Summer is heat in full effect. We are hibernating during the midday heat and fishing mornings and evenings. That switched up fast. Those cooler days were nice for fishing. Not so much now. Still great to get out. You just have to stay hydrated and be careful of heat exhaustion. I’m not used to this heat and humidity yet.

Summer fishing abides in all the waterways. Haven’t seen any pompano yet but who knows? That could happen any day now. Cobia are showing up along the coast and the Chesapeake Bay. Nice specks around the Chesapeake. Lot of offshore action for tuna.

Sharks are here in full force. Make sure you are aware of the prohibited species rules for landing sharks. The banner plane pilots always crack me up. Pilot, I know “If those people down there could see what we see, they would never go into the water. I don’t go into that water over my knees. Ever see a shark the size of a station wagon?”

Summer slot striped bass fishing around the Delaware Bay and her tributaries has been productive. Kayak fishing is a blast with light gear for striped bass. Find a spot on land near a rip in the canal or Roosevelt Inlet.

The structure in the Lewes Canal holds a lot of fish. From the Kings Highway bridge to the Roosevelt Inlet is considered a tributary and is legal for summer slot striped bass. Just be careful casting around, near or toward boats. Those 2-ounce bucktails make a wicked sound off the hull of a million-dollar blow boat.

Trigger and sheepshead are around the inlets and reef sites. Great eating. Sand fleas for bait is the best bet. Hermit crabs if you can find any — you have to catch those. Lot of croaker around the inlets and Inland Bays. Spot are everywhere. It is drop in a line and see what you catch season.

Great time to get into fly fishing and try the Inland Bay flats or the bay beaches at the pier in Cape at dusk or dawn for flounder and croaker. Saltwater fly fishing is fun and yeah, you can fly fish that big ocean and catch fish. It’s just a little different than trying to pop trout in a mountain stream.

Snakehead action has been hot for the freshwater anglers. The sweet water action is fun this time of year. Just be careful of all the bugs. Ticks have been really bad and chiggers are as well. I can’t even look at my woods without itching.

A buddy of mine went white perch fishing with the kids and all they could catch were tons of slot striped bass.

“Man, those kids had a blast I wasn’t expecting that. We had light gear and were hammering god-sized striped bass up to 30 inches,” he said.