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 told us that given hunting seasons, the unseasonably cold weather and the holiday seasons no one was fishing last week.

Leipsic

Steve at Smith Bait, for the first time that I can remember, did not answer the phone. I suspect with the wind howling at gale force and the temperature in the low 40s he decided no one was going fishing.

Broadkill Beach

Dan at Dan’s Tackle was closed.

Lewes

Lewes Harbour Marina said the Katydid had some tog one day last week. Other than that, no boats left their dock all week.

Indian River Inlet

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Old Inlet Bait and Tackle said while tog are the most reliable fish from the Inlet, stripers have been caught on bucktails from the end of the North Jetty. They also had a report from a boat that fished the mouth of Delaware Bay where they found stripers breaking on top. They caught several slot fish and quite a few shorts.

This is good news for those of us who have been waiting for these fish to move south from New Jersey.

Indian River Bay

Rick’s Bait and Tackle had nothing to report from the Inland Bays due to the wind and cold.

They did have a report of big striped bass and bluefin tuna about eight to ten miles off the beach. This is nice, but does anglers no good because bluefin tuna season is closed and fishing for stripers beyond the Three-Mile-Limit is against the law.

Surf Fishing

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Old Inlet Bait and Tackle said the surf produced skates and spiney dog sharks.

Inshore Ocean

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Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em told us the one day the seas dropped out just a bit, several boats ran to sites 10 and 11. They caught some tog.

Offshore Ocean

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

Freshwater

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Taylored Tackle in Seaford reported that Mr. Ronnie Littleton has done it again. This time he caught a 1.75-pound, 15-inch crappie out of Williams Pond on a Rabbapple Minnow. He keeps his citations alive, brings them in for a weigh-in, then releases them.

As for other freshwater, there was skim ice on Wagamons Pond on Tuesday.

Constant Disappointment

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I was booked on a head boat for last Tuesday, the ninth of December, and of course, the captain had to cancel the trip due to the nasty weather. I am sure I was not the only one who was disappointed. The boat holds lots of fishermen.

This year has been one of constant disappointment. The weather is to blame and there is nothing we can do about that. If you think anglers are disappointed, think about for-hire boat owners, tackle shops and bait dealers. They are watching their livelihood get blown away with the wind.

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