So it snowed up north a couple days ago. The shad anglers are worried about Delaware River water temps. My buddy in Pennsylvania is still trying to figure out if he should have mowed his grass before the snow because mowing during was kind of weird — mostly for his neighbors. Good news is he can come down here now and catch more fish varieties!

Heads up to boaters. The new fire extinguisher regulations per the Coast Guard went into effect on April 20. The regulations are designed to make it easier on recreational boaters. You just have to figure out where you are on their charts or scale.

Boat US Foundation wrote these up and made it better to understand.

If you own a boat that is model year 2018 or newer, you may need to replace your fire extinguishers. In addition to meeting the carriage requirements for the correct number of extinguishers for the size of your boat, they must be labeled as 5-B, 10-B or 20-B, extinguishers labeled with B-I or B-II only are no longer acceptable.

Extinguishers must not be more than 12 years old according to the date of manufacture stamped on the bottle

You only have to get new ones if they are no longer serviceable. Good serviceable conditions are as follows:

•If the extinguisher has a pressure gauge reading or indicator it must be in the operable range or position

•The lock pin is firmly in place

•The discharge nozzle is clean and free of obstruction

•The extinguisher does not show visible signs of significant corrosion or damage.

If you own a boat that is 2017 model year or older (between 1953-2017):

You may keep your extinguishers labeled B-I and B-II as long as they are still serviceable, but If there is a date stamped on the bottle, extinguishers must not be more than 12 years old according to that date.

Surf fishing is finally picking up a bit more. Not just black drum but a few other species have hit the sand. Northern puffers are slowly making an appearance as well as northern kingfish. That is the one with the camo-like pattern. A bluefish was caught in the surf on Assateague Island.

I would not hold my breath for a bluefish invasion. However there are migratory striped bass showing up in the Assateague surf. These are coming out of the Chesapeake Bay from the spawn, most likely. They are hitting bunker chunks. Clam is a good bait for striped bass too.

Maryland changed their flounder limits to 16 inches and four per angler for 2022. Delaware (DNREC) has a public comment period open until Friday for flounder, scup and sea bass.

Effective May 2, there is a new wahoo and dolphin catch level change. Google Amendment 10 for wahoo and dolphin for all the details. It is one of those limits where once a specific number is reached, it shuts down that fishery.

With the first slot limit ever on flounder in New Jersey this year and now this, I think we are going to see more and more regulations. If we wind up like Florida’s snapper regulations, I’m going to just target bluegills.

Black drum have been hitting sand fleas or surf clams. Most anglers have been using Fishbites as well. The crab, clam, and sand flea formulas are working well for black drum. The EZ shrimp fast acting is working too. That is the red package, it dissolves faster. Some anglers are using just all three Fishbite formulas without any sand fleas or clam on a drum rig with an 8/0 hook for a mixed scent. The drum action has been decent one day and slow the next, because fishing. Delaware drum action is and will pick up over the next week.

Short striped bass or surf rats along the beaches is picking up in Delaware. The Inland Bay action is fun in rips along the marsh banks. I’m using those pearl white tsunami swim shads mostly.

Flounder are here, but in small sizes and numbers. The catches are very slow. Jimmy at Dan’s Bait and Tackle found a keeper flounder in a crab trap the other day in the Delaware Bay. Good to see that happening. The canals are your best bet to start looking and along the beaches in the cuts.

Tautog are small at the inlets with occasional keepers. The walls have been the same action in the Delaware Bay. All the shops are loaded with baits for tautog.

Lots of decent catfishing going on around the waterways. Snakeheads are being targeted as well with success. Bunker chunks make killer cat bait. So does the Fishbites bloody shad.

Spring is slowly coming into her own. Fish are early or late depending how you look at it. One thing is for certain, if you aren’t out fishing, you’re gonna miss that catch.

Cape Henlopen Fishing Pier is shoaled in more than half way out. At low tide there is a foot of water and then it starts getting deeper. Clamming is really good because of it — more places to look.

That pier needs to be rebuilt out to the original T. The state, parks and the community are losing a lot of money by having a fishing pier that can barely be fished. Put it back to the original and 100-plus people could fish it with no problem, daily.

The pier is a serious money maker just sitting there waiting for someone to fix it. The ocean pier in Ocean City Maryland, if broken by storms etc. is fixed in weeks, due to it being private and it produces money.

Meanwhile in Delaware. Something breaks and we just take it apart and shut it down. Anglers lose more access constantly. Yet, every year we have a little over $4 million in fishing license money. This pier contributes greatly to that fund. ]

Maybe start dipping into it and fix it up, or build a new pier. If Delaware’s recreational fishing license money can build a pier in Dobbinsville, we can fix the existing one in Cape Henlopen. All it takes is a secured loan paid off by our licenses’ yearly money. The pier is an antique. The feds have all kinds of money for that too. Bring in a U boat for display, charge for tours, and we can fish it as structure.

Sorry, this is the dumb stuff I think abut when I am fishing. Like how to get more fishing access in a place that is losing fishing access.