Just another hot summer season and we are catching fish and a good burn. Sugar-soft hot sand on the beaches is making it difficult to drive — you may need to air down more. Rangers are doing surf checks randomly at drive-on accesses and even checking everyone on the beaches at times.

The summer, though winding down, is in full swing. The White Marlin Open started this past Monday. The Flounder Pounder was canceled for this year.

It has been a summer of fun in the sun for sure. In less than 30 days, the point opens. That is when we get serious about fishing. Less crowds, sort of, and more space to fish. The point has unique action, much like the Cape Henlopen fishing pier as they share the same bay beach line.

The Cape Henlopen fishing pier is a fun place to take the family. I was out there this past Saturday after delivering DS Custom Tackle to the pier shop, Lighthouse View Bait and Tackle. Still not sure why he didn’t call it Lighthouses, you can see both of them. I know, grammar grammar grammar.

The shop owner, Dave Beebe, said, “Wanna take a ride?”

Yup. I definitely do.

Dave had to pick up someone out there and wanted to check the fishing conditions. I just didn’t want to walk so I hitched a ride.

The pier shop keeps a golf cart there to help the handicapped folks and anyone who may need a ride out to the pier. She can be a long walk, even for a now shorter pier. Great service by the shop crew. They also can keep you up on the latest fishing news by the day, even hourly. Just check out their Facebook page. They have a full line of bait and carry the best local tackle available.

We stopped at the end and talked to the crew hammering spot, three and four fish at a time. Dave even “borrowed” a rod from an angler and reeled in two spot for their cooler.

The pier hosts a unique crowd of anglers, from all over the world, most days in the summer. You meet some really cool people. When Dave headed back, I jumped out to see a buddy of mine. It took me two hours to get back to the shop. I had to stop and talk to a lot of people I know. One reason I avoid weekends, I can’t fish when I am talking too much, just ask anyone who knows me.

You don’t need to own tackle or gear to fish the Cape Henlopen pier — the shop rents rod set-ups and the gear you need. Just buy your bait and have a fishing license. You can crab at the pier and use hand lines or the regular folding traps and rings available in the shop.

Many people take the whole family to the pier beaches. On each side of the shop there are trails for access. The bay waves are calm and shallow waters allow the kids to play. Clamming is great there, too, on the low tide. As Dave says, just look for a little keyhole shape in the sand and dig.

The Cape Henlopen State Park fishing pier is open 24 hours to fish. If you fish the lights along the pier, fish the shadow on the outside of the light ring. Flounder and striped bass will sit under the pier and in the shadows ambushing bait fish.

Flounder like to hang around the old pier poles and feed on the bait fish that use the structure for food and shelter. Just use a jig head with some gulp.

There is a small pavilion for shade and a few grills for cooking food, a bath house and foot wash stations. There is also a kayak rental station by Coastal Kayak.

The kayak anglers really like fishing the flats and will go out to the walls or the old pier pole structures. These walls protect the harbor of safe refuge and create some incredible fishing structures. If a fish exists in our salty waters, they can be found around the pier and the surrounding structure.

The Cape Henlopen fishing pier is a great place to take the family for the day and wet a line and have fun. If we could get the state to rebuild the pier back to the old T structure on the end, it would be even more amazing. That is a money maker just waiting to be rebuilt. The sunsets there are amazing, while watching the ferry leave her port.

The fishing in the surf is typical summer suspects: kingfish, spot, weakfish, croaker, pompano and flounder. The skates, rays, dogfish and sharks always abide.

Some keeper striped bass are always around, hitting at night mostly. I find them along the beaches at night hunting for food. It is much easier to walk and cast for these beats. You can also set up and sit with a bunker chunk, but the sharks will eat that a lot. We have resident striped bass that live here year-round — big ones, not the shorts.

It is still summer slot striped bass season for the Delaware Bay and her tributaries until Aug. 31. Been nailing them in the Lewes canal, Broadkill River and along the Cape Henlopen pier. The small fish are better to eat, in my opinion. The meat isn’t that “old” and the fish hasn’t marinated in that polluted water as long.

Bluefish might be the new unicorn. They are about as random as weakfish these days. The catches are occurring along the beaches but random. We are seeing more finally, but still less than years past.

Flounder around the Lewes canal has been great action, just have to put in the time. The surf will produce flounder. The best way to catch them is jig for them. Bucktails with gulp are the most popular, but any jig head and soft plastic usually works — some better than others and that always seems to change.

The hard part is getting your lure in front of a fish any length of time. Most people cast straight out which is fine on a cut or rip current. But you really want to cast down or along the beach at about a 30-degree angle. This way you can “jig” your bucktail along the surf edge where the flounder sit and feed. This gives you more of a chance to hook up with a fish and a longer presentation in the “strike” zone. A straight-out cast only gives you a short window where the fish usually sit, unless you are fishing directly in a cut or run out. Throwing lures is fun, the hit is the reward and a lot of fun. I prefer it than bait and wait. The rod holder gets the hit action, you just reel it in.

The head boats and charters are mostly going for sea bass and flounder. The flattie action has really picked up offshore. I think this year that will continue more than usual. The Flounder Pounder puts a real dent on the population, I don’t care what anyone says. That is a lot of pressure on a fish population, even offshore. I expect this great action will continue into the end of the season.

The White Marlin open has been underway all week. A decent day at the scales so far for several anglers. One boat crew had to be rescued by another crew. Fishbone, like most boats in high-dollar tournaments, has video recording while fishing. They captured a video of their rescue of the crew of the Knot Stressed. Way to go captain and crew! That is a solid catch and keep. All hands were fine and no injuries were reported.

It is a rare thing these days to see competitors help one another. We are seeing it in the Olympics. Today we saw it in the White Marlin Open. Millions on the line for prize money, thousands paid to compete and these boys drop, stop and rescue a competitor. That is class and karma will reward them in the future. An example that many should learn and lead with in all competitions. Thank you gentlemen and ladies, you did better than well today. You’re the real winners of the 2021 White Marlin Open.

The offshore anglers are doing well on tuna, sharks and, of course, billfish. Tilefish are a fun deep-water catch. Just depends on what you want to do for the day once you are out there. Been a lot of quality catches coming into the docks. Contact your local charters for trips.

Get out and fish and tell summer to slow down, but not until the point opens back up.