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 The Delaware River is the third largest producer of striped
bass on the East Coast – behind only the Chesapeake
estuary and the Hudson River. Each spring, millions of striped
bass ascend its waters to spawn, providing world-class,
close-to-home fishing opportunities for many Delaware Valley
anglers. This wasn’t always the case, however.
Just a few decades ago, the “Big-D” was far
too polluted to support a viable striped bass run. While
some fish continued to spawn successfully in the extreme
lower section of the river south of Philadelphia, very few
fish migrated past the oxygen-depleted waters adjacent to
the city, and those that did endure the journey found waters
unsuitable for successful reproduction.
Over the past 25 years, however, the river has made a
remarkable comeback, due in large part to the institution
of the Clean Water Act and other stringent environmental
controls. Now, the mighty Delaware is one of our nation’s
cleanest urban rivers, and supports tremendous numbers of
both anadromous and resident gamefish.
The stretch of river that flows through the city of Trenton
is one of the lucrative locations for anglers. It is at
this point that the river transitions from a deep, slow-moving,
mud-and-sand-bottomed waterway to a fast-flowing, shallow,
and rocky river. Anglers who fish this stretch therefore
have two choices; they can run upriver from the Lamberton
Road boat launch and fish in heavy current and around large,
ominous boulders, or they can run downriver and fish the
deeper stretch. Although both fisheries are productive,
today’s show takes place in the deeper water south
of Trenton.
Striped bass are omnivorous, meaning that their diet is
extremely varied. During a striper’s lifetime, it
will eat almost anything that swims including crabs, clams,
worms, shrimp, eels, and an almost endless variety of small
fish. When making their spring spawning run up the Delaware
River, however, striped bass feed almost exclusively on
herring, which happen to be making a spawning run of their
own. During the early season (early April through mid-May)
herring are just about the only bait that will take good
numbers of stripers in the river.
Herring can be fished alive or chunked, and the most productive
approach depends on the fish’s feeding mood and the
conditions. Regardless, the bait must be extremely fresh.
Frozen herring rarely works - this means that in order to
catch stripers, an angler must first take the time to catch
herring, and the first segment of the show illustrates this
essential exercise.
While in the river, herring do not feed. However, they
can be taken on a variety of very small, flashy lures that
annoy the fish into striking. Most anglers use a sabiki
rig to catch their herring. A sabiki rig consists of several
small, gold hooks adorned with fishskin or reflective plastic
or mylar. These rigs are sold ready-to-fish in most area
tackle shops. The sabiki rig is jigged just off the bottom
where the herring are usually found. It is important to
note that current regulations allow only 3 hooks to be used
at a time.
In order to tip the odds in their favor, some river sharpies
have begun to rig herring hologram strips from Trophy
Teasers on a downrigger
ball underneath the boat. These hologram strips serve to
attract herring to the boat and keep them there for longer
periods.
Finding herring can often be more difficult than finding
stripers. Look for areas where the river channel narrows,
as these spots tend to concentrate herring. The channel
just in front of Trenton Marine and the channel just south
of the Trenton Train Bridge are two productive locations,
and the latter spot was the choice of Bill and Darren while
filming this particular episode.
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 The
spring striper run begins in early April, as warming
waters jumpstart the metabolism of any resident fish.
Shortly thereafter, the first migratory fish arrive,
and by the third week in April the big female spawners
are spread throughout the river. These early fish
are often the biggest that river anglers will see
all spring, and good numbers of fish over 30 pounds
are taken during this time. The smaller males show
up just prior to the spawn, which usually occurs around
one of the moons during this period, or after river
temps reach the high 50’s. During most years,
good numbers of fish stick around through mid-May,
after which time they fall out of the river to spend
the rest of the year in the salt.
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 There
are two primary approaches for fishing herring for
river stripers. The first involves freelining a live
herring without any weight. This method is very productive
in the rocky section north of the Trenton Train Bridge
and on the downriver flats. In this case, a 3-foot
leader of 30-pound fluorocarbon is terminated with
an 8/0 in-line (non-offset) circle hook. The herring
can be hooked through the mouth and out one of the
nostrils, or through the back just in front of the
dorsal fin. The bait is allowed to swim unencumbered,
and with the reel in free spool. The strike is usually
felt as a sharp thump, followed by a fast runoff.
Allow a few seconds before locking up the reel and
allowing the circle hook to plant itself in the fish’s
mouth.
The second approach is to rig the herring on a fish-finder
rig. This method is used most often in the deeper
water south of Trenton, and usually on the deeper
edges where flats drop off into the shipping channel.
In this case, both live and chunked herring can be
used effectively. On some days, the fish show a marked
preference for the livies, and on other days they’d
rather eat a chunk. Regardless, offering fresh herring
on a fish finder rig is a remarkably productive approach. |
- A freshwater fishing license is required to fish in
the Delaware River. Either a NJ or PA license is acceptable,
regardless of where on the river an angler chooses to
launch or fish.
- Anglers on the Delaware River are permitted to catch
and keep 35 herring per day. This includes both blueback
and alewife herring. Note that this is subject to change,
and there is pressure mounting to eliminate the river
herring fishery as a conservation measure, a move to which
we are vehemently opposed.
- Only 3 single hooks are permitted to be used at a time.
This means that “standard” 6-hook sabiki rigs
used to catch herring must be trimmed as necessary.
- From April 1st to May 31st, the river striper fishery
is catch-and-release only. During this time, standard “J” hooks
are not permitted on the river. Only in-line circle hooks
may be used.
Capt. Chris Gatley runs Ardent Angler Guide Service, and
is a full-time guide specializing in Delaware River spring
stripers. He has been a tremendous source of information
for us over the years with respect to the Delaware River
and both the striped bass and herring fisheries. For more
information about Chris Gatley, click
here |
