intdeg01 wrote:
Now retired and I’m new to fishing. I’d like to try for yellow perch or any other good pan fish. Recommendations on locations greatly appreciated. Location Sussex County.
Find any place where a tidal stream meets a mill pond dam. The more productive places have relatively clear (not turbid) water and a place for spawning - a side of the stream with a sandy or gravel bottom and it stays wet through the low tide cycle.
Tributaries of the Nanticoke and creeks in Maryland are better than those on the east side of the Delaware. But, you can find them in places like the state pier off Mulberry Street in Milton.
Grass shrimp is the best bait. Scraping a mesh net over the barnacles of pilings and rip rap in tidal areas will bring you hundreds, at no cost beyond the cost of the net and a bucket.
Good luck!
Bock1019 wrote:
Getting itchy to get into some fish soon. Hopefully the perch start biting soon.
The head of the Chester River is the closest and best perch destination, from Smyrna. The road that crosses Cedar Creek, in Millington, used to be accessible but is now heavily posted. It is possible to hike the tracks, or go upstream with a canoe from the town landing.
Watch the weather. A warm break in late February will bring large, spawning, yellow perch.
Millington Hardware also sponsors a little tournament.
I am very familiar with where you boat and fish. Been doing that, on and off, for the best part of fifty years.
Our friend that posted Indian River "outlet" and bay are good places, provided accurate information. It is a tiny funnel that channels water to and from very large water bodies, though. A novice boater in a pontoon should not get any closer than the Coast Guard Station. And, if you do, your engine should never be turned off.
A very productive drift is the "backside" of Burton Island. Follow the channel from Massey's Ditch, until you can see the inlet to your left (on the out-going tide). Then, turn around and do the same again.
The CG is not so diligent in marking the channel and sand bars shift every year - particularly in the winter. The "island" with a heron rookery, for example, did not exist twelve years ago.
Keep these trips to within 2 hrs of the high tide and you are usually safe. Leave a float plan, travel with a person that is physically fit and has a good head on his or her shoulders. Towing insurance also diminishes stress when you get hung-up on a bar and are facing 6 hrs or more in a craft that offers no protection from the elements.
Fishing is great fun. Catching is better. The prospects for a catch on this drift are high. Be safe by being prepared.