Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in Maryland brought us a nice start to the week followed by dark skies and storms. Flounder on the nearshore side has been getting better every day with lots of limits coming onto the boats. The sea bass, while still being slow with lots of smaller fish on the wrecks, has been decent, with an average of 6-10 keepers per 8 hr trip.
Nearshore Reefs
The nearshore reefs have been very productive with tons of smaller sea bass and flounder on all the wrecks. Sheepshead have also started to show up mainly on the more southern reef, such as the Marine Electric site. Chuck Sharp and his crew went there on Wednesday and caught a limit of sea bass for all four of their anglers. The bass were found on the deeper wrecks just offshore of the Marine Electric wreck. The bass bit on fresh clam and squid. Chuck said they did manage a few big knotheads, however, many fish were just over the minimum limit. The crew then dove in various wrecks and bottom structure inshore and found tons of flounder to shoot with their spear guns. Chuck reported that the flat fish were on the tops of the wrecks as opposed to being on the sandy bottom alongside the structure. This is unique for the fish as they prefer to lay alongside the structure and ambush passing prey. Chuck also reported that there were a lot of sheepshead on the wrecks, but many were small and he did not see any worth shooting. “The Angler” had several good trips early in the week bringing home some nice sea bass for their clients. The big hit of the week was the flounder, with most of their anglers catching a limit. Long squid strips and minnows were the bait of choice on the headboat. “The Angler” reported that even though the fishing slowed during the end of the week, good catches of fish were still to be found. Luke Wrye ended up with a limit of flounder, the biggest being 25”, on the nearshore grounds.
“Bad Wind Charters” reports that John wanted to take his Pops and Granddad fishing for Father’s Day. Although his father doesn’t live near the ocean anymore, he certainly hasn’t lost his touch muscling big flatties out of the structure. It was less than ideal conditions, but they made it work! “Bad Wind Charters” also had John Bruning from Snow Hill, MD, and dad Mike out on a flounder mission. They limited out and Papa Mike got the lunker award. The big fish bit on the 4 oz. jigger tandem white with glow heads.
“The Judith M” reported that in addition to a strong sea bass bite, the triggerfish have shown up with an increasing amount of flounder.
“Double Trouble Charters” has been working hard putting catches together for their clients everyday. Although the sea bass has dropped off significantly, flounder fishing is picking up with most anglers returning to the docks with a cooler full of fish. Captain DJ Churchill reports that his flounder catches remained strong. Vince Cannuli of the “Running Tide” reported they had a great day on Tuesday returning with near limits of flounder, a few sea bass, and triggerfish.
Dennis Newman had a great trip out of Ocean City on Tuesday, catching a limit of flounder with the largest being around 26”. Dennis fished various bottom structures on the nearshore reefs.
Haleigh Davis, fishing ocean structure with her dad Dennis, caught a huge 27”, 7.5 lb flounder on a chartreuse Deadly Double with white Gulp. Sarandon Slebodnick along with Shawn, Croney, Brittany, and Jason had a decent day fishing ocean structure with Gulp and managed several nice fluke.
Back Bay Areas
Erin King of Dallas, TX fished with her grandparents, Gary and Shirley German, and caught a nice 18” flounder on minnows in the East Channel. Ron Kerston reports he caught two Spanish mackerel on Gotcha Plugs. Shaun fished with Craig Cropper and had a fun time with small rockfish and big blues off the Route 50 Bridge. David Moore fished both nearshore and back bays last week and his group of anglers caught triggerfish, short stripers, and even a few spanish mackerel. That’s a fun trip! “The Happy Hooker” reports their season is underway. They have hooked into a few nice flatfish both in the inlet area as well as behind Assateague Island. Jake Tyler fished the Oceanic Fishing Pier and although he caught tons of small skate, did not manage any other type of fish. The Oceanic Fishing Pier is a fun way to spend a day with both rod and reel rentals and no fishing license required. For those that are new to night fishing, you can fish under their big spotlights as the pier is open 24 hours a day.
Luke Wrye was also fishing inshore this past week next to the Route 50 Bridge, and managed 25 blue fish and 23 rockfish. The biggest blue was 31”, all rockfish were safely released with the exception of his first ever keeper rockfish at 29”; his personal best! The “Bay Bee” reports their four hour trips, at 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm, have been doing fairly well with some nice fluke being pulled in by their anglers. As part of the inshore report, don’t forget that the 16th Annual Ocean Pines Flounder Tournament and Auction will be held on Saturday, August 5th, at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club. This is an excellent tournament for both experienced and novice anglers with an inexpensive entrance fee and a friendly group of anglers. Troy and Jaron Picking reported catching 115 blue crabs with 30 traps baited with chicken necks all within 5 hours.
Crabbing is beginning to pick up throughout the Delmarva area.
Until next week,
Tight lines and fins up §
