November is a month full of opportunities for hunters and fishermen. The big day will be Nov. 9, when the shotgun deer season opens, but we also have waterfowl seasons and, if the weather gives us a break, we could catch some big blues and rockfish in the surf or in the rips between Cape May and Cape Henlopen.
Back in the late 1960s, I hunted on a farm in Laurel. My grandparents lived in a mobile home on the property, and several friends and I would pitch a tent in a cornfield and hunt from there.
One of those friends was Bobby Woods, who also happened to be my brother-in-law at the time. Bobby had a 20-something wooden Grady White that he kept at Bay Shore Campgrounds on White’s Creek in Ocean View.
Our hunting was not going so well, so we decided to trade our guns for fishing rods and headed over to get Bobby’s boat in the water. We ran to Indian River Inlet in search of rockfish and found birds working over blues, so we changed our bucktails for metal lures and had a ball with the 1- to 2-pound blues.
In those days, one of the best spots to fish the inlet was from the point at the western end of the southside campgrounds. We drifted past there and I let my Hopkins sink almost to the bottom when the lure became stuck to something. At first I thought I was snagged, but then the snag began to move away and I realized I had a big fish.
It took about 10 minutes before the rockfish came to the surface and Bobby put it in the net. I would guess it weighed about 20 pounds, and it became the largest rockfish I had ever caught.
By now, it was time to head back to the dock and drive over to Laurel for the afternoon hunt. The afternoon was just as unproductive as the morning, making my rockfish the only meat we had to show for two days of hunting.
There were deer on the farm, but in several years of trying, we never killed a single one. I left my station to look for deer one morning only to have three go directly under my spot while I was well out of range. That taught me a lesson to stay put until the last second of daylight or until everyone else is out of the woods.
This year, I will be hunting on public land in a state forest. I scouted a couple of locations Tuesday and found an area that is a bit out of the way, but not that far from my house.
I look for access that doesn’t involve bull briars, and I thought I had found such a spot. What I found was bull briars waiting about 20 feet inside the woods. Nothing says Sussex County woods better than a big patch of bull briars waiting to ensnare a hunter. They wrap you up from top to bottom, tear your clothes and untie your boots. This year was pretty wet, and that has resulted in a bumper crop of these vicious weeds. When I go back, I will have a pair of pruning shears and cut those briars down to size.
Hearing on flounder, black sea bass and scup
On Thursday, Nov. 8, the ASMFC will hold a public hearing at the DNREC Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway in Dover, to explain the latest addenda for management of summer flounder, black sea bass and scup (porgy). The public is invited to give input on these management options. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m.
I believe summer flounder and black sea bass are the two most important species for Delaware saltwater anglers, so I hope to see a good turnout.
Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament
Wednesday was the end of the month-long Lewes Harbour Tog Tournament, and with no new fish weighed, the standings remain with Joe McNeil in first place with a 5.56-pound tog. In second place, we find Chris Ragni and his 5.37-pounder, and in third it is Joe McNeil again with a 4.95-pound tog. All monies collected as tournament entry fees will be returned to the three winners with first getting 50 percent, second receiving 30 percent and third getting 20 percent.
Fishing report
The weather has not been kind to anglers, but when they can get out on the water, the fishing is very good. The Del-Jersey-Land Reef is covered up with sea bass and Site 11 also holds good numbers of these fish.
In the surf, if you are in the right place at the right time, you can catch blues to 20 inches on fresh mullet.
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Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.
