Smallies, largemouth and stripers along New Jersey’s west coast.
The Delaware River is a remarkable body of water. From its headwaters in the Catskill Mountains to its terminus at the mouth at Delaware Bay, the ‘Big D’ is one of the last major free-flowing rivers in the Northeast, and in the entire United States.
While the river’s watershed is comprised of numerous braids, tributaries and outflows that feed the Delaware River, three major basin reservoirs affect the river’s water flow, the Canyonville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs. Releases from these impoundments provide the necessary flow of water to maintain both an upper river cold-water fishery and a warmer lower water fishery that supports a solid bass population.
The upper braids are known, first and foremost, as trout country nurturing some of the finest rainbow and brown trout fishing the northeast has to offer. But the Delaware River is much more than its salmonids. It is a fabulous multi-species fishery with plenty of other angling options that includes a trinity of bass: largemouth, smallmouth, and striped. At certain times of the season this hat trick of bass can all be caught in the same day.
Surprise, Surprise
One of the greatest attributes of the lower Delaware is the significant number of smallmouth bass that call the river home. Their presence is abundant throughout much of the river, and at times the river can seem like a bronzeback factory. A typical outing would find me floating the river in a canoe or motoring about in a small aluminum bass boat. I would often navigate a favorite central river location between Bull Island and Frenchtown where I could anchor up in the eddies, fishing the seam water for smallmouth bass.
Most days, especially late spring, this location would yield numerous quality smallies. At other times, I would launch my old Stowe canoe well above Frenchtown and make a scenic 9-mile float catching bass the entire way. Most fish were about a pound to a pound-and-a-half in weight but every once in while a nice 3, 4 or even 5-pound fish would decide to eat.
The nicest aspect of a Big D float trip for smallmouth is the ability to beach the canoe on any of a number of small islands and then wade the gravel flats and boulder areas for bass. Largemouth bass are also abundant throughout the river, with most of the significant bigmouth fishing coming from the lower reaches of the Delaware, up from the mouth of the river to about Lambertville.
One particular bass boat outing in the early 1980s was quite revealing. I was having a great time catching smallmouth on tube lures, mostly cookie cutter size but there were some active fish to 3 pounds to keep the senses sharp. I had located a pile of bass off a point and in among a grouping of boulders. The drill of the day was to cast a weighted tube into the fast-moving water, let it free-fall and swing completely into the slower eddy, and then twitch it back to the boat.
On one cast the tube was stopped hard just as the lure swung from the current and into the seam. The fish was substantial and felt more massive than the largest smallmouth that I had taken to that point in the day. Granted, the fish used the river to its advantage but it surely seemed like a bass to be reckoned with, and thoughts of a New Jersey state record smallmouth briefly entered my mind.
To eventually land this particular fish, I had to move the boat into calmer water close to shore. With the anchor up I drifted while keeping pressure on the fish. The bass came to me slowly. Eventually the fish breached the surface, and when it did, I was stunned. This was no smallmouth, but my first Delaware River striper, a 12-pounder. I pondered the implications of that catch as the bass was slowly revived and released back into the Delaware, but from that moment on striped bass added an entirely new dimension to my Delaware River fishing experience.
Over the next several weeks I put smallmouth fishing aside and concentrated on stripers. What I discovered was a presence of stripers throughout the entire stretch of river that I fished, from about Frenchtown down to an area below Lambertville and New Hope. I came to understand from others who had also ‘discovered’ this fishery that striped bass would typically spread out along the entire lower and mid-portions of the Delaware, a stretch of real estate that encompasses the area from Delaware Bay up to the Delaware River Water Gap. Most fish were smaller-class bass, akin to schoolies, but there were also big fish around that keyed in on migrating herring.
Late Spring, Early Summer
Prime time for these Delaware stripers is a finite and specific one, concentrated within about a four-week period from mid-May to late-June. Yet, those bass are in the river first to feed and spawn, from about April 1 to the end of May, and then during post-spawn periods to prey on herring to rebuild strength. Depending on the severity or mildness of the winter and river temperatures the spawning times can vary.
Another big variable in the Delaware River is floods. The river is prone to that condition and heavy rains can cause major flooding in the low-lying areas throughout the river’s course and its tributaries. This flooding can affect the timing of the spawn and the ability of anglers to access the better fishing areas. Fishing also tends to drop off significantly once the water temperature begins to rise with the warming days of mid-summer. Lower water volumes, slower flows and the increasing intensity of radiant heat conspire to force the bass to move back down to the bay and out into saltwater.
Over the years I have caught Lower D stripers on top-water plugs, swimming plugs, jigs, plastics, and flies. During that first season of enlightenment a friend of mine landed a striper on a fly that stretched the tape to over 40 inches. After that catch, there was no telling what the potential might be. While much bigger bass is taken on bait in the lower reaches of the river and into Delaware Bay, bass over the 40-inch mark in the upper stretches – and those taken on flies or light tackle – are fish to be reckoned with. Large bass heading downstream and using the river’s flow as an ally will take you well into the fly line backing and cause you to take chase or loose the bass.
Following that first Delaware striper the stage was set for an early summer full of smallmouth and stripers. I couldn’t have been happier – that is, until yet another memorable summer canoe outing that yielded numerous smallmouth bass and small stripers. About half way through the trip I beached the canoe on a small island in the river – an ideal spot for lunch. The island backed up to a wide slough with a small waterfall cascading from the Pennsylvania side of the river. It was a Kodak moment and the location reminded me of places I had fished in Canada. After eating a sandwich, I grabbed a rod and waded as close to the waterfall as possible. My first cast was met with a subtle pick-up as the fish moved off with the tube. I set the hook and was fast to a spunky 2-1/2-pound largemouth bass. That was also the first time I had taken all three species of river bass on one trip, but it wouldn’t be the last.
Seasonal Variety
Largemouth bass too are very abundant in the Delaware, their largest concentrations in the extreme lower, wider, and slower sections of the river from around Lambertville down to Trenton and the areas around Philadelphia. It is a substantial population of fish, and largemouth can be found throughout much of the middle segments of river as well. Most are small 1- to 1-1/2-pound bass but larger lunkers are occasionally thrown into the mix. There is no question but that the environment of the lower river and the areas near Delaware Bay support substantial populations of bucketmouth bass. Nonetheless, largemouth call many sections of the river home, as do their smallmouth and striped cousins.
The Delaware River is also home to many other species of fish including bluegill, rock bass and catfish; the lower river also hosts a population of walleye. In the early season stocked trout that have moved out from tributaries and feeder streams will flow into the river provide for nice sport. The entire length of the Delaware & Raritan Canal system that runs parallel to the river in this region is also very productive. Largemouth, smallmouth and panfish will be the primary species of fish caught in the canal but trout are also stocked there. Sections of the canal empty into the Delaware River and on occasion small stripers can also be caught at those locations.
Several fishing techniques work well for this style of triple-bass fishing. Many of your favorite half- to 1-ounce topwater plugs will perform well in the fast water and in the slower eddies, as will standard variety swimming plugs, crank baits, and jigs. Soft plastic baits are also extremely effective, one of my favorite soft baits is to rig a tube lure with a trailer grub tail in combinations of root beer, motor oil or pumpkinseed. All three species of bass have responded well to that rigging.
Big, all-white Deceiver-style flies or slimmed-down bunker and herring flies will prove productive when herring are in the river. Shad patterns also induce strikes. Both largemouth and stripers seem to respond best to flies in the 4- to 7-inch range. Fishing those flies on an intermediate or fast sinking tip work well. Striped bass, like shad, will often follow the river channel. In those instances, a full sinking line can give the angler an advantage. That said, some of the best striper action I have had in the river has been with floating lines and big white and chartreuse hackle flies fished just below the surface. For smallmouth, Clouser Deep Minnows work wonders. I am partial to white, brown, and chartreuse bucktail when tying Clousers. In some of the lower stretches of slow water, top-water bugs can be quite effective.
Finding suitable water anywhere from the “Gap” down to Trenton can produce stripers, especially when they are following and foraging herring. Stripers will simply go where the herring go. I find the prime time for catching all three species of bass is from May to late June, though black bass remains good throughout the year.
