The First State fishes far bigger than its size: Indian River Inlet's rips concentrate the mid-Atlantic migration, surf-permit beaches run for miles, and the Delaware Bay shoreline adds spring drum thunder. Everything starts at the inlet.
Reports current for Friday, September 4
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Delaware’s inlet fishery: Indian River Inlet runs hard tide past the rocks, and stripers, flounder and tog stack in the rip.
Delmarva’s tidal river: the Nanticoke runs cypress-lined and brackish, holding stripers, perch and largemouth in the same trip.
Delaware’s biggest freshwater: Lums Pond holds bass, crappie and catfish in a state park on the C&D Canal.
Delaware’s inland bay: Rehoboth holds flounder, trout and stripers in shallow water behind the beach towns.
The bay that grows weakfish: Delaware Bay runs stripers, drum and flounder across 800 square miles of shoals.
Delaware’s marsh river: the Broadkill runs stripers, white perch and blue crabs to Delaware Bay at Lewes.
Wilmington’s tidal river: the Christina runs white perch, stripers and catfish through Delaware’s city.
Delaware’s trout water: the Brandywine runs stocked trout and smallmouth through Wilmington’s parks.
Dover’s pond: Silver Lake holds bass, crappie and easy shoreline fishing in the state capital.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: October.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian River Inlet | Coastal | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Nanticoke River | River | Sussex | USGS | Apr |
| Lums Pond | Lake | New Castle | modeled | Mar |
| Rehoboth Bay | Coastal | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Delaware Bay | Coastal | Kent | modeled | Apr |
| Broadkill River | Coastal | Sussex | USGS | Apr |
| Christina River | River | New Castle | USGS | Apr |
| Brandywine Creek | River | New Castle | modeled | Apr |
| Silver Lake | Lake | Kent | modeled | Mar |
Delaware's fishery concentrates at its edges: the inlet (stripers in the rips, tog on the rocks, flounder inside), the ocean beaches (drive-on surf permits, kingfish summers, striper falls), and Delaware Bay's quieter side: black drum in May off the flats, weakfish memories rebuilding, summer croaker fleets. Inland, the ponds of Sussex County quietly grow bass and crappie over cypress: a Deep South cameo above the Mason-Dixon.
April: tog on the jetties, first flounder in the bay channels. May: the drum run on the bay side, migratory stripers passing the inlet. Summer: flounder drifts, kingfish surf mornings, night bass under the bridge lights. Fall: the run: mullet blitzes, sand-eel stripers on the beaches, tog reopening. Winter: the inlet's holdover bass on warm afternoons and the tackle-shop stove league.
Indian River Inlet: the Route 1 bridge lights are the state's striped bass institution, and the jetties' tautog rank with anywhere on the coast.
With the state surf-fishing vehicle permit, yes: miles of designated drive-on beach at Delaware Seashore and Fenwick. Permits cap and sell out: buy at the new year.