Turn heat on. Open windows. AC on. Open windows. Heat back on. The fall routine struggle is real. How about that humidity in November, too? That was a precious, horrible reminder of summer. You’ve got to love fall, at least we have fishing for lots of schooled up short striped bass. That action is getting better and has been a lot of fun around the inland bays in my kayak.

The marsh banks really produce this time of year. Most of the structure in the waterways will hold striped bass at some point as the schools move around and feed on everything, mixed in with the white perch schools, too. You can actually drift along at times with the schools and just pick away at fish with plugs, bucktails or swim shads.

The surf is still producing some spot, kingfish, flounder, short striped bass, bluefish, northern pufferfish and, of course, skates and dogfish. A few red drum have been caught south of us at Assateague and lower down. This action will probably change after this weekend’s cold snap weather. I don’t expect the summer leftovers to last much longer, the fish that is. The tourists don’t leave anymore, it is just shifts now. Next!

Baits have been mullet whole or pieces, bunker chunks, squid strips or clam. You can try Fishbites long lasting in the red package. The water is just about to that point it won’t work as well, but not quite. I use a small piece just to add to the bait scent anyway.

Tautog action around the waterways is steady but mostly throwbacks for the inlets. Boats are doing well going out for tautog and seabass. The Jersey boats are getting it in on schools of migratory striped bass. That is a long ride for Delaware boats, but that is about to get shorter. Those fish are steady on the move south. Some early arrivals have been caught around the Delaware Bay. Get out and put in the time fishing this time of year to reap the rewards of large fish. It’s the only way, or you just get real lucky at times. Either way, you have to go fish to find out.

ASMFC: “The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board reviewed the results of the 2022 Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update, which indicates the resource is no longer experiencing overfishing but remains overfished relative to the updated biological reference points. Female spawning stock biomass (SSB) in 2021 was estimated at 143 million pounds, which is below the SSB threshold of 188 million pounds and below the SSB target of 235 million pounds. Total fishing mortality in 2021 was estimated at 0.14, which is below the updated fishing mortality threshold of 0.20 and below the updated fishing mortality target of 0.17.”

Well the surf tag announcement went over well — not really. I run social media pages with 80,000-plus people on them and an outreach of about 1.5 million weekly. We know our audience and how they react to news. We also listen to them.
Parks has an interesting dilemma now and so do all the weekend surf anglers. People are talking about just spending the $4 to hold a space and not going. A friend of mine said, “It only costs $4 to mess up the system for the weekend, all my friends are going to do this.”

Also, the Beach Coalition has just been handed a private beach. All they have to do is get tags and make as many reservations as they have tags. If they have two cars per household that are allowed on the beach, then they could hold up as many as 200 to 300 spots each weekend, never use the spots and have empty beaches at Fenwick Island. Well played to the Beach Coalition. They are now going to spend less than what it costs them to plunge a toilet than the thousands they spend yearly on a lobbyist to wear on Parks to get what they want. Well played.

If I owned a $2 million house, what is it going to really cost me to buy a $500, 4x4 junker and a surf tag? Comparted to my peace of mind, I get some space out front.

Anyway ... food for thought for the powers that be. Now you have a system that can be gamed.

A reservation system seems like a great idea on paper. But you need limits anyway for reservations. You are going to have to enforce that limit and the reservations. Save time, manpower, money and hassle. If you have vehicle limits and a gate, then everyone gets a fair shot at going to the beach. No one has to regulate anything. The fight can start at the gate in the form of wait your turn. It eliminates a dozen problems that are harming the beach. The surf anglers who are all leaving Delaware will come back and fish. That is a serious problem. We are losing anglers every year, because we are forcing people to fish around them in huge crowds.

I don’t know if anyone has ever noticed the beauty of Assateague, besides all that room and amazing fishing. Unless you or your vehicle are on fire, the rangers drive by and wave — a zero-stress environment for everyone including them. Just saying, because that is the point of going to the beach.

The lunar eclipse was amazing to see. We spent two days getting up for a rocket launch so it just made sense to get up again at 4 a.m. and follow the eclipse around. All of this during a time change, too. So if I seem a little off this week, I blame NASA.

Hunter Outten has been taking up astrophotography with all the really cool tracking gear. He is getting some amazing shots with this huge telescope he has, too. It’s like a planetarium over there in Georgetown. He will be at the Millville Outdoorsman Marketplace at the Millville Firehall Jan. 7, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come down and check it out and learn about astrophotography. DS Custom Tackle will have some killer show deals, too.