoffman, 12 years-old, had a beautiful 4.13-pound rainbow trout out of White Clay Creek, also on a Rooster Tail

Taylored Tackle in Seaford said fishing in the Nanticoke River and Broad Creek has been good for catfish and white perch. Use bloodworms for both and cut bunker for the bigger catfish.

There should be some crappie around the spillways in Laurel and Seaford. Live minnows on a small jig suspended below a bobber is an excellent technique for fishing a spillway.

Dan at Dan’s Tackle in Milton reported it is still white perch and catfish in the Broadkill River on bloodworms and cut bunker.

The water in the bay had just touched 50 degrees so it won’t be long before flounder move into the lower Broadkill.

Early Flounder

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I could write a book on flounder fishing, but let’s just look at the early run that should take place very soon.

The first place these fish will show up is shallow water on the top of the tide after the sun has had a chance to warm the water. A high tide around noon on a weekday is perfect so long as you don’t have a 9 to5 job.

You want to fish the shallow water in Delaware Bay off of Broadkill, Slaughter or Lewes beaches or the shallow water between White’s Creek, the Junction Buoy at Massey’s Ditch and the main channel from Indian River Inlet. Use a live minnow for bait and be very quiet while fishing the shallows.

Related Topics:  delaware bay, dfw, fishing, freshwater, indian river inlet, ocean and coasts, outdoors and recreation, surf fishing, wildlife