SPRING SEASON

Starting as early as the 2nd - 3rd week in April and lasting through the 1st - 2nd week in June, you can fish for striper/rockfish, tog, and flounder and of course, the goliath black drum; with May being the best month for these monsters.  Drum average 30-100 lbs and 60-70 lb black drum are common.  The spring crab run begins sometime in the beginning of April and lasts until June.  The summer crab run begins near the end of July and lasts sometimes, until mid-November.       

SUMMER SEASON

May through October are great for flounder.  Early spring and late fall still produce but they're not as readily available.  Trout and flounder are best during June and July.  Croaker typically start the end of June and continue until October.  July - October offers the best of everything the bay offers; spadefish, triggerfish, shark, kingfish, ling, croakers, flounder, cobia, mackerel, tog, sheepshead, striper/rockfish, sea bass, porgy, trout, and bluefish.  This summer, I caught a citation KING mackerel and Bill Sellers brought in a real nice spanish mackerel.

     

FALL SEASON

After October, the striper/rockfish and tog turn on as the water temps begin to cool.  As the other fish migrate, so do we, to where the waters and weather is warm and the fishing is excellent!      

SHARK FISHING

Shark fishing is UNREAL in June and July.  You can easily hook into 200+ lb sand tigers, brown sharks, and bull sharks.  The thresher bite turns on from July- August.  Of course, there's always the smooth and spiny's.  I've been shark fishing here for 25 years and the shark are close enough to our inlet, you can see land even on a cloudy day.  I catch and release however, the smooths, spiny's, and sands are excellent table fare especially on the grill.  I do it for the action; it's one hell of an adrenaline rush!  We have bluewater action just 10 minutes away! 

I cannot say enough about safety; these fish are dangerous. The most abundant of the large shark species in our area are sand tigers which are a protected.  Last year, we had a guy who was out 14 miles and hooked into a mako.  I've made believers out of many skeptics. The shark picture on this page and our Home Page is from Chad Shellenberger, who was also a non-believer.

Have you ever been croaker or trout fishing and reeled in 1/2 a fish?  9 out of 10 times, a shark got your fish.

Fishing techniques differ in the bay than the ocean but the basics are the same.  Stop in, we'll talk sharking! 

TAUTOG FISHING

One of my favorite!  I give tog fishing in the Delaware Bay 4 stars for the experienced togger.  Our nearby wreck and artificial reef sites are the perfect habitat for tog.  Anyone who togs and who hasn't fished these waters would be in heaven; the tog that inhabit our reef sites are unmatchable and mostly unharvested.  The hardest part of tog fishing is getting your vessel on the site and anchoring to remain above the structure.  For the novice tog fisherman I would recommend Brandywine Light, Mohawk Wreck, 14' Light, Haystacks, and the inner and outer walls. 

Getting on the structure is the hardest part.  You set your anchor and back your vessel, as close as possible to the rocks with caution and safety always on your mind.  You toss a small reef anchor or any weighted object into the rocks attached to a thin rope.  Take in the slack, keeping yourself into position while backing up to the rocks.  Your stern will move to the right and left approximately 3-5'.  If you notice on your swing, a good hole, toss another line from your port or starboard.  Tie off to the rear cleat to keep your stern from swinging.  Being right on top of the tog instead of 4' away could mean the difference between 1 or 2 and your limit.  When fishing this method, always keep a sharp pair of scissors or knife handy so the stern lines can be cut in a hurry, if necessary.  Shit happens. 

Now fishing the reef sites.  Getting your boat on the money can be difficult and frustrating.  You have to take your time; you're excited to get your lines wet, but until you take the time to get this right, it could mean the difference between 2 fish and your limit.  Here are a couple of tips to help make you a successful togger.  I take 2-3 sash weights and tie them together; anything heavy will work but use something with a point, not something flat or square; less resistence, the weights needs to reach bottom quickly.  After arriving at your destination, use your GPS/fishfinder, watch the finder for bottom structure.  The second you see the structure, put it in neutral and drop that marker.  Pending on the water depth, tides, and weather conditions, you may have to add an extra 8-10' of rope. 

Now your weights are down and your marker is floating.  Motor your boat up to your marker, read your fishfinder and make sure your marker is on the structure.  At idle speed, follow the structure 20-30' and drop another marker.  Motor to your second marker, check your fishfinder, make sure you're on the structure.  If you can't read either marker, you have to drop it again.  It takes practice but if you follow my steps, you'll get it.  You now have 2 buoys floating 30' apart directly above the structure. 

Now, take your vessel, AGAINST the wind and tide, about 300 yds and turn off motor.  I recommend using 300' of anchor rope, that's what I use.  Watch exactly how your vessel drifts in reference to your markers.  Do this 2 or 3 times to get the feel of where you'll end up.  This will also give you a better idea of where to drop your anchor so you'll know where your stern will be heading.  Next, read the bottom over your marker and if your marker's on top of the structure, you're in tog heaven!  Now, the hard part is done.  Once you can master this, your odds of coming back with your limit will be as good as mine.

Keep in mind, these reef sites are small, there are between 9 and 13 deployments which make up each reef site and some reef sites are less than 1/3 nautical square mile.  Your objective when togging is to stay anchored directly above one of these deployments.  You have to calculate using the wind and tides.  

There are state records holding up in these sites.  I'm determined to catch one and IT better be a male cause I release all the females so I'd have to settle for a catch n release award rather than hear the bullshit over catching an egg-filled female.  All you tog fisherman know, when the tog turnoff it becomes a waiting game but not when you have my magic tog bait; natural de-shelled hermit crabs. They're unbelievable, tog eat 'em like lollipops.  I'm even starting to believe the larger fish chase away the smaller ones for this delicacy.

Site #3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are all between 2 and 7 miles from our inlet.  Tog heaven baby, I've been doing it for years!  I've caught enough, it's time to share some of my secrets...  I'm not saying my method is the best method but it is for me and my catch numbers prove it.