Some early signs of spring are already popping up

By Rich King
Posted 2/2/23

The rainy days and bit of snow this week makes me miss last year’s “blizzard” conditions we had in Sussex County. That was a fun week. Cold and rainy is not fun.

I’m …

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Some early signs of spring are already popping up

Posted

The rainy days and bit of snow this week makes me miss last year’s “blizzard” conditions we had in Sussex County. That was a fun week. Cold and rainy is not fun.

I’m still finding random ticks on the warmer days on my fur buddy. Winter is all but over at this point, with a few more cold days coming and then we are into spring. There are bulb flowers popping up and some blueberry bushes are budding. My chickens are starting to drop eggs like it is summer. I’ll be rich by spring.

Winter fishing abides. White perch for the win for most areas. Yellow perch (neds) are starting to show in the upper Chesapeake. We’ll see how long that takes to happen here in Delaware.

The surf has been skates and dogfish, with some white perch along the Delaware Bay beaches. Fishbites has been working for perch on the warmer days. The long-lasting even is working, usually you need the fast-acting that dissolves faster for scent. I would love to see a bunker flavor for Fishbites. They have a new blue crab flavor now, too. I am thinking that will do well on a variety of fish in our area this spring and summer. DS Custom Tackle has it now online, and local shops will have it eventually.

Freshwater is more productive on the warmer days.
A lot of hunting seasons are still active and a few special days are coming up. Check DNREC’s website for information.

Delaware is losing more surf anglers. Now many are bailing on us because they don’t know if they can get on the beach on weekends. Because of the reservation system.

Friend(s) of mine say, “I can’t commit to a weekend rental if I don’t know if I can get on the beach. So I am going to NC instead. Delaware overthought the whole thing and then overcomplicated it. If they prohibited alcohol on a drive-on beach then the crowds would calm down, too.”

Some are also saying, “Why am I supposed to pay an extra $128 to use what I have been using for years that I already paid access for?” It is a legit question.

Well played, parks. Are we going to just destroy surf fishing completely? The economic impact of the Delaware surf fishing beaches is now cornhole boards, suntan lotion and beer. Less people were coming to surf fish on weekends due to the crowds, ask any shop on Route 1. Now they are leaving completely for somewhere else and taking all their money with them.

The fact we force people to surf fish but don’t allow the room to do so is a weird flex. What is even worse is, it was said at one point by someone, whom I will not throw under a bus, “The reservation system hopefully would deter people from going to the beach that weekend.”

Limit vehicle access (numbers) and the actual surf anglers can use the beaches as they were intended. We go out early daily and hardly anyone is there, even in summer. The surf anglers complaining limited access is bad need to wake up and realize it is the only way they will ever have room to fish on a weekend.

The green comet is barely visible to the naked eye, near the star Polaris. It can be seen with binoculars and looks like a small fuzzy star. Cameras will pick up the green and the tail. It is still cool to try and locate each night and morning. It will be the closest around Feb. 2. It’s a cool thing to show the kids and teach them about space.

Assateague Island National Seashore park has a few job openings and, of course, seasonal lifeguard positions are ready to be filled, as does Delaware State Parks and Ocean City for lifeguards.

Keep in mind on the Indian Summer days the water is still hypothermic cold. Make sure you are careful and prepared when on the water, especially in a kayak or on an SUP.

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