Delaware fishing reports
219 reports for Delaware — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Fall run builds along Delaware Bay as water cools
Water temperature at NOAA CO-OPS station 8557380 read 66.4°F this morning, a comfortable mid-60s that keeps baitfish moving and fish feeding on a typical October bay. Per Saltwater Edge Blog (RI), the fall run is in full swing in the Northeast, with the water settling and fish back on the feed after a nor'easter. That is a regional read from Rhode Island, not a Delaware report, but the seasonal push it describes runs down the coast. On The Water's recent coverage of baitfish-fueled blitzes points the same way: bait is the thing to find.
Delaware lake crappie bite holds as flows run low this week
USGS gauge 01483155 on the Christina side is running just 2.72 cfs at 60°F, while the Nanticoke-side gauge (01491000) sits at 61°F on 17 cfs — both basins are low and stable heading into the second week of October. Per Smith's Bait Shop (The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater), Delaware lake crappie are keying on dam spillways, working small jigs tipped with plastics, Gulp, or minnows as the water continues to cool.
Crappie bite holds steady in central Delaware ponds as flows stay low
Water in Delaware's Christina and Nanticoke watersheds is running low and steady this week - USGS gauge 01483155 read 58°F with flow at just 2.72 cfs this morning, while gauges 01493500 and 01585075 confirm the same thin, stable baseflow across the system. Steve at Smith's Bait Shop in Leipsic reports crappie and panfish producing decent numbers in Garrisons Lake, Massey Mills, Silver Lake and Lums Pond, concentrated in dam spillways on small jigs tipped with plastics, Gulp, or minnows, per The Fisherman — NJ/DE Freshwater.
Delaware Bay eases into fall as tide windows set the bite
Water temperatures in Delaware Bay held at 66°F overnight at NOAA's CO-OPS gauge (station 8557380), a normal early-October reading as the bay settles into its seasonal cool-down. The next high tide arrives around 7:34 AM ET, with the following low near 1:32 PM, giving a clean incoming-tide window through the morning. On the beach, Delaware Surf Fishing reports nearly 200 feet of the Cape Henlopen fishing pier's end now fenced off, limiting cart access for anglers who fish that stretch.
Red drum make a run in Delaware surf as fall patterns shift
Delaware Bay sits at 65.7°F per NOAA's Lewes tide station, holding the fall transition in a slow, steady gear. The standout report this week comes from Eric Burnley: big red drum have arrived in the surf, with fish to 40 inches caught and released before weekend rain and wind shut most anglers out. Inside the bay, Big Dave's Tackle logged a mixed bag — striped bass, tautog off the Cape May jetties on green crabs and sand fleas, and scattered weakfish farther from structure. Offshore, Hook 'em and Cook 'em noted black sea bass coming off ocean structure, while Old Inlet Bait and Tackle's single bluefish report came out of 40- to 50-knot winds that kept nearly everyone else at the dock.
Tog and stripers keep the Delaware Bay fall run building
Water is 67°F at NOAA station 8557380, and the fall run is building. Big Dave's Tackle reports tautog from the Cape May Jetties on green crabs and sand fleas, stripers mixed into bay catches, and only scattered weakfish in the greater bay. Pier 47 Marina says stripers fed most nights in the back bays, even in creeks with 3 feet of water, on minnows, mullet and peanut bunker.
Fall striper run window opens on Delaware Bay
Water at NOAA CO-OPS station 8557380 read 68°F at 7:18 PM ET. Saltwater Edge Blog (RI) reports fish are back on the feed after a hardy nor'easter, with striped bass blowing up as you'd expect for the fall run. The same shop says the water may need a few more days to clean up in most spots, so clarity is likely to lag the bite for a short stretch.
Fall turnover reshuffles bass and crappie in Delaware ponds
Smith's Bait Shop in Leipsic reports that the lakes and ponds had just turned over and were starting to give up good numbers of fish before last week's nor'easter shut the bite down, per The Fisherman's NJ/DE freshwater roundup. Fall turnover mixes the water column, so fish that were holding on predictable structure typically spread out and take a few days to resettle after a blow like this.
Blues and early fall stripers turn up as the storm clears
Blues and early fall stripers are turning up as the storm clears. The Fisherman (Northeast) reports the first fall-run striped bass of 50 inches and over on the north coast and says the fall striper is starting to show. Off Delaware, The Fisherman's DE/MD/Chesapeake column logged 11 blues boxed near Indian River Inlet on the few days boats could clear it, and Old Inlet Bait and Tackle caught blues on metal lures during the incoming tide. Water at the NOAA tide station reads 67°F.
Delaware Bay blues and stripers wait on storm water to settle
NOAA CO-OPS station 8557380 reads 68°F as the fall run gets going behind last week's nor'easter. Per Hands Too Bait and Tackle in Cape May, stripers and blues kept surf anglers busy on most tides before the storm. Old Inlet Bait and Tackle had blues on metal lures during incoming water, and Hook 'em and Cook 'em reports the kids boxed 11 blues at Indian River Inlet.
Delaware Bay bite rebounds as nor'easter winds finally ease
Delaware Bay water held at 66.7 degrees this week as a punishing nor'easter finally eased, with wind gusts Eric Burnley clocked above 50 knots and more than three inches of rain keeping nearly every boat tied to the dock. Old Inlet Bait and Tackle reported blues taken on metal lures during incoming water, about the only action anyone managed through the blow. At Smith's Bait Shop in Port Mahon, the bite held up through late September and is expected to build into October, with weakfish coming on yellow bucktails and yellow worms over the bay's reef sites. Further south at Indian River Inlet, Hook 'em and Cook 'em logged fluke and sea bass catches on the days the Judy V could clear the inlet, including a 7.4-pound fluke aboard the Gale Force and a boxed run of 11 bluefish for a group of kids fishing the inlet itself.
Early fall transition settles over DE's Christina and Nanticoke
Early October marks the turn into fall on the Christina and Nanticoke, as cooling water starts pushing fish out of their summer haunts and into transitional holding areas along current breaks and deeper bends. Low, clear flow is typical of both systems this time of year, favoring quieter approaches and more subtle presentations over the noise and speed that worked through the warmer months. Anglers working either river should expect fish to be more structure-oriented and less willing to chase than they were even a few weeks ago.