Bloodworms or Fishbites Bloodworm on a small-hook top-and-bottom rig for kingfish/spot/croaker. Cut mullet for bluefish when they show. Squid strip tipped on the same rig sweetens the deal.
Early morning and evening, out of the mid-day heat. Fish tight to the beach in the first sandbar trough — that's where the panfish are stacking.
Tower Road, 3R's Road, and the stretch just north of Indian River Inlet are the standout surf spots. Tautog season runs through August 31 (5-fish limit, 15" minimum) for anglers working nearshore structure and the Cape Henlopen jetty/Navy Jetty area.
Live minnows and white Gulp! swimming mullet on a lead-head jig for flounder, drifted slow along channel edges. Chicken necks or razor clams for crabbing in the creeks — the warm water has crabs feeding hard.
Get out at first light. Fish the flats on high water, then shift to the channels as the tide drops. Boat traffic gets heavy after 10 a.m. and shuts the bite down — plan to be off the water by then.
Flounder are spread from the back-bay creeks all the way out to the inlets — anglers are describing it as "as many fish as you want to catch." Channel edges and drop-offs near grass flats are producing the most keepers.
Minnows fished close to pilings for flounder in the Lewes & Rehoboth Canal. Live eels on an outgoing tide for stripers around the Delaware Bay breakwater. Bloodworms, squid and Powerbait working well in the canal for panfish.
High tide plus the two hours on either side is prime time on the Cape Henlopen fishing pier. Outgoing tide is best for eel-soaking stripers off the breakwater.
Kayak anglers working the broken pilings at the pier's end are finding flounder and over-slot stripers. Offshore, the Lewes-based all-day headboats (Captain Bob and similar) are posting good numbers of black sea bass with a few flounder mixed in on ocean wreck/reef structure — the half-day boats are seeing slower action by comparison.
Bucktails, plugs and metal (Hopkins-style jigs) for stripers and blues working the rocks and under the bridge. Gulp! on a lead-head worked tight to the jetty rocks for flounder. Live eels or live fleas after dark for the bigger striper bite.
First light through dawn is prime for stripers and blues off the jetties. Daytime incoming tide is best for bluefish pushing through the inlet mouth. Bigger fish have been showing up more consistently around mid-morning (~11 a.m.) as the day warms.
Both jetties and the water under the Indian River Inlet bridge are holding stripers and blues. Flounder are tucked tight against the rock structure on both sides of the inlet. 3R's Road, just outside the inlet, has been giving up blues and stripers on cut mullet as the surf lays down. Behind the inlet, Rehoboth and Indian River bays are producing the flounder bonanza described above.
Bloodworms for surf kingfish and spot; peeler crab for croaker. Soft-plastic jigs tipped with squid for surf flounder. Finger mullet for bluefish; larger cut bait is drawing red drum (catch-and-release), cownose rays and inshore sharks.
Morning and evening for surf panfish. At the Inlet and Route 50 Bridge, fish early morning or late evening when boat traffic thins out for the best striper/bluefish mix.
Surf zone up and down the OC beaches for kingfish/spot/croaker. Back bay behind OC has larger croaker (10–14") moving in on squid and Fishbites. Flounder are coming from the East Channel north of the Route 50 bridge and around the Airport/Castaways Campground channel.
White Marlin Open (Aug 3–8, 2026) is underway out of Ocean City — the largest billfish tournament in the world. Fleet reports from Sunset Marina describe riggers "full of flags," with boats like the Billfisher and Max Bet posting 30+ white marlin releases in a single day and double-digit bites the norm heading into the Open. This follows a hot July that saw the 39th Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament produce a 200.5-lb bluefin ("Boss Hogg") and a two-day 725-lb stringer ("Fin Planner").