Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Ocean City saw a decline in tourists last week as many get ready for the start of high school and college. With less pressure on the water the fishing heated up. The bay catches were really hot with several quality fish coming back to the docks.
Back Bays of Ocean City
“Luckone Outdoors' was out last week and said the day started off slow with lots of small sea bass bites but no flat fish. After changing to a top and bottom rig on the last drift they managed a nice 22 ½” fluke that weighed 3.13 lbs. Just goes to show, never give up. The “Ocean City Guide Service” was out again tearing up the flounder. The clients returned each trip with several nice fish for dinner. Sofie and Margot Mattio from Closter, NJ landed 2 keepers from the East Channel on an outgoing tide. The first keeper measured 18.5” and the other was 17.5”. The were using Nuclear Chicken Gulp for bait fishing with their poppy on his boat the “Rodfather”. Ella Chan, 11 years old, caught a nice 16 3/4 “ fluke from the dock near Bayside Dr. 10 year old Briella Barnes got a 19” fish from the Thorofare on the boat “Sea The Island”. I am really impressed how many junior anglers are catching quality fish this year. It's great to see our families getting the kids involved in fishing, and judging from the smiles on the kids faces, they are having a blast! Danny Cox caught two beauties from the Rt. 50 Bridge using bunker. The largest measured 21.5”. The “Tortuga” had a good trip last week with Cailyn Motta getting a 16.5” flattie. Capt. Dave Caffrey from “On The Run” charters was out with Sam Minch of PA and got a nice 21 inch fish out of the Thorofare. The fish was caught using Gulp baits. Maddie and Brady Knier of Lititz, PA, got some nice fish behind the airport measuring 19”, 17” and 17.5”. Great catch! The holes behind the airport have always been a great spot for keeper fluke. Time must be spent to find the deeper spots and set up a drift over the descending bottom. Brandon Fisher, age 13, was fishing the East Channel on the boat “OCD” out of Berlin, MD, and was rewarded with a 23”, 4 lb. fish. Just another big fish for our junior anglers. I can't wait to see these kids grow up to dominate the fishing in the area!
Brian and Emily Steele, a father and daughter team from Fenwick Island, were behind Assateague Island and caught 3 keepers measuring, 17”, 18”, and 22 1/2“. The fish were caught on a squid and minnow combo.
Near Shore Reefs
“Tipsy Tiki” captain Jeremy Michalski and Ron Greene went out to the African Queen and brought home a limit of fluke up to 22.5”. They even had a shark try to steal their catch but managed to evade the predator. The African Queen was the hot spot last week with several wrecks holding nice fluke as well as several triggerfish. Frank Giordano was out on the boat “Double Trouble' and took the biggest fish pool, catching a 17.5” fish. The crew fished water in the 150 ft. range. Captain DJ reports squid was the bait of the day taking the majority of their fish. Also fishing for sea bass was John Hunt from Atlanta, Georgia on the “Princess Queen” 12 miles out. He caught several black sea bass on fresh clam.
“Bad Wind Charters” were on the Reef Grounds putting their clients on some great fishing finding lots of big flounder and sea bass. The crew even found a few pots holding nice mahi. They said the biggest bull gave several nice jumps before finally submitting and coming to the boat. Mahi have been very hit or miss last week but the fish are still around. If you can find the right sea bass pot, they are thick and ready to bite.
Capt. Keith on the “Surface Tension' said the Nomad Jigs were the ticket last week bringing in the big bull mahi. He also mentioned the jigs produced some nice sea bass. The “Judith M” said the triggerfish have returned after being absent for the past several trips. “On The Run” was out and returned home with limits of flatties up to 23.5”and 5.25 lbs. caught on the reef with Gulp baits. Morgan McCollian of PA was the angler with the biggest catch.
Dion Ho was happy to report he finally got a few keepers this past week after a dry spell. Dion’s fish measured between 17”and 19.5”. He said it's always fun fishing but even better when they can join you for dinner!
Other Species
Sheepshead in Ocean City remains a little slow compared to last year. With the big bite being up in the mouth of the Delaware Bay, not as many anglers are trying their hand in OC. Timothy Flayhart did hit the rocks at the inlet and managed to catch his first sheepy. These fish put up a great fight and are excellent table fare. Small circle hooks loaded with live sand fleas are your best bait, however cut blue crab or peeler crab will also work. Many tackle shops around the area carry sheep jigs. These lures are a small bucktail style jig made to bounce off the rocks and hold bait up for fish to target. Chong Chae, one of our Virginia anglers, makes these high quality lures at a reasonable price. Look on Facebook for him as well as tackle shops on the Virginia side of Rt. 13. I use his lures both here for sheephead as well as in the Keys in the winter. On the rockfish side of things, it's been slow for the past few weeks, except of course for Big Bird and Shaun Flaherty who continue to pull keepers off the Rt. 50 Bridge at night. Big Bird said they got into a school of smaller rock but did manage a 29” keeper.
On the surf in Assateague, Dustin Fleck caught 5 short fluke but did manage to bring home 2 keepers. He said the hardest part was avoiding the ponies that kept trying to see what he was fishing for! Anderson Rarreick was fishing with his uncle and hooked a nice sandbar shark on a live spot. Young Mr. Anderson reeled the shark in from over 400 yards away. Again, our youth are showing up the adults, a great thing to see!
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
