Spring fishing just hit summer fishing and we have an explosion of action. Well, an explosion for Delaware meaning there are all kinds of fish to catch, but you still have to put in the time and be there when they are around.

Some days you can load up in a couple hours and some days you fish for many hours with nothing. Social media can make fishing look more productive than reality. Then again so do fishing reports to a degree. I mean why would we talk about all the times we caught nothing? And people wonder why anglers stretch the truth (lie).

While everyone still has striped bass fever and rightfully so, there are plenty of other fish here to catch. The striped bass action is still occurring south of us along the beaches for keepers on occasion. Even Delaware is seeing a few keepers caught.

David Moore landed a couple large sand tiger sharks off Assateague.

“I was wondering why the striped bass and drum bite dropped off. It has been random but good action then just stopped. Now while targeting striped bass and drum, we are landing sand tigers instead,” he said.

Make sure you know the shark regulations for Delaware. Ninety-nine percent of the time you are catching a prohibited species from the beaches — sand tigers, sand bar, and dusky sharks.

Ninety-nine percent of the sharks identified as bull sharks are really sand bar sharks, prohibited to remove from the water. Cut the line as close to the hook and let the shark swim off. That rule gets dicey as far as the safety of the angler and fish are concerned. That tends to depend on the sanity of the angler, compared to the size of the shark.

I’ve been waist deep with 10-foot sand tigers removing hooks, or using bolt cutters. We wanted our gear back and I hate leaving a hook in a fish, any fish.

The one issue for the smaller sharks is not removing them from the water while catching them at a pier. You have to net them to get the hook out, even to cut the line as close as possible. You are eight feet in the air as it is.

Who wants a shark swimming around with a rig and weight attached to its face? It will eventually kill the shark. That makes for a tough decision. Do you break a law to do better for a smaller fish that can be handled for a hot minute if you know what you are doing? If people didn’t do this, there would be thousands of sharks swimming around in no time with lots of fishing jewelry and piercings. We catch many a shark with old gear still attached. Also people need to learn to make rigs that have a breaking point after the weight and with as short a piece of line as possible.

The sand perch action picked up as soon as the water warmed back up. That usually means spot are not far behind. Three days later we are catching spot at the beaches and piers. Summer fish are here and the fall/spring, kids are still around. This is the fun part of spring when all the fish kind of run into each other.

Northern kingfish action at the beaches is picking up — short bass action as well. All on bloodworms, sand fleas or Fishbites.

The state unicorns are making a comeback? A huge weakfish was caught last weekend at Cape Henlopen State Park. It hit a bunker chunk. That is the biggest weakie I have seen in a while. The days of the tiderunner stories popped up as soon as we all saw that picture. The same stories are why the weakfish are gone. Trashcans of dead fish at marinas. Kind of like the gaiter blue situation, dumpsters full of fish the past couple years. Now we know why the numbers are down. If you kill it, take it home and eat it. Catching, killing and throwing it away is a huge waste.

The spike trout are all over the beaches and back bays. That action is picking up too. Maybe we will see more and more of the bigger tide runners. The spikes unfortunately are food for striped bass and bluefish these days. Despite being prolific spawners, if the fry can’t survive without habitat (eel grasses,) it is pointless.

Sea bass opened up and was a big hit for all the anglers who went. I don’t think anyone I know got skunked. I mean it’s sea bass, kind of hard to get skunked. Hit up the charter and head boat companies for trips. Weekdays are less busy and more fish if the weather and conditions abide.

Black drum action is still happening but seems slower than last year. Boats putting in the work are catching, and some are not. The surf action has slowed down as well but south of us they are still catching black and red drum. There are still fish on their way despite everything starting early. Maybe things will end later too.

Bluefish are the smaller blues, fun on spoons. Shad are still mixed in with the short striped bass too. Been fun for the surf casters. Great for kids with Bloodworms to catch.

Flounder action is getting better and better all around the waterways. Jigging for flounder or drifting minnows. The pier has decent action for the dedicated anglers.

Get out and fish, put in the time. It is more fun that reading about it or watching it on YouTube.