White perch and catfish have been more cooperative than the rockfish. Bloodworms work on the perch while the cats prefer cut bunker or chicken livers. Augustine Beach, the C&D Canal, Woodland Beach and all the tidal rivers and creeks hold plenty of both species.

Black drum fishing has been good off of Slaughters Beach and from shore at Broadkill Beach.  Clams and live blue crabs have been the top baits. Evening is the most productive time to fish.  Black drum are difficult to clean and many contain worms, so please keep only those you plan to eat.

The fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park continues to produce big blues. Incoming water has been the best time to fish with cut bunker or mullet. Poppers and metal lures can produce when the fish are in a blitz mood.

Big blues are also caught from the Broadkill River as far up as Oyster Rocks. Most anglers are soaking cut bunker or mullet for these fish.
Flounder have been taken from the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal, the Broadkill River and the Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier. The Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament saw fish over four pounds caught. Minnows, squid and Gulp! have all produced decent results.

• ADVISORY: Summer Flounder Regulations: As of April 1, the minimum size for summer flounder in Delaware is 17 inches. The bag limit remains at four fish per day and the season runs for 365 days.

INSHORE OCEAN I finally made it out to the black sea bass grounds on Tuesday. Eight of us left Lewes on the Katydid at 0600 and arrived at our fishing location at 0830. The first drop of clam baited top-bottom rigs proved the fish were there and they were hungry. Plenty of keepers at the first stop, and when they ran out we moved to another location. We must have moved 20 times or more. As soon as the keeper-to-short ratio fell the captain went looking for more big fish. By 1300, we had a boat limit and headed back to Lewes. Arriving at Lewes Harbour Marina around 1530 it took the fish cleaning crew over an hour to prepare the catch. It was a great day on the water.

Limit catches of sea bass have been the rule when the boats can leave the dock. The weather has made for more lay days than fishing days. At least one flounder has been caught by the sea bass fleet.

INDIAN RIVER INLET The inlet continues to see the occasional bluefish blitz with the pockets on either side of the jetty and along the beach the site of most of this activity. SP Minnows and metal lures work best on these fish. The blues have also been caught out of Indian River and Rehoboth bays. Massey’s Ditch and the beach at White House Farms are two locations mentioned in the reports. Cut bunker and mullet have been the top baits.

Flounder catches are still on the slow side. A few have been caught out of the VFW Slough and Massey’s Ditch on minnows, squid or Gulp!.

SURF FISHING Blues are still the mainstay of the surf fishing scene. Most have been caught on cut mullet or bunker, but on occasion they will attack surface lures or metal. The bite is scattered from Herring Point to Fenwick Island and you have to be in the right place at the right time to connect. The best of the action has been on incoming water, but some blues have been caught on the ebb.

In recent days I have seen a few kings caught from the beach. Bloodworms are the best bait for these fish.

FRESHWATER I know Red Mill Pond is high and muddy, and I expect most of the other ponds are the same. Live bait should still work along with noisy lures. Bass, pickerel and crappie remain the top target species.

The Nanticoke River and Broad Creek still hold big, blue catfish. Cut bunker has been a productive bait.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND There will be a lot of people on the water this weekend and this is going to cause problems. Make sure you use defensive boating practices and try to stay out of trouble. Fishermen are best served by getting out by dawn and coming back in during the early afternoon. This will avoid the crazy mess at the boat ramp and the afternoon drunks.

Please wear your PFDs when you are on the water.

White perch have been caught as far up the tidal creeks and rivers as the spillways. Bloodworms and live minnows have been the best baits.

The bluefish run slowed mid-week with fish caught in the Broadkill River at Oyster Rocks, the river side of Beach Plum Island, on or near the fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park and Lewes Beach. Cut bunker or mullet has worked best.

Tog were caught on green crab and sand fleas at the Outer Wall. Here too the wind and rain limited access. Tog season closed on May 11.

The occasional flounder shows up at the Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier and the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal. Minnows, squid and Gulp! are the most popular baits.

Black drum have not been caught from Broadkill Beach in more than a week. While the dirty water in the bay is partly responsible, it is also possible that the big boomers have moved on to the Coral Beds off of Slaughter Beach. Clams make the best drum bait.

• ADVISORY: Summer Flounder Regulations: As of April 1, the minimum size for summer flounder in Delaware is 17 inches. The bag limit remains at four fish per day and the season runs for 365 days.

INSHORE OCEAN On Wednesday, DNREC sank the Zuni/Tamaroa, the decorated World War II-era Navy tug turned USCG cutter of "Perfect Storm" fame, on the Del-Jersey-Land Reef. The weather was perfect and the sinking went off as planned. This reef deployment will add to the excellent reef material already on this site.

• Related: Zuni/Tamaroa as she appeared en route by tow to the Del-Jersey-Land reef deployment

Tog have been caught over inshore wrecks and reefs when sea conditions allowed boats to sail from Indian River and Lewes. Three-fish limits were taken on some trips with fewer fish taken on others. Crab has been the best tog bait.

INDIAN RIVER INLET Bluefish blitzed the inlet on some days staging under the Inlet Bridge and at the end of the jetties. Metal lures and bucktails worked best on the blues. Mid-week saw a reduction of the number of fish taken. The Indian River Bay and Massey’s Ditch also gave up big blues with most of that action on cut bunker or surface lures. During the bluefish blitz a few big rockfish to 40 inches were caught on metal and bucktails.

The occasional flounder has been caught from the VFW Slough and Massey’s Ditch. Minnows, squid and Gulp! work well here.

SURF FISHING Big blues continue to fall for cut bunker or mullet along the beach. Fish well over 10 pounds have been caught with the change of tide the best time to fish. Of course, bluefish being bluefish, they are likely to show up on any tide and under any weather condition.
While rare, big rockfish have been caught from the surf. They have been taken on the same cut bunker and mullet fished for big blues.
Skates and dog sharks round out the surf menu.

FRESHWATER The stocked trout streams in New Castle County continue to produce good fishing. Worms, grubs and live minnows work best along with in-line spinners.

Bass, crappie and pickerel have been caught out of local ponds, the upper reaches of the tidal creeks and rivers and the spillways. Live minnows or shiners will attract all three species. Lure fishermen will stick with stickbaits, crankbaits and jigs.

BLACK SEA BASS On Monday, May 15, black sea bass season will open in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. I have had my reservation in on a head boat since mid-February, but the weather is not looking very good for opening day. No matter, sooner or later I will get out there and when I do, I plan to get in on a 15-fish limit of prime seafood.

Those who plan to try for sea bass should be aware of some of their particular traits:

First, the largest sea bass eat first. Just like a family dinner where big, old Uncle Harry grabs the biggest portions, the biggest, oldest males will get to the bait first.

Sea bass also have the ability to change their sex as conditions warrant. Most start out as females, but when the dominant male meets his untimely death, one of the females will change her sex to male.

In my experience, the larger fish will jump on a metal jig before the smaller fish. If you have the self-control to use a jig and catch one fish at a time when all around you are cranking in double-headers I believe you will end the day with more quality sea bass.

After the first few days of the season all the well-known structure will have been hit pretty hard. Those with a nice list of secret locations will continue to catch keepers. If you pull up on a wreck or reef, and start the day catching small sea bass chances are that spot has been hammered. It’s not going to improve, so the only sensible thing to do is move.

Last year we had decent fishing for black sea bass on the Old Grounds. They were caught in with the flounder and mixed catches were common. I have no idea if history will repeat, but if so we will have the best of two fisheries.

For the rest of Delaware Bay the word was bluefish. Blues to 17 pounds were caught as far up the Broadkill River as Oyster Rocks and as far up the Bay as South Bowers Beach. The fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park and the beach on both sides were ground zero for big blues. This is where the action began and it is still the most productive location.

Cut bunker has been the top bait and is used by most anglers. Poppers and metal lures come into play when the bite gets hot. The top of the incoming tide has been the most productive time.

The Outer Wall produced some tog over the weekend. Green crabs were the bait of choice.
Flounder fishing remains slow. A few were caught out of the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and from the pier at Cape Henlopen State Park. Live minnows, squid strips and Gulp! on a jig head were the most popular baits.

Broadkill Beach saw a fair run of black drum. Clams worked best on the boomers. The problem has been dirty water that slows the bite and with the winds we are having the water seems to be dirty all the time.

• ADVISORY: Summer Flounder Regulations: As of April 1, the minimum size for summer flounder in Delaware is 17 inches. The bag limit remains at four fish per day and the season runs for 365 days.

INSHORE OCEAN It has been a long period of small craft and gale warnings and a tough time to be a charter or head boat operator.  When conditions allowed, a few boats made it out from Lewes and Indian River and some even found some tog.

INDIAN RIVER INLET The inlet was on fire with big blues on Tuesday during incoming water. Bucktails and metal lures were the top two producers.

Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay have both seen runs of bluefish. Some are the big choppers while others run in the two to five-pound range. Most are caught on bucktails or metal lures.

Keeper rockfish to 30 inches have been caught on bucktails at dawn, dusk and on night tides.  Smaller rock take bucktails during the day.
Flounder fishing is still pretty slow.  A few keepers have been taken out of the VFW Slough on minnows, squid strips and Gulp!.

SURF FISHING The big bluefish run is keeping surfcasters happy. The fish have been caught from Herring Point to Fenwick Island on cut bunker or metal lures. The key to success is being there when the fish are in a feeding mood. That seems to be at the top and the bottom of the tide. If you have the time, I would suggest fishing as much as possible since the blues are in and out all day.

The occasional big rockfish has also been caught from the beach. Cut bunker has been the best bait.

Black drum are also available.  They will take cut bunker, but prefer clams.

FRESHWATER Trout are still being caught from the stocked streams in New Castle County. Worms, grubs and live minnows will be the best bet.

Bass fishing has been good in the state ponds with Senkos, crankbaits and jigs working well. Of course non-purists like myself have no problem fishing an earthworm or live minnow under a bobber.

Snakeheads are showing up in the Nanticoke River and if you catch one you can get a state citation pin if you kill and dispose of the fish. I have been told the meat is very mild.

BIG BLUES: GOOD EATIN' When we had big blues back in the late 1960s into the 1980s, many people would keep more than they could use. Those fish went into garbage bins and were wasted.

Right now there are a lot of big blues being caught and I hope anglers have now learned to release what they can’t eat. The idea that big blues are not good table fare is unfortunate since these fish can be very good if properly prepared.

When you clean a big bluefish make sure to remove the dark meat that runs down the middle of the filet. This is the lateral line and has a stronger taste than most people like.

The filets can then be baked, grilled, smoked or prepared however you like your fish.

If you cut the filets into chunks and make up a beer batter I promise you will enjoy the result.

I know fried food is a no-no for some folks so they should try parboiling the filets in a mixture of water or beer, Old Bay and any other spices you may like. Bring the liquid to a boil with the filets submerged. It only take about ten minutes to cook the fish. Then turn off the heat and let the filets soak in the liquid for 15 minutes. Remove the fish and serve.

Any leftover fish can be made into fish cakes. Simply take the fish and mix it with bread crumbs, one egg, some mayo and a little more Old Bay. Form into cakes and fry or bake. Leftover fish cakes can be frozen and used for a quick dinner.