Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
What do bonito, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bluefish, dolphin and false albacore have in common? They're all fish that are available to "nearshore" fishermen looking to get out on the ocean and do some trolling, but not inclined to run forty or more miles offshore to chase tuna and billfish. Nearshore trolling is both underrated and largely overlooked by many fishermen, but if you flip through the pages of this very publication you'll most certainly see more than just a couple images of some very happy anglers displaying the catch they conjured up while trolling the waters anywhere from the inlet out to "maybe" 20-miles from shore.
But don't let that 20-mile figure scare you, much of the fish taken by nearshore trollers are caught less than half that distance from shore and many are found within a mile of it. Obviously this fishing is custom made for those with small boats, folks with kids or who don't have a full day to spend on the water, and quite frankly - anyone who can enjoy the simple fun of puttering around and catching a few fish! Nearshore trolling isn't complicated, but you'll be able to catch more fish if you have an understanding of what's going on out there.
First of all, most of it happens on or around the offshore shoals including Fenwick, Isle of Wright, Great Gull, Little Gull, the Jackspot and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd lumps of the Bass Grounds. From mid-to-late summer these shoals typically attract a lot of baitfish and that's why the predators are there, so when trolling around, anglers should intently watch their depth finders paying close attention to where they are marking the bait and focus on fishing those areas. They should also watch for other marks that would indicate the small schools of the fish that are relatively close to the bait.
Even though the waters close to shore are absolutely covered up with huge schools of menhaden (bunker) right now, this in not really the bait the trolling anglers should pay most attention to because most of the fish they might catch are going to be too small to eat a mature bunker. Besides, it's easy to realize what the fish are feeding on after seeing them puke up small herring, sand eels, anchovies and other little shiner-like fish. So if schools of smaller fish can be identified either up on the surface or on the depth finder - that's the place to fish!
Those little baitfish are also why the lures of choice for so many nearshore trollers include small Clark or Drone spoons, Stingsilvers or Hopkin's lures. Rigged behind a 2 to 4-ounce trolling sinker or small planer and separated by at least 20-feet of mono leader and 4 to 6-inches of light wire leader to prevent bite-offs, these shiny little lures must do a pretty good job of imitating natural bait because the fish will jump all over them. These spoons are simply fished straight off the transom of the boat, but those who wish to give the fish a few more options can also run a couple of small-to-medium size feather jigs off the riggers which will be just the ticket should the boat wander within striking range of a dolphin or two.
Depending upon the prevailing conditions at the time, fish might be found either right up on the shallowest parts of the shoal along the edge or in the deeper water over the edge. But anglers will usually find that the best action will be had when they troll across the steepest drop-off of a shoal, which will usually be on its southern-most edge. By trolling perpendicular to the edge (shallow to deep - deep to shallow) anglers can hook a fish or two and then have time to land and unhook their catch and get the lines back out before the boat has time to do a U-turn and get back for another pass over the same spot. If the fish are found on top in the shallow water, anglers can use their chart plotters to work a big circle or even a figure-eight pattern that will allow them to keep returning to the same place. There will also be times when the fish are scattered on and off the shoal and the best tactic will be to just wander around freelancing for bait and bites. However, in that case the schools of fish might not stay in any one place for long so it will be more challenging to get repetitive hits from the same school.
Of the different species that might be caught while nearshore trolling, 1 to 3 pound snapper bluefish will likely be the predominate catch, particularly for anglers fishing closest to shore. Once you get a mile or more out, you can add Spanish mackerel to the list and king mackerel and bonito are usually beyond five miles, although they have been known to move in really close to shore under favorable conditions for bait and water clarity. False albacore will usually be nine miles or more out and dolphin are rarely caught closer than about twelve.
If the weather is nice and someone wants to put their boat in the best possible water for nearshore trolling, they should consider making the 20-mile run out to the Jackspot where all of those fish might be encountered in a single trip. Just be forewarned that over the years, more than just a few anglers have been trolling around the Jackspot anticipating simple fun with modest-sized fish only to find themselves suddenly hooked up with something much larger than they and their tackle were prepared to handle. Tuna, wahoo, makos, white and even big blue marlin have chomped on simple lures dragged across this famous shoal. This can put anglers into the dilemma of trying to decide if they should troll light tackle that's best suited for most of the fish they expect to catch, or beef it up a bit with heavier tackle "just in case" some big monster unexpectedly slips in behind their boat. Oh, what a nice problem to have!
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
