I have a friend who is amazing at predicting the weather. I call him up every morning and cuss him for this crazy inconsistent weather. Because let’s face it, the weather is the weatherman’s fault, right?

The warm-up did turn on some hot fishing for a bit around Sussex County. A school of striped bass was at Cupola Park for a few days on the falling tide, with upwards of 50 anglers hammering those fish. Sadly, that will damage that school, with a loss of fish due to poor catch and release practices.

No matter how you fish, all catch and release creates a percentage of loss. The worse the catch and release practices, the more dead fish occur. It’s just how that works. We try to practice catch and release for the sake of the fish not ourselves. That means cold and wet hands. In the summer it means don’t target certain fish that can’t handle the stress and low oxygen levels. That is why the Chesapeake was changed to advisory days. When it is too hot you can’t target striped bass.

Honestly all fish react to the water the same way after catch and release. So please practice proper catch and release. Leave the fish in the water if you can while releasing. If you have to remove the fish from the water, do it as quickly as possible. When you see people trying to take pictures and they keep dropping the fish and taking too much time, that’s a soon-to-be-dead fish, even if it swims off strong.
Fishing is in full winter mode still. Yellow perch are starting to move around more in area waters. The best advice is go fishing and see what you catch. I mean, that is literally why I go — to see what happens.

Winter flounder opens next week. I have to explain to people all the time when they see us fishing in the winter that fish eat all the time. They don’t hibernate until spring like bears. Fish in winter will school up in deeper water. But if the food available is too low and the temperatures as well, fish will go into a forced torpor state. It is like a deep sleep — their bodies slow down and they stop actively feeding. Which is why winter fishing is very difficult for some species.

Some fish will bury in the mud to keep warm in really cold conditions. That is just certain species, not all of them, but you get the idea. Fish in winter will shut down when it’s very cold and really wake up when it gets warmer. Much like the action seen last week. The air warmed up a lot which helped the water a tad and the fish put the feed bag on. Then it got cold again and the action died because the fish went to deeper warmer water. Anglers are used to surface temperatures but even in summer the bottom of the Delaware Bay and area ocean is quite cold. Just ask any scuba diver in the summer what it feels like on the bottom. Or just feel your sinker when you bring it back up. That lead holds the temperature long enough.

Spring is coming soon. We have longer days of light now into the evenings. It is no longer midnight dark at 5. It feels good to see that increase daily.

Be careful on the water. It is still dangerously cold.

Check Maryland’s DNR website for trout stocking schedules. They have started their early winter trout stocking and announce where on the website.

Honestly it would be nice to see Delaware stock more than two ponds with trout each year. It gets too crowded on those little ponds. I am positive we have a few places that could be stocked that have walk-around access. It would spread out the anglers more too, which in the long run would be more enjoyable for everyone.