Spring has sprung if you look around my yard. We have buds popping out of plants, and the grass is getting greener. The big sign is the vernal ( ephemeral) pools. My fields are singing the sounds of spring. We have peepers even on the colder frozen nights. There is a vernal pool in the field near the house and it is an entire ecosystem now. Peepers, geese at night, ducks during the day. Every critter within miles, 40 deer every night.

The pool is normally small, in the center of the field, about 10 feet across and a foot or so deep. With all this rain now, the pool is the entire field and six feet deep in the middle. Guess how I know that?

This pool is also home to a plethora of marbled salamanders. Ever since this pool filled up a few years ago, the salamander population has increased tenfold around my property. It has been really neat watching all the life call it home. Geese raise their young and this year I’m hoping these ducks that moved in will do the same. That of course all depends on how well the pool holds water this year. In summer, these dry up.

Fishing has been winter conditions still. The water is still cold but the air feels great most days. White perch is the preferred catch with bloodworms. Most shops are stocked on weekends with bloods. Check your local shop. They are starting to open up more for the coming season.

There is a lot of striped bass mixed in with the white perch. So far no one has to worry about the circle hook rule for striped bass while perch fishing. Hopefully Delaware doesn’t go the route of Maryland. We will see eventually how all of this will be enforced. Circle hooks are only required if you are targeting striped bass with bait. The possible issue is catching striped bass while perch fishing or for other species, and not using circle hooks. Technically anglers are targeting perch not bass so it should not be an issue unless they are targeting perch with four-ounce bucktails in spawning areas.

Tautog has been decent action for the charters. The land-based folks are getting some keepers but far and few between bites.

Charters are starting to gear up for the coming season. Many are taking reservations now for the summer season. Be a good idea to book some trips now. We are expecting to see a ridiculous amount of people at the beaches this year. Best to fish weekdays, fewer boats on the water and crowds to deal with in towns.

Freshwater fishing has been fun and getting a little more active. Ponds warm up quickly on these nicer days but the colder nights help balance that out. Trout are still hitting all over Maryland in the stocked areas. They are constantly stocking. Check their schedule online. Same with the pond trout at Newton, the only pond stocked this year in Delaware.

Surf anglers are catching skates and dogfish. Short striped bass are starting to hit in the surf more around good structure. The Point closed the other day. We will miss that until next season.

The next run we will be anticipating in the surf is the big bluefish. Will they show up this year? It has been four years and they show up less each year so we will see. This is what happens when you whack all the fish. Eventually that action disappears and is hopefully replaced by something else. Striped bass and black drum will be the next anticipated run.

Surf fishing tags sold out on Wednesday. Parks announced there were about 1,000 tags left and they were gone in an hour. The 17,000-tag limit was reached this year in March. It is reached a month earlier each year since it was started. Now we just need everyone to actually follow the rules on the beaches, especially that 20-foot space rule for COVID restrictions.

This would be a really good time for Parks to consider gates like Assateague. The Delaware drive-on beaches with a 20-foot limit between vehicles has a vehicle capacity now. No way rangers can keep up with that restriction, with multiple entrances and the fact the beaches are full by 9 a.m. on a Saturday. Gates would solve a lot of problems, including cars stuck on the beach.

Boaters, beware the spring low tides and blowout tides all but emptied the Inland Bays the other day. It is that time of year. Be careful of the extreme tides around full and new moons in spring. Heavy winds will help push water creating a blowout tide.