Still lots of fishing despite quick temperature change

By Rich King
Posted 11/1/23

I like to ease into my seasons. I’m glad fall is here but a fast dose all at once was not in the plans. It is much like when summer hits too fast — I’m just not ready for that …

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Still lots of fishing despite quick temperature change

Posted

I like to ease into my seasons. I’m glad fall is here but a fast dose all at once was not in the plans. It is much like when summer hits too fast — I’m just not ready for that temperature difference.

The good news is it won’t crash the water temperatures too bad and I have plenty of warm/wet gear anyway. The area waters were headed back into the upper 60s with that warm spike. The inland bays crashed 10 degrees in 48 hours and have leveled off at 59 degrees. That 51-degree magic number for striped bass isn’t too far away. Those fish are moving and feeding anyway. Jersey has been on fire. There are fleets of boats within casting distance of the beach at times and anglers shoulder to shoulder on the surf following blitzes. We have decent schooling bass action here in Delaware. I’ve seen a few keepers in the schools, too.

There are still triggers and sheepshead on the reefs and wrecks. Bluefish and porgies are around out there. Sea bass action has been good, too. The charter and head boats have been doing well filling up the cleaning tables at the marinas. Flounder are still on the catch menu for offshore anglers. It helps that is the direction flounder happen to migrate. The surf is seeing some flounder action. A few sundials, or windowpane, flounder have been caught, as well as summer flounder. These are thinner flounder with many spots and are more diamond shaped in the body.

Tautog action has been normal at the inlets, with a lot of throwbacks to a keeper. Use green crabs or sand fleas for the bait. The Lead Pot has a large variety of tautog and sheepshead jigs. The charters are doing good catching tautog.

Crabbing is still good around the inland bays and waterways, but that is going to change as soon as these temperatures drop a little more. Crabs are fattening up — it is a great time of year to fill a freezer for winter cakes.

Clamming is excellent — they don’t move too fast. The oyster farmers are harvesting good loads of oysters.

Surf fishing has been slow, but it is a day at the beach for the tradeoff. A lot of dogfish are being caught, as well as small puppy drum, large kingfish and spot on occasion. Bluefish are almost nonexistent. That action is a bit better at Assateague, but not much better. The summer fish to fall fish transition makes for strange action. “Is that a shark or a log?” There are more spot in the backwater areas than the surf.

Freshwater fishing has been good action for bass. Fly fishing has been fun in the evenings. The snakeheads are still hitting. Blue catfish action has been great.

If you are boating in New Jersey waters, they have a new rule for all boats and watercraft under 26 feet for the winter: “Starting this November, no owner or operator of a recreational vessel less than 26 feet, including rowboats, canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards, shall permit its operation between November 1st and May 1st, unless each person on board such vessel is wearing a securely fastened United States Coast Guard-approved wearable personal flotation device of an appropriate size while such vessel is underway. A person inside the cabin of a cabin vessel shall be exempt from this requirement.”

Many anglers fish the Delaware Bay on the Jersey side, so keep this rule in mind.

Have a great weekend, it is going to get dark. Don’t forget to set your clocks from sunshine and happiness back to misery and despair this Sunday. Some of us will finally have our vehicle clocks on the right time, others will be off an hour. The struggle is real.

Gift idea for that angler in your life for the horror-days: a stocking or fishing box of rig-building parts or materials. They need fishing line for the rig body, hooks, swivels, floats or beads, and storage like small bags for each rig. Depending on the rig being made, that will govern the gear required. It isn’t hard, just ask your angler if they make their own gear and what parts they use. Trust me, we will spend an hour showing and telling you everything you didn’t want to know and why. You will probably pick up a few other gift ideas with this random questioning. A rig-making board is a great gift, too.

Holiday advice for anglers: If someone asks you about the rigs you use and make, tell them all the expensive parts you want. They aren’t actually interested, but tell them anyway.

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