Article by Sue Foster
It’s May, and for the third May in a row we have had big stripers in the surf in Ocean City. Believe me, it’s not every cast and it’s very “hit or miss”, but these fish are there if you put in the time and effort to catch them.
“Where do I go?”
First of all, you need to find a nice cut in the beach. Get a tide chart, find low tide and take a ride. Go down the ends of the streets and look at the beach every 6 blocks or so until you find a beach that really “talks” to you. It should have a pronounced “cut” in the outer bar where the deeper water rushes close to shore. Rule of thumb is this: White water is shallow water and darker water is deeper water. You are looking for the deeper water.
Look for a rip tide where the backwash pulls sand back out into the deep water. It will look like a balloon of dirty sandy water out there past the breakers in the deep water. Sometimes you will see a trough of deep water close to the beach, then a sand bar and then deeper water out beyond. On high tide, the stripers can come into this deeper trough, especially if there is a cut in that outer bar.
If you are staying in a high rise, look out the window and look down on the beach and you can really see the structure. Ocean City has less natural beach structure than Assateague and the Delaware State Park, so you have to spend more time finding a good beach, but once you find it, you can catch fish there for several days. Holes and beach structure can move as days go by, so move with the structure. Find the hole at low tide (preferably on a calm day) and go back there as the tide comes in. Three hours before high tide and two hours after high tide is a good rule of thumb.
If you look at a map of Ocean City, the beach juts out between 120th Street and the state line at 146th Street. This is always a good area to find a “cut” or “hole.” Notoriously, this area, especially between 130th and the Delaware State Line has given up some really nice fish.
“I’m used to fishing for bluefish. What should I do differently?”
Lose the surf floats, and fish with a simple rig with no floats. A heavy duty high/low rig with two circle hooks attached will work. A simple circle hook in the 4/0 to 8/0 size range set-up with a fish finder rig is fine. Several companies like Eagle Claw make a high/low rig with two hooks on a mono leader that works great. Circle hooks are best for releasing stripers, but some people like the bait holder type hooks, to help keep the bait on the hook.
When fishing for bluefish, it’s always mullet, mullet, mullet. Mullet will work for stripers, but chunks of bunker work the best. Some anglers also like to use clams. Threading whole bloodworm will also work for stripers though this bait gets expensive. Fish bites just don’t seem to work for big stripers for some reason, so save them for summertime.
“How do I put bunker on the hook?”
Cut off the head, and yes you can put a whole head out there if you want to on a big circle hook. That’s good to do if you are fishing more than one rod. Hook it through the snout and make sure the hook is protruding out of the bait.
Take the body of the bunker and cut away the white belly meat and chunk the dark, meaty part of the bunker. Cut off the tail. Use a very sharp knife so the bunker doesn’t mush up. It’s naturally soft anyway and the more you handle it the softer it can become. Be generous with the portions as the stripers have really big mouths. Hook it though the boney dark part of the bunker chunk, going in one side of the chunk and out the other. Don’t try to thread it, or it will just fall off. The tail section, with the tail off, will be very boney and easy to keep on the hook. Hook that piece right where you cut off the tail. That’s my favorite part of any bait fish.
“I hear clam is a good bait to use.”
Well, stripers like clam just fine. Black drum like them even better and there’s been some of those around as well. For stripers, I’d stick to bunker, but if you like to use clams, anglers tend to like the bait holder type hooks to help keep it on the hook. Clams remind me of trying to put something slimy that comes out of your nose on the hook. Hook the hard part first, then thread the softer parts on. Thread it again making sure the clam is on the bait holder barbs, and then finish off with the harder part at the very tip of your hook. Don’t use dull hooks! Clam is soft, so it’s OK if the hook is buried in the clam. You can finish this off by using small elastic rubber bands or elastic thread to hold the clam on the hook. Cast carefully and try not to fling the bait off the hook.
Again, striper fishing is “hit or miss” in Ocean City, MD. Cast out in the right looking water and wait. Check your bait periodically as without surf floats, the crabs will chew it off more often. Use more than one rod for a better chance of catching one. Have at least 20 lb. test on your reel, have a working drag and wait for the hit. Stripers are elusive sometimes, but not all that smart. When they are there, and feeding, you have a good chance to catch one. You just have to be there at the right time when they come through.
“What else might I catch while fishing for stripers?”
Big sand sharks are migrating and catching a three-footer is not uncommon. A big skate or ray will also give you ample pullage! And you never know when Mr. Black Drum will come by…
Sue Foster is an outdoor writer and co-owner of Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City, MD and Fenwick Tackle in Fenwick, DE.