That fall teaser for the end of the summer season was a nice relief. Now it is Satan’s front porch again. I’m not going outside unless it’s dark. It is ignorant hot before noon already. The fish don’t care, they are cooler in the water but it will wear on an angler fast. Stay hydrated and be careful during these dead heat days.

Fishbites formulas have been doing well for us this season. I wanted to let the users of this artificial bait know a great little fact: The scent never leaves Fishbites formulas, even when it changes color and ultimately dries up a little bit. These are still good, they just look a little rough.

How can I prove that? I have packages of Fishbites that are anywhere from sitting months on the hot dashboard to years old found in the truck. I have used five-year-old bloodworm strips and caught plenty of fish just fine. We had to soften the harder pieces with water and still caught fish.

I’m so lazy I usually just leave the old Fishbites on my hooks and then use the same rig the next day. Actually I am just hard on gear because we product test so I get to be lazy on purpose. That’s my story and I am sticking to it, anyway.

The baits are mushy when wet and hard when dry. It’s easier to cut it off when dry. If you let it dry on the hook and take it off later, it’s cleaner. So on the next trip, usually the next day but not always, I toss the line out to soften the bait and catch fish before I have to put on new bait.

This is one of the few artificial baits that are legal as your bait for surf fishing, too.

The fishing is getting a little better since we have less people in the water now. Weekdays are gloriously empty beaches. The weekends will be chaos without reservations and that is fine. I’m sure this crazy system will stay because that is how things work here. The real anglers are coming to the sandbox. We get in early and we stay all day into the night sometimes. We don’t care if people are in the way, we just fish around them. Overnight trips will be on the menu more now, too.

Pompano are finally showing up in the surf the last week or so, little jacks and blue runners, too. The late summer fish are finally making an appearance, now we will see how long that lasts. The usual summer suspects are biting well, including a lot of spot and kingfish. Croaker are in thick on some days. That last storm surge pushed in a lot of fish it seems, but there are still days you just don’t catch.

The Indian River Inlet is producing a variety of species. The nice thing down there is you can decide how and what you want to target and usually do pretty decent. All of our ocean inlets hold fish. You just have to decide how much gear you want to feed to the rocks.

The last offshore storm surge and hurricane mess removed most of the northside beach’s sand. The incoming hurricane next week, if it hits like a few predictions, should wash out the rest and then some. That old bulkhead on the north beach is exposed to almost eight feet tall. It’s neat seeing old stuff under the sand.

If you are hunting, watch the chiggers and ticks. It is rough out there. My woods are alive with all kinds of bugs I am not going to tangle with right now.

Pay attention to next week, this incoming system could be serious. It will create some great storm surge waves for the surfers regardless, and maybe push some fish in, too. We will have to wait and see if it gets pushed to the Atlantic Coast or offshore. Watching storms dance around each other on the big radar systems is pretty cool.

It is about time for Delaware’s one-and-done drum run, any day now. Get your DS Custom Tackle drum rigs ready to rock and roll the beaches. We are loaded for fall now and spending more time fishing and less in the warehouses. The Five “O” High-Low clam rigs they have are great for drum.

Assateague is still seeing some decent red drum catches.
Offshore fishing has been great. There are tons of ribbonfish or cutlass fish again this year. Four years ago, it was a trash fish and everyone complained about them. Now they are targeting them. Will this be like croaker fishing replaced porgy in the Delaware Bay back in the day? They are fun to catch, especially on light gear from land.

Fall fishing is coming fast, it just doesn’t feel like it outside. Get your new fall gear now before the rush. There are still supply chain issues in the fishing industry. Some manufacturers are doing one-time yearly runs of certain products due to demand. It has been interesting to try and keep up with as part of my job. One day there is a surplus of a product and a week later it is gone for months.