Brandywine Shoal has one of the largest artificial reefs in the lower Delaware Bay – the massive breakwater harbor surrounding Brandywine Shoal Lighthouse. Okay, so the breakwater wasn’t constructed as a fishing reef, but for our purposes that’s in effect what it is!
The lighthouse itself actually predates the breakwater and sits upon a concrete-filled cast iron caisson which replaced a screwpile platform and light in 1914. Although the old light was removed, the old platform on it sat was used by the Navy for tests and other purposes until the 1950s. A small harbor to support this use was established by constructing a rock breakwater on three sides with the old platform and lighthouse inside. The sweet spot for catching fish moves around as marine environmental conditions change with the tide and currents. Anchor off and float or cast baits in, or stand off and cast lures.
Across the ship channel from Brandywine Shoal Light off the northwest end of Brown Shoal are two Delaware artificial reefs. These are Fish Haven #6 at Site 2 and Fish Haven #7 at Site 3. The latter is listed as File Number 10733 in the Coast Survey’s Automated Wreck and Obstruction Information System (AWOIS). Bottom anomalies in both fish havens are shown by Digital Elevation Models (DEM) Color Shaded Relief using the Bathymetric Data Viewer (BDV) per the bottom right insert on the chart. This National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) online application has partial Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG) Color Shaded Relief coverage for Fish Haven #7.
West of Fish Haven #7 is a very deep trench (Site 4) with a very rugged slope on the northeastern side that rapidly drops down as much as 70 feet! This deep-water remnant of the ancient Jones River bed is a particularly rugged spot with what presents on sonar charts as a shelf at coordinates 38° 56.888N, 75° 10.327W. Try trolling this edge for stripers; historically the area has been productive for that approach.
Further west near Buoy Y “B” is Site 5, a 17-foot least depth wreck (AWOIS #9991). It is recorded as the “water barge” Gary in position 38° 56.8N, 75° 12.6W. The area was included in a hydrographic survey in 2019 and “BAG” imaging is available, as documented by National Ocean Service (NOS) Descriptive Report (DR) F00747 (2019). Nothing of significance was found. Zooming in on the “BAG” image, a very small anomaly appears which the DR labeled with a “?” at about coordinates 38° 56.819N, 75° 12.555W. It’s only about 15 feet in width using the BDV distance scale. There’s not enough showing there to determine whether or not this is the barge. With so much other structure nearby in the fish haven, the old river bed, and multiple sloughs to check, try them first.
Just off Slaughter Beach when approaching Mispillion River inlet (Site 6) are fishing grounds known locally as the “coral beds” which are actually huge tube worm colonies. The marine species that take up residence here attract black drum in the spring. Try fishing around coordinates 38° 53.822N, 75° 15.804W. When fishing the beds, be aware of a small cluster of charted piles (“Slaughter’s piles”) around coordinates 38° 54.000N, 75° 215.946W.
At the Mispillion River inlet, there are very long jetties on both sides of the entrance. The nautical chart correctly locates the jetties, but is out of date with respect to their actual condition. The old jetty on the southwest side is lined with rock and mostly submerged as is the outer two thirds of the jetty on the northwest side. The inner third of the northwest jetty is a more substantial stone groin of newer vintage.
Below Brandywine Shoal on the northeastern side of the shipping channel at Site 7 is a 36-foot significant obstruction (AWOIS #11949). But the really significant obstruction lies beyond it at Site 8 (AWOIS #15208), an old disposal area. This square shaped mound is about 400 yards across and rises as much as 25 feet above the surrounding bottom. Try working the current scoured plateau and steep drop-offs along each edge for flounders. The edge looks promising for stripers and other finfish as well. While over on the east side of the channel, check out the multiple discharge pipe ruins at Site 9 and the remains of the concrete ship Atlantus at Site 10, all of which were featured in the March 2020 issue of The Fisherman. NOAA BDV “BAG” imaging displays this structure with good definition.
