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Where to fish

  • Forecast
  • Catches

Mine

  • Favorites
ForecastCatchesFavorites
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© 2026·AI-powered bite forecast
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United States / Delaware / Indian River Bay

Bite forecast: Indian River Bay

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Best fishing days for the next week

  1. TuesdaySeptember 8weather-based forecast
    57/100medium activity

    Cloudy: 63–82 °F

  2. ThursdaySeptember 3weather-based forecast
    51/100medium activity

    Drizzle: 73–82 °F

  3. FridaySeptember 4weather-based forecast
    48/100medium activity

    Clear: 73–86 °F

Indian River Bay (Delaware) — one of the area's fishing spots. Salt water, not fresh — so this page carries its own marine bite forecast. A smart bite calendar — moon phase, atmospheric pressure, and weather combined into an hourly fish-activity forecast for the coming days.

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Catches

Recorded 1 catch here. Most commonly caught: Striped bass. Peak season: November.

  • Striped bass — Indian River Bay, Nov 12, 2017
    Striped bass
    Indian River Bay
    46 °F2 mph
    Nov 12, 2017

Bite calendar

Thursday, September 3

Aug 31 – Sep 6
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Bite activity:highmediumlowslow
Based on:weatherseasonal
What is a bite calendar?
FlounderRed drumStriped bassBluefishBlack drumSpanish mackerelSpotted seatrout

Black drum

6/10 · Fair

Hourly activity

0:006:0012:0018:0023:00
Bite activity:highmediumlow

The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite.

Peak bite hours

Best time — 00:00–04:00 and 23:00–23:00 (nighttime activity).

Tactics

Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.

Lures

The water's turning murky — go with bright, noisy lures: soft-plastic jig or live bait.

Gear

It's a hot day — a hat, sunglasses, and plenty of water are a must. Rain is expected — don't forget a rain jacket or a waterproof shell.

Summary

An average day — best chances during peak windows.

How this forecast is calculated

Why this forecast

The computed water temperature is around 76 °F — inside the 61–79 °F comfort range for Black drum, so baseline activity is high.

Computed water temperature by month; the green band is the 61–79 °F comfort rangecomfort 61–79 °F76 °F
JFMAMJJASOND

Black drum feeds at night: the peak falls in the dark hours, between sunset and sunrise.

The day: daylight hours and when Black drum feeds0:0012:0024:00

Pressure is dropping 0.09 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.

Pressure through the day, 0.09 inHg change
00:00 · 30.0823:00 · 30.01 inHg

One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.

Feeding windows on the day scale0:0012:0024:00

September is an active season for Black drum here.

JFMAMJJASOND

These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works

Tides

  • Low water06:02-3.0 ft
  • High water12:200.9 ft
  • Low water19:02-3.1 ft
0:006:0012:0018:0023:000:006:0012:0018:0023:00
Sea level height by hour
00:0001:0002:0003:0004:0005:0006:0007:0008:0009:0010:0011:0012:0013:0014:0015:0016:0017:0018:0019:0020:0021:0022:0023:00
0.1 ft-0.2 ft-0.8 ft-1.4 ft-2.1 ft-2.7 ft-3.0 ft-2.8 ft-2.1 ft-1.3 ft-0.5 ft0.3 ft0.8 ft0.7 ft0.2 ft-0.4 ft-1.2 ft-2.0 ft-2.8 ft-3.1 ft-2.8 ft-2.4 ft-1.8 ft-1.2 ft

Open-Meteo tide model, grid point 7.5 mi away

Water

Water temp.
77 °F
In the model
76 °F
Wave
1.5 ft
Period
6 s

Open-Meteo Marine model, grid cell 7.5 mi from the waterbody. Values are daily means.

3 SepThursday, September 3
+79°

Drizzle · feels like +87°

Low / high
+72°…+82°
Precipitation
0.04 in
Wind
10 mph NNE
Cloud cover
100%
Humidity
93%
Pressure
30.03 inHg
00:00+72°—8 mphsoutheast wind, 8 mph91%100%
01:00+74°—14 mphsouth wind, 14 mph87%100%
02:00+74°—5 mphsouth wind, 5 mph90%100%
03:00+73°—5 mphsoutheast wind, 5 mph90%100%
04:00+74°—7 mphsoutheast wind, 7 mph90%100%
05:00+74°—9 mphsouth wind, 9 mph88%100%
06:00+74°—11 mphsouth wind, 11 mph88%100%
07:00+74°—12 mphsouth wind, 12 mph90%100%
08:00+76°—11 mphsouth wind, 11 mph91%64%
09:00+75°—7 mphsouth wind, 7 mph94%100%
10:00+77°—7 mphsouthwest wind, 7 mph92%51%
11:00+80°—4 mphwest wind, 4 mph89%100%
12:00+79°0.04 in10 mphnorth wind, 10 mph93%100%
13:00+78°—12 mphsoutheast wind, 12 mph86%59%
14:00+80°—11 mphsoutheast wind, 11 mph87%9%
15:00+81°—10 mphsoutheast wind, 10 mph88%7%
16:00+82°—8 mphsoutheast wind, 8 mph88%7%
17:00+82°—9 mphsoutheast wind, 9 mph86%5%
18:00+81°—10 mphsoutheast wind, 10 mph87%80%
19:00+80°—9 mphsoutheast wind, 9 mph90%59%
20:00+79°—9 mphsoutheast wind, 9 mph91%100%
21:00+79°—9 mphsoutheast wind, 9 mph92%99%
22:00+80°0.02 in18 mphwest wind, 18 mph82%100%
23:00+73°—7 mphnorthwest wind, 7 mph92%83%
+82°+77°+72°
Weather throughout the day
0:006:0012:0018:0023:00

Sun and moon

Thursday, September 3
The day: daylight and the hours the moon is above the horizon. Local time0:0012:0024:00
DaylightMoon above the horizon
Sunrise
06:32
Sunset
19:29
Day length
12 h 57 min
Sunshine hours
8 h 40 min
UV index
6
high
Moon
Last quarter
Moonrise
22:55
Moonset
13:41

The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.

Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.

Solunar feeding periods

+11% in the windowThursday, September 3
Feeding windows on the day scale, local time0:0012:0024:00
Major periodsMinor periods
  • Major04:51–06:51Moon overhead
  • Minor13:11–14:11Moonset
  • Major17:20–19:20Moon underfoot
  • Minor22:25–23:25Moonrise

The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.

What are solunar periods?

Nearby rivers

  • Indian River Bay1 mi
  • White Creek3 mi
  • Rehoboth Bay4 mi

Nearby water bodies

  • BayIndian River Bay0 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay0.4 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay0.4 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay0.7 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay0.7 mi
  • LakeSawpit Cove0.8 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay2 mi
  • BayIndian River Bay2 mi
  • BayRehoboth Bay2 mi
  • BayRehoboth Bay2 mi

Measured river conditions are available for Indian River Bay: current gauge height, streamflow, and water temperature when reported by the source.

Water

Gauge height
2.73 ft

USGS gauge INDIAN RIVER BAY INLET NEAR BETHANY BEACH, DE, 1 mi away · measured 2014-10-01 00:54 · data source · provisional data, subject to revision