
First Statetips & tactics to score throughout the NJ/DE Bay region.
The shallow back bays of Indian River and Rehoboth are perfect for early season summer flounder or fluke fishing. They will warm well before the deeper Delaware Bay or the Atlantic Ocean so the summer flounder there will begin to feed long before their counterparts in the deeper, colder water.
There are several boat ramps available for access to Indian River Bay. Let’s begin with the one at Indian River Marina. This is a double ramp, so it is usually open with no waiting to launch your boat. There is a well-stocked tackle shop at the marina with plenty of bait available.
Once in the water, it is a short run to the first location that may hold flounder. Just as you exit the marina you will notice a deep slough running alongside Burtons Island. Depending on the stage of the current, you can either drift up the slough or run slowly up and then drift back down. Flounder may be laying close to the sides of the slough on the island side or on the side of the sand bar. You should drift several times down or up the slough to make sure you have covered the entire bottom.
Once you have fished that location you may want to drift the main channel if the boat traffic is not too heavy. Work it back as far as the Junction Buoy before deciding where to go next.
If the current is moving in, I will try the area between Burtons Island and Massey’s Ditch. There are several channels and shorelines where flounder hangout and can be caught on flood tides. Of course, it takes a small boat or kayak to access some of these locations. Most of my fishing back here has been done in 14 or 16-foot tin boats.
This shallow water fishing must be done as quietly as possible. As a general rule I employ my electric trolling motor when fishing any shallow area. Mine is pretty old and doesn’t have all the fancy new do-dads like spot-lock, but it moves the boat quietly over shallow water and that what counts.

The Early Bird
The next location is a large, but very shallow area located between the VFW Slough, the main channel and the secondary channel that runs back to White’s Creek. It is best fished during the early morning on an incoming tide. If you wait until late morning the area will be covered up with boats and fishing will be difficult if not impossible.
When we had our camper at Bayshore our neighbor wanted to fish, but also wanted to party late into the night. I was usually in bed pretty early and up before the sun. On one very nice day when the tide was just right, I got up early, launched my 14-foot tin boat and fished that shallow area right in front of the campground.
As luck would have it, I caught a good number of flounder, came back, had breakfast and was having my coffee under my canopy when my neighbor come out of his camper and said to me, “Eric, you going fishing today”. He finally got his act together and he and his family went fishing around 11 a.m. They had fun, but didn’t catch any flounder.
This is a large area and flounder are likely to be anywhere. You have to cover as much ground as possible and if you catch a flounder, use your GPS and go back over that area again. Don’t waste a lot of time in one spot. If you go back over a spot two or three times without result, move on.
Highs & Lows
So far all we have talked about is incoming water and high tide. I have to tell you one of the greatest stories I have ever heard. I was down at my boat in the Bayshore Marina when two older folks came in close to my slip. A friend was waiting for them and asked how they made out. They said fishing was really bad. Last week they fished alongside of an island and caught some flounder, but this week they could not find the island. Never occurred to them the tide was low last week and high this week.
When the current is moving out and the tide is falling you have to fish the deep channels and runouts. That is where the flounder will be holding waiting for food to pass by in the current. One of the better locations for this type of action is the runout from the marsh behind South Shore Marina. There is a channel that runs past the west end of South Shore Marina and this runout drains into it. Some people call the channel the VFW Slough. Call it what you will, it can hold flounder on outgoing water.

There used to be an old duck blind in the middle of nowhere between South Shore and White’s Creek that has finally been washed away. That was always a good flounder hole and it’s where I caught my personal best, an 8-pounder.
I am going to tell you the honest truth, once the current gets running out at full speed and the water gets really low, I pretty much call it a day. The only areas with enough water to float a boat are the channels and guess what, that area is full of boats running at speed. Not the ideal situation for drifting along trying to catch flounder.
Light Is Right
This entire area is best suited for light tackle. Medium spinning gear is just fine. I use a Tsunami Air Wave Elite TSRWEJS641MH rod and a Tsunami SALTX 4000 reel filled with 30-pound braid topped off with 20-pound Fluorocarbon leader.
When fishing shallow water, I will run a live minnow without any weight from this outfit. I use a circle hook tied directly to the Fluorocarbon leader. When a flounder grabs the minnow and tries to run off with it, he will do a nice job of hooking himself. In deeper water I will run a small weight in front of the minnow. I use one of those slip-on weights so it can slide up and down on the leader.
DE – NEED TO KNOW |
Regulations: The size limit for keeper summer flounder increases from 17 to 17-1/2 inches in Delaware as of June 1, with a bag limit of four fish.
Launch Ramps: There is a nice ramp at Masseys Landing in Longneck. Plenty of parking and good access to open water. Fishing License: Depending on your age and how long you wish to fish, your nonresident fishing license in Delaware can cost from $12.50 to $20. Go to dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/licenses Win Cash: One of the bigger money tournaments for summer flounder along the entire coast is Delaware’s Flounder Pounder Open presented By Paradise Grill & Short’s Marine with over $300,000 in prize money to be awarded from August 13-17th. The registration fee is $300 per team from July 28 to August 3, increasing $25 for per team from August 4-10. The registration fee per angler starts at $150, and then increases $25 as of August 4. For details visit flounderpounderde.com. |
Now I am going to tell you a little secret. I have a custom conventional rod that a dear friend built for me many years ago. On the rod is a very old Abu Garcia reel. How old? Well, my friend built the rod when we were living in Virginia Beach. We have been back in Delaware for 25 years. That is the only reel the rod has ever had.
I discovered that using a round head green bucktail with a Gulp crawfish in combination with that rod and reel was deadly on flounder in the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal as well as the Indian River Bay. When fishing in either location I will set out the live minnow on the spinning outfit and then use the casting outfit with the green bucktail and Gulp crawfish in a slow jigging motion across the bottom. It is not uncommon to have two flounder on at the same time.
It is surprising how far up Indian River Bay flounder will move in the summer. I have caught them as far up as the channel off of Oak Orchard during the height of summer on high tide early in the morning. Our summers have been pretty dry of late and the salt water moves further up the bay each year.
You should always plan to fish early in the morning during a high tide. Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay are very popular during the summer and thousands of boats descend on them during the week and there are even more on the weekends. Get out early and catch your fish and be home before the hordes descend.