Article by Larry Jock
It’s great to be back with everyone for another season of fishing off the Delmarva coast. So far, fishing in 2016 has not been up-to-par, starting with the worst striper season we have seen in many years. High water temperatures kept the fish up north for longer than expected and then a very fast and sharp decrease in water temperature either moved the fish outside the ridiculous 3-mile line or sent them right on by us. That, coupled with a very windy fall/winter left a lot of boats and frustrated striper snipers at the dock.
Speaking of stripers, last weekend, especially on Sunday, the action off Assateague really picked up. The late morning bite produced good catches of both short and keeper striped bass for anglers tossing bunker into the suds. This is a change from what we have been seeing from the beach where anglers have been tangling with chopper bluefish, skates and some black drum.
If the improved striper bite holds, than they seem to be right on time. Last years spring run was not a very good one, but historically the first half of May produces some quality catches for those who are willing to put their time in on the beach. Bunker is the bait of choice for anglers fishing from the coast, but sand fleas are also enjoyed by linesiders as well.
The one thing that has always perplexed me is why more anglers don’t troll along the beach in May. You obviously don’t want to troll close enough to the shoreline to interfere with surfcasters, but with large fish hugging the beach during their northern migration, I would think trolling in the spring would be more productive than trying to hook them inside 3-miles during their run back south in the fall.
Short stripers continue to be caught in the Ocean City Inlet, around the Rt. 50 Bridge and up by the Rt. 90 Bridge. Keepers are extremely rare with most fish measuring 20 to 24-inches.
As you can see from the photo on the left, the first black drum of the season was caught by Billy Powell on March 31st. This is 17 days earlier than the first one landed in 2015.
For most of the spring, bluefish have been mainly caught by surf fishermen, but for a short time in early April we saw choppers roaming the bay behind Ocean City. A few are still being picked up around the bridges.
Last year, the bluefish run was spectacular. It was so good that you really didn’t bat an eye when a 10 pounder hit the dock because you were so used to seeing fish weighing in the mid-to-high teens. Water temperature along the coast and in the Inlet are hovering in the mid-50’s, so the timing is right for solid bluefish action but I?have a feeling we have already seen the best of it. There have been reports of large schools running north along the 20 fathom line and the bite in Jersey has really turned on.
Tautog have been the star of the show this season with nice fish being caught on several ocean reefs and wrecks. It seemed to get off to a slower than normal start, with colder water temperatures making for sluggish fish, but over the last 3 weeks the bite has gotten noticeably better. That’s not to say we didn’t see some large fish caught. All you need to do is look through this edition and you will see some whoppers. It was just hit and miss. At this time, we are also seeing smaller fish caught around the South Jetty and along the rocks on the southern end of the West Channel (Martha’s Landing). Green crabs are the bait of choice with sand fleas coming in a close second.
Flounder fishing hasn’t gotten rolling yet, but we did see the first confirmed flattie of the season caught on April 16th by Hannah Johnson while fishing on the charter boat, “Lucky Break”. Hannah was fishing with minnows in 9-feet of water near the Assateague Bridge. This time of year, when the flounder bite starts turning on, the area around the Rt. 90 Bridge always seems to be one of the top places to fish. You may also want to try drifting, or power trolling over the flats north of the Thorofare or down by the Assateague Bridge. Live minnows or Gulp! Swimming Mullets are good baits to fool a keeper flattie.
Offshore, the big news was the first bluefin tuna of the season being caught on April 23rd, over 2 weeks sooner than the first one caught in 2015. Josh Ensor and Jeff Rosenkilde on the “Mate Trix” took a trip 80 miles from the inlet to between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons where they found a 7-degree temperature break (57-64 degrees). It only took the duo 30 minutes to hook a 133 pounder on a skirted ballyhoo before they headed back to the dock to beat the building seas. Several times this spring, warm water eddies made their way into the canyons but rough seas prevented boats from taking advantage of the opportunity.
That about wraps it up this week. Although bad weather is in the forecast for most of this week, hopefully we will start to see some stretches of sunshine and calm winds so folks can get out on the water.
See you at the scales!
