Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This week in Maryland saw hot, humid weather with many afternoon storms thrown in. Fishing in the bay has really slowed. The water was dirty and many of the regular “hot” spots left anglers wondering where the fish had gone. As the water cleared later in the week fishing has improved, and if these afternoon storms would stop, I would think it will be business as usual by next week when you are reading this.
Sea Bass & Croaker
I spoke to Victor Bunting on the Ocean Princess who stated that after the water started to clear, sea bass fishing turned on several nice size fish came over the rail. This time of year is notorious for poor sea bass fishing with tons of small fish on the wrecks. This year seems to be much different. Monty on the Morning Star has also been reporting some nice catches of sea bass on the near shore wrecks. So if you want some delicious sea bass now is the time to get out and catch some. Ocean City has several head boats going out daily. A few do day long trips and most do a 4 hr charter making it great for the vacationer. Croaker are still being caught with the best bites coming at night. Most of these fish are small and we have yet to see the big ones that came in past years. Maybe the storm will start to bring some bigger ones into our area. Areas of the Sewer Pipe and the Little Gull Shoal are good producers right now. Small baits such as bloodworms or cut pieces of squid work the best.
Flounder
The back bays have been dirty since the storm but are starting to clear up. Myself and Carl Gutberlet went out this week and did not have very good luck flounder fishing with zero keepers. I ran a few of the flounder boats years ago and went to a number of secret spots I know of only to find small fish or no bites at all. I have heard from several captains that as the week progressed the bite did get better. So by the time this article comes out I would expect the normal spots, in front of the bulkhead of 3rd st, as well as the main channel above the bridge, should be back on as were seen in previous weeks. Gulp, squid and shiner being the preferred baits. On the near shore wrecks I have received reports as the water cleared the flounder began to bite like last week The African Queen site is the reported hot spot inshore and the great Eastern Reef the deeper honey hole spot for big flounder. Reports from up north are also saying the coral grounds on the Delaware/Maryland line are giving up some nice flatties. Fishing the water over 65 ft on these coral grounds is the key to finding nice keeper fish. The light winds this week have made drifting fairly easy to do with few snags. Remember when fishing deeper water that you have a lot of line out and you must give the fish time to take the bait. Counting to 5 is a great way to better your hookset. Using the least amount of weight or varying the weights on different rods is also a way to increase hookups.
Bluefish & Rockfish
Bluefish has been spotty this week. I did hear of a few sharks being caught off the fishing piers but most reports were hard to come by. Reports of bluefish off the Rt. 50 bridge at the end of the week showed promise with some nice fish coming off the pilings. These fish were caught on live spot and cut chunks fished right in front of the bridge pilings on the down current side. A couple reports of rockfish off the Rt. 50 bridge did come in, however I did not receive any reports of keepers. Both blues and rockfish are great fighting fish and even if not kept for dinner they are a great sport with hard fights and long runs.
Surf Report
Not much news from the beach this week. Most beaches are crowded with sunbathers during the day making the only fishing times after the beach is closed for the day. Kingfish are the main species being caught on bloodworms. Some small blues as well as tons of spot are being reported just beyond the breaking waves.
Clams
Clamming on the federal park of Assateague Island seems to be the hot spot this week with several reports of big hauls with everything from small clams to the big chowder ones were reported.
So as the weather stays hot, get out and catch a few fish.
Tight lines and fins up!
