Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This week gave us warmer temps and steady west winds. Fishing is really getting good both in the bays as well as on near shore wrecks. Most wrecks are full of triggerfish and flounder.
Flounder, Croaker & Triggerfish
Flounder in the back bays are the best I've seen in years. Most of the bay boats are reporting good catches on all trips with some real nice flatties being caught. Most anglers are using squid or live minnows to target these fish. The main channel near the inlet is a good place to start. Most of the ten pound flounder caught in Ocean City have come from the channels along the south side of the Rt. 50 Bridge. The Sinepuxent Bay area has fast moving water and deep troughs for the flounder to travel and feed in. Drifting traditional strip baits is popular but large plastic jigs in white or pink are working the best for the larger flounder. The “Miss Ocean City” headboat reports good catches of flounder on all their trips mostly on squid strips. The end of the incoming and the beginning of the outgoing tides are the best time to get a big keeper. The area around the 2nd-4th street bulkhead is also producing some nice fish. Also received reports that areas near the airport and the Verrazano Bridge are giving up some nice flat fish. This area also has some pods of decent croaker. Croakers are hitting on bloodworms and small pieces of squid. The vicinity of the Verrazano Bridge is a great place to cast paddle tails for small redfish, stripers and sea trout. Rockfish have been caught on white bucktails as well as light color paddle tails cast along the shoreline and along the bridge structure. Fish these areas during a high tide as early in the morning or late in the afternoon as possible. Striped bass tend to like the lures closer to the bottom while the sea trout will be more likely to chase a bait higher in the water column. Most of the stripers will be undersized but are still really fun to catch.
Speaking of croaker, I have reports that they are on the near shore humps and structure. The area of the Ocean City Pipeline is a great place to start. Nighttime is the best for these fish. During the next month many of the head boats will begin to target these fish as a mainstay for their clients. Chumming also works well. Croaker is also great fun for kids as they will bite your hook readily. Croakers are also on many of the near shore wrecks.
Many of these wrecks are also holding good numbers of triggerfish. They will bite squid tipped baits as well as sand fleas. Once you have one hooked watch for others to follow it to the surface. Leave the hooked one in the water and cast to the other ones. Many times you can clean off a wreck using this method.
Sea Bass, Cobia & Sharks
Sea bass remains pretty strong despite the warming water. The deeper water in the 100 ft. range is best for finding limits of sea bass. The Jack Spot and Great Eastern Reef are among the best areas for this time of year. The African Queen is giving up nice keeper sea bass but there are a lot of undersized fish. Clam remains the top bait but many anglers have switched to squid to also entice the triggerfish into biting. The Ocean Princess reported some good catches of sea bass on their trips with several large flounder added to the mix. Capt. Victor also reports that a few wrecks are holding good numbers of triggerfish. The “Judith M” headboat out of Bahia Marina also reported great fishing this week with some big sea bass coming on board along with flounder and triggerfish. Sea bass were reported up to 19”. Their ¾ day trips seem to be doing very well. The Angler reports they had a couple great days this week with Deborah Szarko and Rich Fouts catching a nice limit of big flounder. All the head boats in Ocean City have very professional crews and captains. They are very kid friendly, and the mates are more than happy to help out novice anglers. These trips are half days, ¾ days or full days depending how much time you want to spend on the water. Check out the ads in the charter section of this issue for more information. Cobia is beginning to turn on south of Ocean City, however, most of the big fish are still near the Virginia line. Live eels are the bait of choice with site fishing being the preferred method.
Along with the cobia, various sharks have also moved inshore making for some fun fishing. Most of these sharks are protected and can not be harvested but still make for an epic fight. Chumming on the nearby shoals is the best way to target these predators with late afternoon being the best time of day.
A last minute note to all my Ocean City anglers. I get tons of pictures and reports from Delaware anglers but very few from the Maryland ones. If you have caught a fish on your boat please send me an instant message on Facebook or email me at [email protected] with the info so I can add it to the MD reports. I would love to mention more individual catches!
Till next week...
Tight lines and fins up
