We can’t catch fish in the surf, but you can catch some killer pictures. Submitted photos[/caption]

Is it just me or has this been the longest January ever? Cold days to colder days, now we have possible snow, heavy winds, and arctic temperatures. I just want to sit on a warm beach and fish.

Boats heading out of Lewes, Indian River, and Ocean City still fishing are doing well on double digit tautog. Lot of big fish coming over the rail. You just have to deal with the cold while on the water. With the right gear you won’t even notice. The surf fishing has been quiet aside from the flotillas of snow geese and the occasional seal that pulls up for a rest after a meal. Still a nice day on the beach, and the beach combing is excellent. Tautog at the Indian River Inlet has been slow, and the last week or so the weather has been rough. That rain recently really muddied up our water. We are finding a lot of white perch minnows on the beaches during the beach cleanups. Especially after rough seas and storms. Volunteers meet every Sunday at 9 a.m. and we clean up a different state park beach each week. You would be amazed at the amount of trash that washes up on our beaches and coastlines. The pond hopping has been fun chasing pickerel with spinners. Doesn’t take much to get them to hit just about anything. Good to find a loaded pond for a lot of action. The bass fishing has been slow but people are catching. Crappie, yellow, or white perch are pretty much the winter routine. This is a great time of year to get more acquainted with my camera. Taking pictures has become a new hobby and I enjoy the off time outside shooting everything. The fun part is taking pictures of nature, and so far the hardest. Can’t just ask that bird to sit still a minute, they tend to freak out and move when you point the camera at them and start clicking off pictures. Get ready, spring will be here before you know it. The Lewes Polar Bear Plunge is this weekend in Rehoboth Beach. If you want a day at the beach and watch over 5,000 people run into the ocean, in the winter, you want to be in town on Sunday. Fine tune your gear, rearrange your tackle boxes for the fifth time again, keep tying flies, making rigs, staring at old fish pictures, videos, and whatever else you use to keep the itch at bay. The weather will break for the better and eventually we will be in the full swing of summer. I’m good with it taking a while to get here, that way maybe it will stick around longer. Rich King’s outdoors column runs Thursdays in the Delaware State News.