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.

Current Conditions

We have had a gale warning up on the ocean and bay for most of the past week, so no boats have been out of their slips or off of their trailers during this time. These stormy conditions have made the surf too rough to fish as well. Shore fishing at freshwater locations or Indian River Inlet were about the only places where any successful catches were made.

Delaware Bay

Jack at Captain Bones said the same old white perch and catfish that have been entertaining anglers from Augustine Beach down to Woodland Beach are still available. Bloodworms or Fishbites for the perch and nice, juicy chunks of bunker for the catfish.

Leipsic

Steve at Smith Bait in Leipsic told us the only game in town were some white perch caught at the local bridges and spillways on bloodworms and shrimp.

Crabbing is also productive from the same bridges.

Broadkill Beach

Dan at Dan’s Tackle said the beach was flooded as were the streets in Milton when I called on Thursday.

Broadkill Beach had nothing during the week, but the Broadkill River did have a few flounder and quite a few crabs.

Lewes

Aaron at Lewes Harbour Marina only got to look at all the boats resting at their slips.

Indian River Inlet

Old Inlet Bait and Tackle had reports of tog caught on sand fleas from the inlet.

Rick’s Bait and Tackle told us those who fished from the pier at Massey’s Landing with sand fleas caught tog.

Surf Fishing

Old Inlet Bait and Tackle had no reports from the surf because the storm offshore created waves of over 10 feet and that made surf fishing impossible.

Inshore Ocean

Burt at Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em had nothing to report because no boats were able to leave their docks.

Offshore Ocean

There was no report from offshore.

Freshwater

Jack at Captain Bones in Odessa recorded a Delaware Rainbow Trout Citation for Robert Guthrie. His trout weighed 2.61 pounds and was caught on a Power Bait out of White Clay Creek. Robert didn’t waste any time since DNREC just stocked 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout in White Clay Creek on Wednesday.

Steve at Smith Bait in Leipsic said crappie seem to be drawing all the attention to Garrison Lake and Massey’s Mill Pond. He reported most of his customers are using minnows to catch their crappie.

Rainbow Trout

As you read above, DNREC has loaded up White Clay Creek with rainbow trout. When I lived near Newark, I enjoyed fishing White Clay Creek in the fall as it was not nearly as crowded as in the spring.

I would walk along sight-casting to trout I could see or casting to structure that I hoped might hold a trout. Granted, I didn’t catch a lot of fish, but just being out on a crisp fall morning and casting a nice, lite spinning outfit was a joy unto itself.

Eric Burnley, Sr. is a native Delawarean who has fished local waters for more than 60 years. Eric Burnley has been a full-time outdoor writer since 1978, with articles appearing in most national magazines and many regional publications. He has written three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Catching Striped Bass and Fishing Saltwater Baits.