Surf Fishing in the Delaware Bay
Let me start by saying that I have been fishing my whole life; it relaxes me. I grew up fishing in lakes and ponds around Delaware and even in California and Florida a few times. When I was a pre-teen, my grandparents purchased a house in Bowers Beach, Delaware where I worked on The Capatin’s Lady, Stacy Lee, and Phyllis Kay charter boats. I caught a lot of Blues, Striper, Tautog, Oyster crackers, and Flounder in the Delaware Bay. Recently, my friends over at Leafo Photo called and asked if I wanted to go surf fishing. I responded yes, without hesitation. I went over to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), purchased a surf tag for my 4×4 Dodge Ram 1500, and I was ready to roll after I grabbed the necessary equipment. (My wife and I already had fishing licenses and a FIN number)
We spent the 4th of July at Herring Point in the Cape Henlopen State Park. We didn’t catch any fish, but we had a really good time and I learned a lot. Because of my addictive personality and the fact that I dropped $ for a surf tag, I began to search for other areas of the Delaware Shoreline that I could drive on and fish. All I was able to find was a list of Delaware State Parks which had beach access, but I am sure there are more areas in Delaware, particularly Kent County or New Castle County, where I can drive on the beach and fish.
Last evening, my wife and I drove over to Woodland Beach and spent some time trying to catch some perch and striper. There is a small patch of beach there that I guess you could drive on, but it’s not necessary, the parking lot is close enough and there is nowhere to pump up your tires if you did. A guy next to me caught a couple small fish on cut-up herring, I was using bloodworms and even the crabs ignored them, someone reported catching perch about a mile south of the ramp on bloodworms.
The goal of this blog post is to ask what baits you use to fish off the Delaware coast and where you do it, particularly surf fishing in Kent and New Castle Counties. My ultimate goal is to find some summer flounder that I can catch while surf fishing. Of course, blues, perch and striper would be fun as well. Leave a comment, give me a call or send a private email if you can help. Thanks!
Update: This is where you can find tide information in Delaware
Greg Austin Fishing in the Delaware Bay
