Well, the word for the week is bluefish. That action picks up then drops off then picks up even more. There are bluefish all over the Delaware Bay as far up as Woodland Beach. Broadkill River is loaded with bluefish, as well as the inland bays. Not to be outdone by the blues, the black drum bite is still decent on Delaware beaches and the bay. South of us at Assateague and lower is still good black drum action. Migratory striped bass are also on the hit list this week. It has been a great week of fishing for many anglers. I wouldn’t say blitz conditions for everyone but some anglers come up donuts and others are dropping many a fish on the sand. The joy and hate of fishing is the catching, and of course the where and when with random, unpredictable action.

Mostly it has been the incoming tides producing the most catches, but not always. The fishing pier at Cape Henlopen has been seeing some great action. The increase in the bluefish action could have a lot to do with that creel limit change from 10 fish to three fish. If we could still keep 10 fish, they would be stacking these fish like cord wood.

Flounder action has been decent around the inland bays and the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal for this time of year. Jigging soft plastic artificials such as Fishbites Fight Club or Gulp, or drifting with a minnow will certainly pick up a flounder. Jigging the cuts in the surf or just along the beach has produced a few flounder. All in all for spring fishing we are starting off rather strong in comparison to years past, except that first year the bluefish showed up strong. This year is reminiscent of that action, but not as heavy, which honestly is good. There might be something left to catch when they move offshore. Mostly thanks to the bluefish that haven’t made much of an appearance the last two years, even the summer blues were slack. That action I hope will be like a few years ago, too.

Congrats to Captain Tom Weaver of Maryland he was awarded the IGFA All-Tackle Length Fly World Record for striped bass. On Dec. 30, 2023, a 102-centimeter striped bass hammered his fly and after 22 minutes he boated his record fish.

Sea bass opened May 15, which was not exactly a good day to go out fishing. It was “right snotty” yesterday. Those pesky gale warnings tend to keep us on land. Fishing the surf was an adventure. I’m waiting for this heavy wave action to unbury that whale and it will chum the surf for us. The fact it washed up in my favorite cut to surf fish is a little ominous. I could have had a whale of a catch.

The forecast is for another rainy weekend, but get out and fish. There will be less competition from other anglers and the fish are on the move regardless of the conditions. As long as there isn’t thunder and lightning it is fine fishing in wet weather. Fish will feed heavy before storms and pressure systems. The drive-on beaches haven’t been too crowded and mostly the real anglers are out there actually fishing, but that will change in a couple weeks. Then it is back to weekday fishing only for those of us that want to actually fish and have any hopes of catching. Go in the predawn on weekends and leave before the crowd gets there, then go back out after 4 p.m. when the reservations are over. What a lame system. The people who like this the most are the nonanglers that just party all day. I’ve done a few surveys. There are some anglers that like it, but for the most part none of them do because we can’t tell you on Tuesday if we are going to fish on Saturday or Sunday.

I’d like to throw a suggestion to Delaware State Parks about this surf fishing reservation system. There is an issue of people making reservations “in case” they want to go to the beach on the weekend. And then they don’t go, nor do they cancel that reservation. Parks and DNREC have an IT department and they have the ability to run this system with software that is not very expensive. I own two of these programs and they were both under $300. The IT department has reportedly told state parks staff numerous times they could easily do this. If the parks would run their own reservation system, there wouldn’t be a need for a third-party fee, unless of course they are getting some of that money. I was told in the beginning it all went to the vendor, but now I am not so sure. There are other ways to make money for the parks, beside making us pay even more to use the surf tags we already paid to use. The patrons of the beaches could cancel reservations easier, too, and others could go out. Or maybe just put up gates and do one in, one out when it’s full, then the anglers could actually fish early and leave before the drinking crowd shows up. That’s the simplest solution for an ongoing 30-year plus problem that is being overthought on a grand scale. Also with a reservation, surf anglers can skip the park line. Shouldn’t we be able to do that with our tags anyway? We are going to the beach, not to park in the park.

Maryland is changing the name snakehead to Chesapeake Channa, because the fish is a channa argus, so the name change makes sense. The idea behind the change is to make the name more friendly so people are more willing to consume these fish in restaurants. Honestly when ordering snakehead, the mental picture is not a fish.

When the blues will move offshore is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, get out and fish for these big gators. It is a lot of fun pulling one onto the beach. Depending on how long they stick around will make for some interesting fishing for the smaller fish. You can’t even try to fish for kingfish or anything like that now. I mean you can, but on occasion, our lines are being shredded by bluefish. The local shops are loving this action — it makes for great business this time of year after a long winter of no business.