Delaware has a summer striped bass season that covers the Delaware Bay and its tributaries from July 1 until Aug. 31. Anglers are allowed one striped bass between 20 and 25 inches per day during this time period within these confines.
In the Cape Region, the best bet for finding a striper in that slot is going to be along one of the walls out in the bay, along the banks of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal or the Broadkill River, and possibly from the fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park.
Striped bass, as a general rule, feed during periods of low light. I recall shortly after I began fishing for stripers at night at Indian River Inlet in the mid-1960s, I was convinced they only fed during the dark on a hard-running current.
One very hot August afternoon, I was walking back from the beach to our tent on the southside when I saw a young man casting a plug under the bridge during dead slack current. I watched in fascination as a 10-pound striper rose from the depths and very quietly ate that plug. In those days, I would have killed for a 10-pound striper.
That experience taught me an important lesson. When it comes to fishing there are very few, if any, hard-and-fast rules outside of safety. While you may catch most of a certain species under certain conditions, that does not mean they won’t show up under completely different conditions and at completely different locations.
If you are going to target stripers in the 20- to 25-inch slot, I would suggest getting an early start and heading to the Outer Wall. The closer to sunrise you get there, the better.
I would cast a Rebel WindCheater as close to the rocks as possible, let it rest for a few seconds, then crank it back to the boat with a steady retrieve. You might also try a surface lure, a bucktail with a Gulp! trailer or a live spot. If you choose to use live bait, you must use a non-offset circle hook. This style hook should set in the corner of the mouth and result in an easy release of over- or under-slot fish.
Another location that might hold slot stripers is the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. I would work the banks up and down both sides of the canal and the Broadkill River with the same WindCheater plug. Fishing live eels at the Savannah Road Bridge has produced stripers in the past.
My recent reports from Breakwater Tackle on the fishing pier at Cape Henlopen State Park indicate there are some anglers fishing live spot from the pier and catching large stripers. I am not sure of the tackle they use, but I understand this is an early-morning fishery.
Sounds a lot like the king mackerel fishery from the piers down south. There, they catch bait, usually a bluefish, then put it out on a trolley line that has been cast as far out a possible. The bait will swim at or just below the surface until a king, or a tarpon or a big shark eats it.
My guess would be the pier fishermen at Cape Henlopen don’t have a trolley line and fish their spot on a fish-finder rig or perhaps under a bobber.
The big question is, do you want to catch a 20- to 25-inch striper bad enough to get up well before dawn, run out in the dark and maybe or maybe not actually catch a slot fish? My answer is not really. I will go to the Outer Wall or work the canal or Broadkill River early in the morning, but not that early. If I catch a 20- to 25-inch striper, that’s fine; if not, well, that’s OK too.
Fishing report
The good news is the flounder action at the Old Grounds continues to produce limit catches when the wind and current allow good drifting conditions. The No Limit caught a limit of flounder plus some sea bass on Sunday. The Captain Ike had a limit of flounder to 7 pounds. The Savannah Lynn had 54 sea bass and two flounder last Friday.
In freshwater, Johnathan Stoddard caught an 8-pound, 2-ounch largemouth bass at the head of the Broadkill River in Milton. He was using a 6th Sense Quake lure from Henlopen Tackle.
Rick’s Bait and Tackle reported that Josiah Powalski had a 22.5-inch flounder and Bruce Hambrick had a 23.5-inch flounder, both caught on minnows at Massey’s Ditch.
Top Fin with Captain Pete had the Pa Boys out for a morning of shark fishing. They caught and released 19 brown and sand tiger sharks, giving the boys quite a workout.
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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.
