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 Eric Burnley, Sr.

Delaware Bay

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Odessa

Patty at Captain Bones said between the cold and windy weather and the hunting seasons, not many people have been fishing.

Those that do go target white perch and catfish along the shoreline and in the tidal creeks and rivers from Augustine Beach on down to the fishing pier at Woodland Beach. Bloodworms for the perch and cut bunker for the cats.

Leipsic

Steve at Smith Bait told us that fishing has been really slow due to the windy and cold weather. The only action he has heard about was down at the Port Mahon Pier where bloodworms have been used to catch some small striped bass.

Broadkill Beach

Dan at Dan’s Tackle was closed when we called on Wednesday afternoon.

Lewes

Lewes Harbour Marina had little to report due to either small craft advisories or gale warnings. I have been doing fishing reports since 1973 and I do not recall weather this bad for this long in all that time. I have no reports from boats leaving Lewes for this entire week.

Indian River Inlet

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Old Inlet Bait and Tackle were pleasantly surprised to tell me shad were being caught on shad darts and small spoons from the Indian River Inlet when I called on Wednesday afternoon. How long these hickory shad will stick around is anyone’s guess, but they will provide some fun on light tackle as long as they remain.

Tog are still the primary target for most Inlet anglers. Sand fleas and green crab are the top baits.

Indian River Bay

Rick’s Bait and Tackle told me fishing has been at a standstill due to the weather.

Surf Fishing

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Old Inlet Bait and Tackle said those who do fish the surf are rewarded with spiney dog sharks and skates.

Inshore Ocean

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Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em said a couple of boats snuck out and fished for tog at a near shore wreck. They caught a few.

Offshore Ocean

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Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em said no boat ventured to the canyons.

Freshwater

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Steve at Smith Bait in Leipsic reported that Garrisons Lake holds bass and crappie and both will take live minnows.

Captain Bones in Odessa said that Silver Lake and Massey’s Mill Pond both have good fishing for bass and crappie and there too live minnows work best.

Barbless Hooks

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If you find yourself in a situation where you are catching one fish after another, why not crush the barb on your hook? This will make it much easier to remove the hook from the fish and reduce the problem of release mortality.

Back when I was running charters out of Virginia Beach, I would often get into situations where my party would be catching one striper or bluefish after another. Once the limit was in the cooler, I would crush the barb on the bucktail and from then on all I had to do was flip the bucktail upside down and bye-bye fish.

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