The “When is spring going to get here?” holding pattern is getting on everyone’s nerves. With almost 70-degree days here at the beaches, it is really frustrating. But it makes for a beautiful day at the beach — the no fish is balanced by no people. Seriously, some days I will take the first just to get some space, and peace from the latter.

My buddy Dave is out every weekend surf fishing. Despite the weather, he is out there: “It could be worse. I could be on the couch bored and thinking about it. I never know, maybe I will catch something besides skate and dogfish. I won’t know unless I go. I also don’t care because I am out here doing what I love on an empty beach. Why can’t summer weekends be this open to surf fish? We fish predawn in summer to avoid the crowds and leave once more than a few vehicles show up. Unless the fishing is outstanding, otherwise we avoid the crowds. You can’t catch fish in a crowd as well in less of a crowd, that’s for sure.”

The difference between the summer folks that “fish” and Dave is he wants to fish every day, all the time. He would love to have the room to surf fish year-round, too, and he has figured out how to get that space. Like most of us, we hit the beaches pre-dawn and we leave when a few too many are just making it to the park. When you see that guy airing up and he isn’t too talkative, that’s the lack of sleep, combined with too much good coffee, and a need for food. Also, the disappointment they have to leave because the fish just shut off from a crowded beach. That’s when we go home and mow the grass and work in the gardens, waiting for Monday so we can do it again most of the day. When you hear you can’t catch fish at the beach in the summer, so it’s no big deal, that is a myth. We do well catching on weekdays, the difference is obvious.

I have a coffee maker in the truck for my morning beach coffee. Save yourself some aggravation, get a power inverter that will run a hot pot and a small microwave. Combine that with a small charcoal grill and I am never home for dinner in the summer, I am at the beach. I don’t have to stop anywhere either except to resupply the truck’s snackle box.

Breakfast? No problem, I can run an electric skillet in the back of the truck for bacon and eggs. This power inverter then can run half the house when we have a power outage. I highly recommend these. My vehicle can run over 60 hours on a full tank, with an inverter running the house and shop. That 5-gallon can of gas was helpful when I figured that number out. Turn your vehicle into a generator for emergencies or to use on the go at the beach and camping.

Also, surf anglers, get a jump box to take with you to the beach. I saw more than the usual amount of people running radios last year, killing their batteries. The good jump boxes will run your phone and speaker systems. Better yet, stop playing music at the beach. Seriously, we go there for the sounds of nature not the latest top 40 mixed sounds from four different directions.

Someone once asked me in a meeting what we should work on. I said ban radios, I came to hear the ocean and myself think or not think. Either way, peace and quiet is preferred by most.

White perch are the main catch for the waterways. The yellow perch are starting to show up. A mild winter, as usual, makes for weird fish patterns. Figure on snakehead biting early this year and everything else for that matter. The water will warm up a little faster with an early spring and summer. How fast will depend on how mild spring rolls through.

Fishing is starting to change up a little in the south and that will transition here eventually. It is fun to watch the fish travel up the coast on the social media pages.
Fish in a barrel season is almost upon us. Trout pond season will start next month.

From DNREC: Spring pond trout season to open with youth-only day March 4, followed by regular downstate opener March 5. Tidbury Pond and Newton Pond will be closed to all fishing from Saturday, Feb. 18, through Friday, March 3, to accommodate trout stocking, eliminate incidental hooking of trout and allow trout to adjust to their new waters.

Trout pond season is awesome for kids. It is even fun as an adult for fly fishing. We have had great success with Fishbites if you are looking for an easy bait for the kids. Use the fast-acting bloodworms formula (red package). The red color of the bloodworm formula probably helps, too. These are stocked trout, they have been eating fish food for months. A fish pellet fly will do wonders with a fly rod.

The Point in Cape Henlopen State Park closes March 1, so get your sunset visits in now. The Point closes every year for migratory birds.