New Castle County’s opening days for trout set April 5-6

At 7 a.m., Saturday, April 5, trout season will open in New Castle County for young folks 16 and under. The next day, everyone with a Delaware general license and a trout stamp may attack the stocked streams in New Castle County beginning a half hour before sunrise. 

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the next trout I catch from Newton or Tidbury ponds will be the first trout from either of those Kent or Sussex locations. It’s not from lack of trying. I have fished Newton Pond several times with both bait and lures and have yet to have a single bite. I only fished Tidbury Pond once, but my luck was just the same.

The streams in New Castle County have been much kinder to me. Going back to the days of my youth when I would ride my bike from Claymont to Beaver Valley and fish Beaver Run and the Brandywine Creek. My first trout was caught from the pool just below the dam on Beaver Run on a small Dare Devil spoon. We figured that fish came down from Pennsylvania.

Move forward a few years, my sons Ric and Roger and I would spend opening day at Brandywine Springs State Park fishing Wilson Run by the bridge as you enter the park. I returned there a few years ago, forgetting about the long walk from the parking lot to the water. Going down wasn’t too bad. Coming back up, I almost called 911 because I thought I was having a heart attack. But I caught fish!

I used the ever-popular garden hackle, fished quietly on the bottom of a small pool about a quarter mile downstream from the bridge. Picked up a couple of trout and then headed up the Hill O’ Doom.

White Clay Creek in Newark receives most of the trout stocked by the state because it is the largest body of water to get trout. The headwaters up to the Pennsylvania line are reserved for fly-fishing only. Since the White Clay Creek fly fishers do the stocking, this section of the creek is well populated with trout. While no one will ever confuse me with a fly fishermen, I have fished here with a fly rod and I have caught a trout or two.

The remainder of White Clay Creek is also well stocked with trout. There are small ones galore and plenty of trophy fish just to keep life interesting.

Naturally, with all those fish, you can expect a lot of people. Parking is always a problem along White Clay Creek, and the local police are not shy about issuing tickets. You can try other streams such as the Christina Creek in Richardson Park, but it is going to be crowded as well.

If you have plans to fish anywhere in New Castle County on either opening day, I would suggest traveling light and be prepared to move quickly. Those who check the chart and find days of restocking and make plans to come back will find much better conditions.

As for tackle, a light spinning outfit is ideal. I use small crappie jigs and bait them with yellow twister tails, earthworms, grass shrimp, small minnows and corn. Spinners can work very well and, of course, there are always flies. There are days when the trout will eat everything and other days when they won’t touch anything. Good luck!

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is nothing to sneeze at this time of year. Sooner or later, we are going to get nice warm days, but the water in Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean will still be very cold.  

One interesting phenomenon I have noticed about fishermen is they will quit fishing in September when there are lots of fish around, yet they can’t wait to get out on the water in March when you can’t find a fish within a thousand miles. The other fact about March – and this year it looks to carry into April – is the water is still in the 40s. 

You don’t have to fall into the water to suffer from hypothermia. A few years ago, several friends of mine ran down the Chesapeake Bay from Hampton to Virginia Beach in the early spring chasing striped bass. When the tide changed, the wind changed hard from the northwest, and as they tried to head back up the bay, their windshield blew out.

Now they were heading into a nasty sea with no windshield and soon all hands were soaking wet. Someone realized they were beginning to suffer from hypothermia and headed for Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach. They made it safe and sound, then called for friends to bring down their truck and boat trailer.