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Indian River Inlet Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Delaware’s inlet fishery: Indian River Inlet runs hard tide past the rocks, and stripers, flounder and tog stack in the rip.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 8:47 PM
Air / High
82 / 85 F
Wind
NNE 7 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8570283, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Indian River Inlet sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 85. Tides: high 1:22 AM and 2:25 PM, low 7:28 AM and 8:47 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 72 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

BluefishExcellent

Follow the bunker and mullet schools: blitzes can erupt anywhere on the beach. Wire or heavy leader always.

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Prime sight-fishing: tailing fish on shallow flats, schools pushing water. Weedless spoons, shrimp under a popping cork, cut mullet in the guts.

Striped bassGood

Surface action windows at dawn; otherwise free-lines and planer boards over long points and humps.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 78 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8570283 (Indian River Inlet). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH1:22 AM2.1 ft
LOW7:28 AM0.3 ft
HIGH2:25 PM2.6 ft
LOW8:47 PM0.8 ft
Sat
HIGH2:29 AM2.1 ft
LOW8:31 AM0.4 ft
HIGH3:46 PM2.7 ft
LOW9:55 PM0.8 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp82 F
High / Low85 / 73 F
WindNNE 7-11 mph
Pressure1011.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 82%
Sunrise / Sunset06:32 / 19:25
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~72 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Rain, 85/73 F, wind 12 mph, rain 82%

Slow. High rain chance; fish the front edge before it arrives.

Species guide

The species that matter on Indian River Inlet: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Surface action windows at dawn; otherwise free-lines and planer boards over long points and humps.

Bluefish illustration

Bluefish

Best: Sep-Oct blitzes

The ocean's most honest fish: when blues blitz bait on the beach, everything with hooks gets bit. Follow the bunker and mullet schools: blitzes can erupt anywhere on the beach. Wire or heavy leader always.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: Sep-Nov bull run

The copper-flanked king of the flats and surf: tailing in inches of water, schooling by the hundred in fall. Prime sight-fishing: tailing fish on shallow flats, schools pushing water. Weedless spoons, shrimp under a popping cork, cut mullet in the guts.

When to come: the Indian River Inlet calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
Bluefish
Redfish (red drum)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 72 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~72 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Indian River Inlet today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 85 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 92 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Delaware requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Delaware fishing license or surf-fishing vehicle permit as applicable. Striped bass, flounder and tautog have size and season rules that change annually: check current DNREC regulations.

Access

Delaware Seashore State Park (north and south jetties, surf), Indian River Marina, and back-bay ramps.

About this water

A tidal inlet and river system connecting Delaware’s inland bays to the Atlantic at Indian River Inlet, Sussex County, Delaware.

Fishing Indian River Inlet: the full guide

Where the bay meets the ocean

The Indian River drains Delaware’s inland bays through the Indian River Inlet, a narrow, jetty-lined cut where enormous volumes of water move on every tide. That current is the fishery: striped bass hold in the rips and along the rocks, summer flounder ride the incoming tide through the inlet, tautog cling to the jetty structure in cool months, and bluefish, weakfish and croaker fill the seasons between.

Fishing the inlet

Tide timing is everything: the strongest bite usually comes on the last of the outgoing and the first of the incoming, when bait flushes through. Stripers eat bucktails, soft plastics and live eels worked along the rocks after dark, especially spring and fall. Flounder are drifted with squid and minnow rigs through the inlet channel in summer. Tautog take green crab on the jetty rocks from October through December and again in spring.

The bays behind

Rehoboth and Indian River bays hold flounder over the channel edges and shoals through summer, plus speckled trout and puppy drum in the marsh creeks: a growing southern-species fishery as the water warms. The back bays fish well from small boats and kayaks, and offer shelter when the inlet is unfishable in wind against tide.

Shore and boat access

Delaware Seashore State Park provides parking, the inlet jetties and surf access on both sides: it is one of the mid-Atlantic’s premier shore fisheries, fishable without a boat. The Indian River Marina inside the inlet serves trailer boats and charters. Currents in the inlet are genuinely dangerous: wind against tide builds standing waves quickly, and the rocks are unforgiving in the dark.

Common questions

Can I fish it from shore?

It is one of the best shore fisheries in the mid-Atlantic: the jetties and adjacent surf produce stripers, tog and flounder without a boat.

When are stripers best?

Spring and fall migrations, with night tides producing the biggest fish along the rocks. Winter and summer fish are smaller and scattered.

Is the current dangerous?

Yes: the inlet moves enormous water and wind-against-tide builds steep waves. Small boats should time slack water and shore anglers should mind the wet rocks.

Is fishing good at Indian River Inlet right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Rehoboth Bay5 miBroadkill River14 miOcean City20 miCape May25 miAssateague25 miNanticoke River30 mi
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