Cedar Creek Fishing Guides
A short, productive tidal creek entering the Delaware Bay at Slaughter Beach, fished for stripers, flounder and white perch and crabbed hard through the summer.
Guides on the Cedar Creek
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About the Cedar Creek
Cedar Creek reaches the Delaware Bay at Slaughter Beach, in the quiet stretch of Sussex County coast between Mispillion Inlet and the Broadkill. It is a small system by estuary standards, a few miles of tidal channel winding through salt marsh behind a low barrier beach, but it drains and fills on every tide and it functions as a nursery and a travel corridor for a long list of bay species. The Cedar Creek Wildlife Area covers much of the marsh on either side, and a state ramp near the mouth puts small boats and kayaks into the creek within minutes of open water.
What the creek offers is access to bay fishing without a bay crossing. Striped bass work the channel edges and the mouth on moving water, with the spring and late autumn runs the most reliable windows. Summer flounder and weakfish come in on the warmer tides and hold in the deeper cuts and along the drop at the mouth. White perch are the dependable year-round fish in the fresher upper reaches, and American eel are everywhere. Blue crab is a genuine part of the trip here rather than an afterthought, and through the summer the crabbing accounts for more boats on the water than the fishing does.
The gauge near Slaughter Beach reports estuary water surface elevation, which is to say the tide, and nothing else. That is less information than most waters in the directory carry, but on this creek it is close to the only number that matters: everything here is governed by stage and timing rather than by flow or temperature. Read the tide, fish the moving water at the mouth on the last of the ebb and the first of the flood, and work the upper creek on the top half of the tide when there is water over the flats. Wind off the bay will dirty the mouth quickly, so check the forecast alongside the tide.
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Access
Slaughter Beach - the bay-front town at the mouth, with the state ramp and the nearest access.
Cedar Creek Wildlife Area - the state holding covering the marsh, with additional launches and bank access.
Milford - the nearest town upstream, with full services, tackle and lodging.
Mispillion Inlet - the inlet north of the creek, and the main route to open bay water.
Broadkill Beach - the bay shoreline south, often fished on the same trip.
Lincoln - the small community west of the creek, on the road in from Milford.
Lewes - the larger port town south, with charters, guides and the deepest bay access.
Seasons
Spring: striped bass and white perch move in on the warming tides, and the creek fishes as well as it does all year.
Summer: flounder, croaker and weakfish hold at the mouth and in the cuts, and the crabbing is at its peak through the marsh.
Fall: the best stretch for stripers as bait leaves the marsh, with settled weather between fronts and clean water.
Winter: largely a white perch fishery in the deeper upper channel, with the mouth fished only on calm, mild days.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Cedar Creek?
Anglers target American Eel, Atlantic Croaker, Blue Crab, Bluefish, Striped Bass, Summer Flounder, Weakfish, White Perch on the Cedar Creek in Delaware.
Where can you access the Cedar Creek?
Slaughter Beach - the bay-front town at the mouth, with the state ramp and the nearest access. Cedar Creek Wildlife Area - the state holding covering the marsh, with additional launches and bank access. Milford - the nearest town upstream, with full services, tackle and lodging. Mispillion Inlet - the inlet north of the creek, and the main route to open bay water. Broadkill Beach - the bay shoreline south, often fished on the same trip. Lincoln - the small community west of the creek, on the road in from Milford. Lewes - the larger port town south, with charters, guides and the deepest bay acc...
When is the best time to fish the Cedar Creek?
Spring: striped bass and white perch move in on the warming tides, and the creek fishes as well as it does all year. Summer: flounder, croaker and weakfish hold at the mouth and in the cuts, and the crabbing is at its peak through the marsh. Fall: the best stretch for stripers as bait leaves the marsh, with settled weather between fronts and clean water. Winter: largely a white perch fishery in the deeper upper channel, with the mouth fished only on calm, mild days.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Cedar Creek?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Delaware agency site: https://dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/fishing/