I have been catching shad, herring and the occasional rockfish in the spring ever since I was a wee lad back in the 1950s. I started in the spillway at Laurel where the Broad Creek meets Records Pond, and today, I fish the Indian River Inlet just west of the bridge on the northside.
Back in the late 1960s, when a lot of companies closed on Good Friday, we used to fish the surf at the southside of Indian River Inlet trying to catch rockfish with bloodworms. The ones we did catch were small, in the 20- to 25-inch class, but in those days, they were legal to keep.
One very memorable Good Friday, all of us young bucks were lined up along the beach each showing just how far out we could cast. A young boy and his dad showed up and the boy made a cast that hardly made it past the breakers. Almost instantly his rod bent over and he cranked in a rockfish. All of us began to slowly crank our rigs in closer to the beach. I don’t recall anyone catching anything the rest of the tide.
Today, I fish for shad, and last year, I caught hickories, herring and menhaden, all on a shad dart fished behind a Tsunami Forked Tail Candy metal lure in the 1 1/2-ounce size. I use a six- to eight-inch piece of 10-pound mono line that I tie to the ring on the tail of the lure. On the end of the mono, I tie a shad dart. I have no color preference, but red and white is a good standard.
When the shad are there, I catch one or have one get off on every cast.
You can tell if the shad are there by the birds. Don’t count on the terns. They are there all the time. Look for the black-backed and laughing gulls. When you see them diving and fighting over each other’s catch, there are fish on the feed.
Also, go when the current is running in. That will begin about an hour to an hour and a half after high tide on your chart. In other words, if the tide chart says low tide is 12 p.m., the current will begin running in sometime between 1 and 1:30 p.m. The water level will begin to rise at noon, but the current won’t change direction until later.
No one has ever accused me of being the brightest beacon on the beach, but after catching all those different bait fish last spring and reports of so many menhaden in Delaware Bay this year, it made me think. With all that bait, surely there must be something around eating it. Hopefully, that something is large rockfish.
To that end, I have put together a plan of attack. My first attack will come at the inlet. Once the shad, herring and menhaden arrive, I will try to fool a big rockfish into eating one of my many plugs. In fact, that was one reason I went to the Asbury Park Fishing Club show. There have been a few new plugs used on rockfish since I last worked the inlet or beach. I plan to fish the inlet from dusk until the tide goes slack. There were times when I fished until the wee hours of the morning. Those times have passed.
If the tides are better in the early morning, I will fish the beach with cut menhaden and surf plugs. With the Point closed, I will work Three Rs Road or Herring Point. I won’t forget Broadkill Beach. Bait fishing will undoubtedly produce more spiny dogs and cow-nosed rays than rockfish, but that’s alright; at least it’s something pulling on the other end on my line.
If you plan to fish for rockfish this spring, remember, you must use non-offset circle hooks when fishing with bait. The point of the circle hook must be exposed, not buried in the bait, for the hook to work correctly.
The only rockfish you are allowed to keep are in the 28- to 35-inch slot. Please release all others as quickly and gently as possible.
Fishing report
Trout season opens Saturday in the New Castle County streams. Saturday will be a youth fishing day, and Sunday the season will open for everyone. You must have a Delaware trout stamp to go with your Delaware general fishing license, unless you are exempt.
Not much to report from Delaware, but I did see reports with photos of black drum caught out of the surf at Assateague. These looked to be 25- to 35-pound drum.
Old Inlet did hear of a few short tog caught on shrimp out of Indian River Inlet.
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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.
