I mowed the grass yesterday — really not too happy about that, but now I have another chore to blow off for surf fishing. Yardwork is also something to do on the crowded beach weekends. Monday is my Saturday, then I use my pleasant tag to surf fish.

The new off-season tag only costs $70 to drive onto the beaches when the fishing is the best, when no one is around. Before you do that math, the park access yearly is $35, which I need anyway, so for an additional $35 I’m driving the beach. For another additional $20 you can deal with the weekend circus, if you can get the tag. It almost seems like the costs should be reversed. I’d pay more for better fishing, but paying less for more is winning.

This past warm weekend on Sunday, the first seasonal day drinkers came out when the sun cracked the sky — the summer weekend beach show has begun. Meanwhile there are actually fish out there now that you can actively catch.

The black drum are making more of an appearance in Chincoteague. Larger numbers are being caught. Dave Moore landed a couple nice drum at Assateague (on the Maryland side) a few days ago. He spent three days fishing, but he landed his fish. You have to put in the time at the beginning and during any run. The internet makes fishing look too easy, or you have to be that guy who shows up and nails that one fish in 10 minutes, next to the guy who was fishing for 10 hours. That is usually Harry Aiken doing that kind of catching.

Clams, soft-shell crab, sand fleas and Fishbites are the best baits — the Fishbites sand flea and fast-acting bloodworm or shrimp. Many use these to tip the hook with the other baits in play.

In Delaware we have fleas in the surf, but they aren’t as plentiful above the sand yet as farther south. Dig, find some fleas, and fish in that area. Clam is better for bait in the Delaware Bay since that is what the drum will be foraging for as well. You want your bait on, or nearly on, the bottom, not in the water column. If using clam, you will need the stretch string to hold in on the hook. Cheese cloth works well, too.

Surf clams are the preferred bait, but they are also full of bacteria. We keep a small container of water and bleach to wash our hands after handling these clams. We also keep this solution for any cuts on the water or beach throughout the summer to combat vibrio.

Oh sorry, did I mention, there are black drum in the Delaware ocean and bay beaches? This is just getting started, but don’t get too excited, it has been very slow and rather quiet. I can walk out a buddy’s back door, drop a line in the Delaware Bay to drum fish, and sit on the porch. It’s too convenient. I’m literally doing it right now while writing this and watching the rod. ‘Tis but a quick sprint to my sand spike.

Most anglers don’t target black drum along the ocean beaches so you see less catches, but it occurs. Coincidentally, using clam is good for migratory striped bass as well. But most use bunker, it is easier to fish with. Step out of your bait comfort zone and try a new variety.

The reason you see more catches along the bay beaches are more anglers fish for them along the bay beaches, but mainly because the drum run up the Delaware Bay to the coral grounds. Point A to B to get to C. You can catch them between both points.

Otherwise, white perch and what-not is still on the catch menu, using bloodworms and grass shrimp. Short striped bass are picking up more and more for action. Use light gear with top and bottom rigs with bloodworms. Remember to use circle hooks which are required to target striped bass now coastwide. Meanwhile if you catch a keeper striped bass in Delaware waters on a non-circle hook, it is considered incidental and you can still keep it.

Surf rat wrangling (short striped bass) has been fun, but work. Now it is getting a little easier with more frequent catches, by throwing spoons and swim shads. It is fun to find a school and follow them along the beach. You can hit the Indian River Inlet in the pockets and stand shoulder to shoulder pulling short fish.

Migratory bass are running the bays now and that is just starting to get more frequent. A recent tournament on the Delaware river up north produced some beast-sized striped bass, loaded to spawn. The early girls are on the move and have been for a couple of weeks. You need to fish for that action, not wait for it to pop up on a Facebook page. You are also competing with a plethora of food in the water, like huge bunker.

Catfishing is getting better, actually catching catfish, not that internet thing. Brad at A Bit More Than Bait and Tackle, the new shop on Route 13 in Laurel, said the catfishing has really picked up. Snakeheads are starting to hit more frequently too for many of the avid snake wranglers. Pond hopping is great, but the ticks are out now, too, in full force.

We see some weird warm-water critters up here in the dead of summer. A young man, Evan Hall, visiting Rehoboth Beach from Ireland, found a mottled purse crab on the beach two days ago. These are an unusual find up here in the summer and have been found as far north as New Jersey. The odd part is the time of year for a tropical whole dead crab to wash up on a Delaware beach. Either it was here and wintered, emerged and the water temperatures got it, or a drum or striped bass spit it up — those are my theories. But that crab was in too good a shape to have ridden in a fish gullet. Anyway, it’s just odd to see a summer tropical freaky critter pre-spring. Bring on the pompano!

Flounder are slowly, and I mean really slow, showing up in the Lewes canal. None are keepers, but there are flounder. Eventually there will be larger fish. There are plenty of minnows in shops and to be caught in the waterways. We are throwing the new Fishbites six-inch grubs.

Fishing has been slow this year to start up, but this coming holiday weekend, it will be crowded everywhere, people will be out and fishing. Someone is catching something, somewhere. With that many lines in the water, the fish don’t have a chance. Hopefully it’s not so crowded the fish decide to move away from the shoreline. One of the issues with summer weekend surf fishing is that there is way too much activity along the water’s edge, it scares the fish away and some of us anglers.

If you are a space nerd like me and like watching the launches while fishing, I have some great news. Rocket Labs is coming to Wallops Island and they are building rockets. There will be monthly launches eventually. There is a whole bunch of amazing jobs to be had as well. Check out Rocket Labs. We watched the groundbreaking the other day. Exciting times for our area.