Striped bass fishing in Delaware Bay and Ocean City

In Delaware Bay and Ocean City, striped bass peak April–May and November–December and are around March–January, spawning in April, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: The Delaware River spawn (Philadelphia to Trenton); spring rules on the river and bay differ by state — check DNREC and NJDEP.

1. JanuaryAroundSome winters the tail of the migration holds off Ocean City and Virginia's Eastern Shore — mostly outside three miles, where it is closed.
2. FebruaryNot here
3. MarchArrivingPrespawn fish head up Delaware Bay to the Delaware River; bloodworms in the back of the bay creeks.
4. AprilSpawningThe Delaware River spawn (Philadelphia to Trenton); spring rules on the river and bay differ by state — check DNREC and NJDEP.
5. MayPeakPost-spawn fish pour out of Delaware Bay; chunk bunker off the Delaware beaches and the Cape Henlopen point.
6. JuneLeaving
7. JulyAround
8. AugustAroundNight bite on the Indian River Inlet and Ocean City inlet bridges on bucktails and swim shads.
9. SeptemberAround
10. OctoberArrivingFall surf: blues, drum, specks and weakfish. Cut bunker in the Assateague and Delaware surf for drum and blues; jigs at Indian River Inlet for specks and weakfish; the tog bite starts on the rocks.
11. NovemberPeakThe fall run reaches the Delaware and Maryland surf; bunker chunks and big plugs on the Assateague and Delaware beaches.
12. DecemberPeakBig fish run the beaches south; Indian River Inlet rocks at night.

Delaware Bay's big, shoaly estuary with the lumps and sloughs off Slaughter Beach and the Coral Beds; the Delaware, Maryland and Assateague surf; the inland bays and back bays behind them (Rehoboth, Indian River, Assawoman, Sinepuxent, Chincoteague); Virginia's wild seaside barrier islands; and the offshore lumps (Jackspot, Hambone) out to Baltimore, Poor Man's and Washington canyons.

Fish Scouter charts 52 artificial reef, 6 reservoir, 4 lake spots in the Delmarva & Delaware Bay map area — the kinds striped bass hold on.

• Live eelsHooked through the lips on a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook and sight-cast to a cobia or dropped to a cobia on a ray — the eel is the cobia bait.
• Menhaden (pogies)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined or slow-trolled; cut in chunks for the bottom.
• HerringCut-plug for salmon: head off at an angle, guts out, two hooks in tandem so it spins slow behind a flasher or a banana weight. Whole and live on a circle hook for stripers where the herring run.
• BloodwormsA piece threaded on a #2 to 2/0 hook on a hi-lo or fish-finder rig — the striper, spot, croaker and white perch bait of the Chesapeake and the surf.
• Sand eelsFree-lined or on a light jig head for stripers, fluke and bluefish; strips teased on a fluke rig.
• Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.

• Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#2–3/0
• Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
• Braid10–30 lb

Feeds in 42–80°F water, best at 50–68°F.

All about striped bass · Delmarva & Delaware Bay, the whole year