Bloodworms and Fishbites on a standard double-drop bottom rig are the go-to for spot, croaker and kingfish in the wash. Casting jigs tipped with squid strips is picking off a few flounder for anglers working the nearshore guts.
Early morning and the two hours around the tide change are producing the steadiest action — a moving tide is key for the bottom-fishing bite here.
Ocean-side water is running upper 70s and holding fairly clear; recent heavy rain briefly muddied things but conditions have cleaned back up.
Tower Road, 3R's Road, the stretch just north of Indian River Inlet, Cape Henlopen Point, Haven Road and the Navy Jetty area inside Cape Henlopen State Park remain the go-to surf spots.
Nothing tournament-related this week locally, but anglers are gearing up — Delaware's fall surf run (big striped bass, red drum, bluefish, false albacore chasing mullet and menhaden south) is expected to kick off any day now.
Bloodworms, squid strips and Fishbites on bottom rigs for spot and croaker. For flounder, drift Gulp! swimming mullet or minnows on a jig head tight along channel edges.
Incoming tide into the deeper channels is producing the best flounder drifts; spot and croaker are biting most of the day over hard bottom.
Bay water is warm — mid-to-upper 70s — and generally clear except right after heavy rain runoff.
Massey's Landing has been a consistently decent spot for spot and croaker. Deeper channel edges throughout the bay are holding flounder.
Bloodworms, squid and power bait are working in the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal for croaker and short flounder. At the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers, live or fresh sand fleas and crab baits are drawing sheepshead and triggerfish.
Smaller boats are working the canal on the moving tide; the breakwater bite for sheepshead is best fished tight to the rocks on a slower drift or anchor.
Delaware Bay at the Cape is running around 79°F per NOAA Buoy 44009; recent rain briefly muddied the canal but it's cleaning up.
The Lewes & Rehoboth Canal for croaker/flounder; the Outer Wall and Ice Breakers for sheepshead and triggerfish; Breakwater Tackle's pier at Cape Henlopen State Park is giving up spot, croaker and the occasional keeper flounder — one stretched to 19 inches this week, with the single pilings at the pier's end best for kayak anglers.
Lewes Harbour Marina reports boats working ocean structure are bringing back flounder and sea bass; on Labor Day rough seas kept the fleet closer to home in Delaware Bay.
Live eels are the ticket for the after-dark striper bite off the jetty rocks; dark plugs and sand fleas also working at night. Early morning, bluefish are hitting bucktails and metal lures near the bridge. Daytime, sand fleas fished tight to structure are pulling tog, sheepshead and triggerfish — a 5.5-lb sheepshead was checked in this week. In the back bay, jig Gulp on lead heads tight to the rocks for flounder.
Night and early morning at the jetties for stripers and blues; daylight hours for tog/sheepshead/triggerfish around structure. Moving water in the back bay is best for flounder.
Running similar to the bay mouth, upper 70s, with generally good clarity between rain events.
Both jetties for stripers/tog/sheepshead; close to the Route 1 bridge for blues; the back part of the inlet for flounder; Indian River Bay itself (fish the Old Grounds area for better odds at a keeper) and Massey's Landing in the bay behind the inlet.
Live sand fleas at the jetty rocks, bulkheads and bridge piers for sheepshead and tautog. Bucktails and soft plastic jigs, or drifted cut bait, for striped bass and bluefish in low light. In the back bay channels, drift live spot or squid strips on bucktails for flounder — bigger baits are drawing bigger flounder. Bloodworms in the surf for kingfish and spot.
Early morning and evening for stripers/blues at the Inlet; back bay flounder drifting is best on a clean, moving tide, especially with the clearer water conditions this week.
Ocean water is running about 77°F, warmer than typical for mid-September, with decent clarity in the back bay channels lately.
OC Inlet jetty rocks and Verrazano Bridge piers for sheepshead; the deeper channels leading from the inlet and off the airport for flounder; inshore lumps, shoals and wreck sites for limits of flounder plus sea bass; nearshore wrecks for cobia and triggerfish; the canyons for white/blue marlin and yellowfin; midshore lumps for mahi and wahoo.
A first-ever sheepshead landed at the South Jetty this week described as "a stud." Offshore boats are reporting billfish action along with some big blueline tilefish, and mahi are still showing up surprisingly close, even outside the South Jetty.
Captain Chris Mizurak on the Angler has been grinding through a mixed bite but still putting clients on fish; other OC charter boats are reporting steady flounder limits and fair sea bass catches at the wreck sites, with offshore trips picking up as billfish and mahi activity increases in the canyons.