Brandywine Creek Fishing Guides and Conditions, Delaware
Delaware's signature stream, running out of the Pennsylvania piedmont through Brandywine Creek State Park and Wilmington, with smallmouth in the ledges and shad in spring.
Guides on the Brandywine Creek
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About the Brandywine Creek
The Brandywine is the water Delaware built itself around. It comes out of the Pennsylvania piedmont, crosses the state line north of Wilmington, and drops through a series of rocky ledges and old mill dams to the Christina River and the Delaware. The corridor through Brandywine Creek State Park and Alapocas Run is wooded and surprisingly wild considering it sits inside a metropolitan area, and the whole stream is walk-and-wade or small-boat water.
Smallmouth bass are the mainstay, holding on the ledges and in the pocket water below every riffle, with largemouth in the slower pools and bream everywhere. Delaware stocks trout in the Wilmington-area sections in spring, which creates a short, popular put-and-take season. American shad run up from the Delaware in spring, a fishery that has improved as dam removals have opened the lower creek, and it is worth timing a trip around.
The Wilmington gauge reads near the mouth and reflects the whole watershed. Moderate readings in the low hundreds of cfs give clear, wadeable water over the ledges; the creek is flashy, and a summer thunderstorm in Chester County can put a thousand cfs of brown water through Wilmington a few hours later. It clears within a day or two, and low late-summer flows make for easy wading and spooky fish.
Wilmington is right there, with Chadds Ford and the Brandywine Valley museums just over the Pennsylvania line. This is an after-work fishery for a lot of people and a good introduction to moving water for anyone new to it.
Access
Brandywine Creek State Park: the main public access, trails and creek frontage.
Thompsons Bridge and Rockland: upper access points near the state line.
Alapocas Run State Park: wooded access with rock ledges and pools.
Brandywine Park, Wilmington: city park access near the gauge, including the spring trout water.
Josephine Gardens and the Market Street area: lower creek access in the city.
Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania: upstream access a few minutes over the line.
Most of the creek is wade fishing from park trailheads.
Seasons
March through May: shad in the lower creek, stocked trout in the city reaches, high spring flows.
June through August: smallmouth on topwater, low clear water, easy wading.
September and October: the best smallmouth fishing of the year as temperatures drop.
November through February: quiet, cold and fishable between storms.
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Questions
What is the current flow on the Brandywine Creek?
As of Sep 3, 10:30 pm, the USGS gauge BRANDYWINE CREEK AT WILMINGTON, DE reads 2,000 cfs, the 84th percentile for this date. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Brandywine Creek?
Anglers target American Shad, Bream, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Trout on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Brandywine Creek?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Delaware agency site: https://dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/fishing/