Wow, what a week of more stormy weather that is perfect for migratory striped bass and these big bluefish. Bass love sloppy weather conditions along a beach during the day to hunt for food. We aren’t huge fans of the weather but we get to fish on deserted beaches. I have all this wet/dry gear for those fishing conditions. It has been getting a workout. I’ve been walking and fishing all of the drains along the beaches, with no one in sight most weekdays, unlike the circus weekends on the drive-on beaches.

Last weekend, before Memorial Day weekend, was wild on our beaches. Coastal Towing gets the catch-and-release champion award of the weekend, yanking out stuck vehicles all day long. The beaches were way too overcrowded to surf fish. There were 321 vehicles on Herring Point to Gordons Pond on Saturday, at one time. During a tournament two-plus years ago, I could barely fit 136 vehicles, per COVID rules, to comfortably and competitively surf fish, in the same amount of space on that beach, which is roughly 8,100 feet of drive-on access.

At Assateague with the 12 vehicle per mile federal mandate vehicle limit, that area would have less than 24 vehicles at one time. Delaware, you are doing it all wrong — protect this resource, not every user groups’ feelings, per your mission statement for DNREC. Sorry, not sorry, but with what I do with Delaware Surf Fishing I have heard and seen it all for 13-plus years. There is but one solution: limited vehicle access. Sell all the tags you want. Protect the resource.

Anyway, back to catching fish. We have some new arrivals in town — burrfish and croaker are showing up. Kingfish have arrived as well. Fishbites bloodworms or sand flea formulas are working well. Catching small sand fleas or real bloodworms for bait works very well. Cut bait is good, too, but attracts more of the scavengers.

Shad are being caught around the Indian River Inlet. Some are mistaking them for bluefish. Just check the mouth if you really can’t tell — shad can’t chomp off your finger. The key difference, aside the fact the fish look totally different, but here we are ... check the eyes. Bluefish have those yellow devil eyes, shad look like big, surprised googly eyes.

Some gator blues are still around the surf from Assaeague up into the Delaware Bay. They have stuck around for a while which is great for the action which has been random. You have to fish and put in the time. Weekdays are better so you have less fake lines to compete with. A guy next to me last week put four whole squid on a hook. This is not the way. I watched every small fish feed on his buffet that had the hook so buried in squid, it will never catch. Then the fish stop biting since they were full. Can we get that fake line out of the equation, too, please?

Striped bass action is still decent for migratory bass in the surf. Assateague boys are doing well on occasion, even Delaware has seen a few. Bunker chunks at night, sand fleas during the day is the preferred method. The big drains are the best places to target, but these fish move so they can be anywhere. Big drains will attract fish due to the food slick they pour out into the ocean.

Sea bass has been great when the boats get out. Wacky spring weather has not made that easy. When they get out, they are filling coolers rather frequently.

Horseshoe crabs are in the spawn and will be along the beaches more. Please handle them carefully when putting them back in the water. Pick them up by the side of their dome, not the telson (tail). They use that like a rudder to steer, if broken off they are going in circles.

Crabbing has been OK. The water is slowly warming up which is good. The storms have kept the activity down on the waterways. That actually helps boost up the fish and crab populations a wee bit, with no one out there yanking them out of the water.

Flounder action has been slow for this time of year. Keepers are being caught around the inland bays, with minnows or jigging with Gulp. The anglers trying for bluefish with spoons are catching flounder at the beach near the Cape Henlopen fishing pier. The pier action has been decent on the days the weather is as well. More anglers means more catches, right?

But actually if you have less anglers there is more fish for those anglers. Wednesday, a guy caught five 20-inch bluefish from the pier. He was one of a few braving the weather. Putting in the time when others are not is rewarding, most of the time. I’ve skunked this week more than I have caught but I am out daily trying for as long as I have the time. Throwing lures and walking the beaches is a lot different than wait and baiting the drains.

I am pretty sure despite temperatures we have some sharks off the beaches. Whatever fought like that and bent that hook was not a fish fish. For dogfish, cut bait is like kibble for them. Dogs (fish) are good eating, you just have to clean them right away.

The beaches look amazing and are slowly forming back up. The sand bars are moving in to reform the beach. The structure changes daily between tides. Many think this will be a great season in the surf. It certainly will be on weekdays. The food competition with your bait will be one issue, try to use what the fish are feeding on the most.

Get out and fish, the catching is getting better (for Delaware) as the water warms up and you just never know.

If you are trying the drive-on beaches, if you aren’t to the parks by 9:30 a.m., the drinking beaches will be full. Plan a back-up or do something else.