Happy Memorial Day weekend — some of us will be hibernating till fall. Weekends are now for work and the weekdays are weekends. Be safe and smart if you get into the crowded areas. When you live in the beach chaos, you adapt to the beach chaos.

It has been a great week of fishing for many anglers. Bluefish, black drum and striped bass are still hitting. The action tapers off then picks back up. You have to put in some time to catch. Anglers are having luck to no luck: “I was out for nine hours yesterday and got nothing, today we got three bluefish in the first hour and nothing for five more hours.” That, my friends, is fishing. You can guarantee a day of catching if you pick your species. Maybe sit on a dock and fish for bluegill with a Zebco and can of corn. That is not a bad day, I promise you. But we all like the big fish action too. You have to take the good with the bad. The internet can make it look easy. You don’t see pictures of the 50 skate and dogfish caught between fish. You don’t hear about those catches, only the targeted species. No one sounds like a hero at the end of the day catching a hundred skate. Or do they? You tried and caught a hundred something more than anyone else trying for your catch of the day. Every day we get to fish is a good day.

Drum action is picking up in the Delaware Bay for the boats. Check your local charters for trip availability. Surf fishing off the bay beaches can produce black drum, and croaker, and weakfish, and flounder, and bluefish and striped bass. There are options, get a line out there.

You don’t need a reservation to fish the bay beaches. The Broadkill store has a great selection of donuts now, too, so it’s a win-win. Check out the pirates at Bowers Beach this weekend and do a little fishing from the jetty, bulkheads or docks. Slaughter Beach has a nice public access area. Every Delaware Bay beach is a unique area worth checking out.

Bluefish are hitting mullet on DS Custom Tackle modified mullet rigs. I’m partial — it is a much better rig to use if you want to catch more fish and use less bait. The keeper hook holds your mullet in place for a better hook-up. Bluefish are also hitting the drum and striped bass rigs anglers are using for those species. It’s a bluefish — those beasts will eat anything that resembles food or your finger. Never lip a bluefish, we see one a year. There are still gator bluefish in the OBX surf so that action could last for a while. It’s hard to tell anymore, but good to see the bluefish action isn’t pushing off other species too much.

Kingfish are in the surf so it is time for fish tacos again. I’m seeing more and more catches. Fishbites, small squid chunks and clam or crab are working well. Learn to cut up blue crabs for the knuckles. They make a decent bait too.

Croaker are around now as well, all hitting the same baits. The fish variety in our waters is awesome. I’m back on a beach this week at some point, after the weekend, of course.

Flounder action has been alright around the inland bays and Delaware Bay. The action gets better and better as the water warms up and more arrive. Fishbites fight club baits, or Gulp to jog. Drifting minnows along the bottom usually works. Finding some hard bottom to drift across always helps.

Grumpy’s Tackle in New Jersey reported a sheepshead caught from the surf. That’s good news.

Freshwater action is producing now that the water is warmer, except where I am in the mountains of the north. It is unusually cold and the fish are not having it.

The palomar knot is probably the most useful and easiest knot to tie on swivels, rigs hooks or lures. I use it with small flies and the bimini twist for the big ones. If your eyesight is getting bad like mine the palomar is much easier.

Maryland DNR writes: “Keep an eye out for tagged Chesapeake Channa (northern snakeheads) in the upper Chesapeake Bay!

“This past week, staff began tagging Channa in major rivers of the upper Chesapeake Bay with blue and yellow tags to support harvest and measure harvest rates. This work follows tagging done in 2022 that showed the most popular harvest methods were bowfishing and hook-and-line, with approximately 20% of tagged fish being harvested in 2023 and 2024. Work also showed that they moved from Maryland and through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal.

“One more round of work has been funded, with tagging occurring in 2025 and rewards available until December 2027 for people who catch, harvest, and report with a photo.”