The signs of spring are everywhere on land. Worms are in the first couple inches of soil in the gardens. Trees are popping buds. Bulb flowers are blooming. My head feels like it is going to explode from allergies, yup, spring is here.

The waterways are warming up enough to turn on some better fish action. The cold snaps haven’t really slowed anything down much. Once critters start up for spring, they tend to not stop. The peepers have been out in the warmer days already.

White perch is picking up in the Broadkill River and other waterways. Short striped bass action is mixed in as well. Bloodworms have been the choice bait, or grass shrimp.

The commercial striped bass anglers are catching their quotas and a lot of huge bunker. There are still bunker washing up on the lower bay and ocean beaches. That is clearing out in most areas. Seals are still on schools of bunker, feasting with birds in tow.

The first shad report of 2022, from March 9, stated the first shad was caught in the Potomac River on March 7 this year. If, like me, you pay attention to other reports up and down our coasts, we get to watch the fish move up the coastline and into the waterways. This will usually give you an idea of when we may see some of the same fish in our waters. There are already rumors of flounder a little below Chincoteague. I’m sure this weekend we will see a variety of new catches.

Trout fishing the ponds (Newton and Tidbury) has been productive. The rivers up north will open soon enough with stocked trout. The first day is for the kids. By the way, there is a consumption advisory on stocked trout. In the Christina, it is Rittenhouse Park to the Delaware/Maryland line for PCBs and dieldrin. This is advised at six eight-ounce filets consumed a year. In the designated trout streams, it is PCBs and advised at no more than 12 eight-ounce filets consumed a year. The farmed trout are fine. It is the waters they are released into that creates the advisory.

The beginning of the spring striped bass run is occurring, which comes in a few phases. The local fish or residents have been schooling up and feeding heavy. Some will join the migration, some will stay and remain resident fish. The big resident fish are getting frisky for the spawn. Then there are the migratory fish. Think of them like vacationers. We all go on vacation, just not all at once — well, some of us. There are always early arrivals for whatever reason, mostly to avoid crowds. In the case of striped bass, the early arrivals are just following bunker schools, much like following around your favorite food truck. Then the main migration shows up and then some late arrivals.

The osprey showed back up at the nest at Cape Henlopen. The eagles did not take it over for a nest. Osprey have been arriving all week — a great indication the fishing is about to really pick up for the spring.