Trout season opens March 5 at two downstate ponds

Saturday, March 5, will mark the opening of trout season at the two downstate ponds. Newton Pond between Ellendale and Greenwood, and Tidbury Pond in Dover will be stocked with trout the week before opening day. I have fished in both locations, and both have certain advantages.

Newton Pond is very large, and has abundant parking and access. There is a very nice fishing pier for us older folks who may find it difficult to stand on the steep banks that surround the rest of the pond, which at one time was a borrow pit. Since it was a borrow pit, it is also quite deep. Once the trout get accustomed to the area, it seems to me they head to the deeper parts of the pond. At the other end of the pond from the fishing pier is a small boat ramp. Quite a few anglers will launch their small boats and kayaks there and are able to fish the deeper pond areas.

Tidbury Pond in Dover is more like the rest of the ponds in Delaware. It is relatively shallow when compared to Newton Pond. It has access areas along the banks that are quickly filled on opening day, so the dyed-in-the-wool trout anglers arrive very early, well ahead of the 7 a.m. start time of the 2022 season. There is a parking lot, but on the day I was there, it was filled to overflowing, and cars and trucks were parked along the road leading to the pond.

I have fished for trout in Delaware ever since I was a kid and rode my bike from Claymont to Beaver Valley. What is now called Beaver Run, what we just called the creek, held a few fish, but Sunny Crowell and I were more interested in the mud suckers that were found in the much larger Brandywine Creek. There were also smallmouth bass, rock bass, sunfish and the occasional carp in the Brandywine.

When my boys were old enough, we fished opening day at Wilson Run in Brandywine State Park. I fished there last year and almost had a heart attack walking back up that hill to the parking lot.

Catching stocked trout should not be that hard. I use a shad dart with either a yellow Gulp! twister tail or an earthworm. Spinners work as well, and trout baits made by Berkley and others will also do the job. I have seen opening days when everything that hit the water was gobbled up and other times when the fish ignored everything put before them. Go figure.

Nevertheless, I will be out there on opening day unless it’s raining or snowing or too cold ... or I decide to sleep in.

Fish the moon

A friend asked me the other day if the moon phase had anything to do with fishing success or failure. I said it certainly does, but exactly what it does is always a subject of debate. I will give you the benefit of my experience.

We all know the moon is the biggest factor when it comes to controlling the tides. The tidal flow is strongest on a full moon and almost as strong on a new moon. These are the two times you either want to be fishing or want to keep the boat tied to the dock.

If you plan to fish deep ocean water for anything from black sea bass to swordfish, you will not want to plan a trip during a full or new moon. The strong current at those times will make it difficult to present a bait on the bottom without a great deal of weight.

On the other hand, if you want to fish a rip for rockfish or blues, the new or full moon is your friend. The strong current will toss the baitfish around, and the blues and rock will be there to pick off an easy meal. 

Red drum are supposed to feed in the surf on a full moon. I used to go to Cape Hatteras every November during the full moon. I caught a lot of big blues, some nice flounder and big sea mullet, but to this day, I have yet to catch a red drum in North Carolina.

When I fished the canyons on a regular basis, we thought the marlin and tuna would be less likely to attack our surface baits during a full moon because they would feed at night and rest during the day. We had no science to back this up, it was just our experience, and to tell the truth, we didn’t have that much luck on the new moon either.