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, October 23
Every one of the 13 Delaware waters we cover has a live read this morning. 2 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better and 1 is slow. Water runs 47 F to 74 F. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind. Wind touches 23 mph on the roughest of them.
Best right now: Garrisons Lake 4/5, Silver Lake 4/5, Brandywine Creek 3/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Indian River Inlet: the jettied channel joining Delaware's Rehoboth and Indian River bays to the Atlantic inside Delaware Seashore State Park.
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.
Rehoboth Bay: the northern of Delaware's Inland Bays, linked to Indian River Bay by Massey's Ditch and reached from DNREC's Massey's Landing ramp.
The bay that grows weakfish: Delaware Bay runs stripers, drum and flounder across 800 square miles of shoals.
A tidal Delaware Bay river from Milton to Roosevelt Inlet, ranked among Delaware's three most-fished rivers in DNREC's 2018 survey.
Christina River: Wilmington's tidal river, with three DNREC boat ramps, a busy catfish fishery in state surveys and strict fish-meal advice.
Brandywine Creek: a Piedmont stream through Brandywine Creek State Park toward Wilmington, where Delaware stocks trout in two small tributaries rather than the main stem.
Silver Lake, Dover: a city-owned lake on the St. Jones River where boats need city and state permits and DNREC advises limiting fish meals.
Delaware’s state park pond: Killens holds largemouth, crappie and easy family fishing near Felton.
A Middletown millpond: Noxontown holds largemouth, pickerel and crappie in tidal-fed water.
White Clay Creek: a National Wild and Scenic River near Newark that Delaware stocks with rainbow and brown trout, with a fly-fishing-only reach at the Pennsylvania line.
Garrisons Lake: a DNREC fishing access area south of Smyrna that the agency counts among Delaware's five most-fished ponds.
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 fishing report | Coastal | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Nanticoke River fishing report | River | Sussex | USGS | Apr |
| Lums Pond fishing report | Lake | New Castle | modeled | Mar |
| Rehoboth Bay fishing report | Coastal | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Delaware Bay fishing report | Coastal | Kent | modeled | Apr |
| Broadkill River fishing report | Coastal | Sussex | modeled | Apr |
| Christina River fishing report | River | New Castle | USGS | May |
| Brandywine Creek fishing report | River | New Castle | USGS | Apr |
| Silver Lake fishing report | Lake | Kent | modeled | Mar |
| Killens Pond fishing report | Lake | Kent | modeled | Mar |
| Noxontown Pond fishing report | Lake | New Castle | modeled | Mar |
| White Clay Creek fishing report | River | New Castle | USGS | Apr |
| Garrisons Lake fishing report | Lake | Kent | USGS | 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.