Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
While returning from a fishing trip the other day I passed a guy who was bottom fishing from a small boat about ¼ mile NE of the inlet. As we went by my first thought was that he didn’t likely have much experience around here because where he was anchored is flat bottom and not exactly known for a great place to catch a fish. But noticing how focused he was on what he was doing, I began to wonder if maybe he had something good going on there, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. An hour later, while going back out for an afternoon trip, my original assessment was confirmed as I passed him again and saw that he was now sleeping in one of the boat seats while his two fishing rods were left to fish themselves from the rod holders. Perhaps he was just worn out from catching so many fish, but I’m guessing that he was lulled to sleep by the rocking of his boat and the lack of fish beneath it! Ironically, just a few hundred yards away was the inlet and all of its wonderful fishing opportunities – if only he knew!
When anglers are not overly familiar with the waters they’re fishing, they’ll often just pick a spot where they hope there might be a few hungry fish, get a line out and wait for what they hope will be a good outcome for their efforts. After a while, if they haven’t had any bites, they might optimistically conclude that there could be fish present that simply don’t like what they have on the end of their line and start changing bait, lures, retrieves or anything else they can think of to hopefully solicit a bite. Eventually they’ll either start catching fish or come to the conclusion that they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and move off to a new location or maybe call it quits for the day. That’s just the way it is with most fishing situations here in Delmarva, you can never tell what lies beneath the water so you just keep plugging away at it until you either start “catching” (you fall asleep) or your day comes to an end. Even if just yesterday you caught lots of fish in a particular place, today it might be an entirely different chain of events happening beneath the waves, and you can try every bait and cast every lure in your tackle box, but if the fish aren’t there – you still won’t catch a thing. It’s that simple.
In the winter months I fish down in the Florida Keys, and down there it’s an entirely different story because we often don’t even wet a line until we actually see our quarry. There’s no sense in making a cast when the clear waters reveal that there are no fish around. Instead we move the boat around until we find the fish. This is sort of a combination of both hunting and fishing (could anything be better?) in that anglers slowly and quietly prowl about areas where they figure the fish should be and then, hopefully, spot the fish and make a cast before they themselves are spotted and the fish scoot away. If a fish is on the move anglers might have to immediately fire off a quick cast just as soon as it’s in range. But if the fish is holding stationary, or perhaps feeding in one location, anglers can sometimes move into a position where they can use the wind or current to bring their cast to the fish in an effective manner.
As many differences as there are in the waters and the fish of south Florida compared to what we have on Delmarva, there are enough similarities that many lessons and techniques learned down there can certainly be helpful to know and use up here as well. One thing is the depth factor; it’s usually not too hard to find the channels in Ocean City’s back bays because that’s typically where most of the people in boats will be fishing – the deepest parts of the bay. But anglers who concentrate most of their time fishing the channels are overlooking a lot of fertile waters because finding big fish in shallows isn’t unique to Florida. Rockfish, bluefish, sea trout, croaker and “yes”, even flounder will move up into shallow water, particularly on a rising tide when they’re following bait.
Sometimes, rather than moving about and looking for fish, anglers will instead choose an area where they figure the fish will eventually be traveling through, anchor their boat and wait for them to arrive. For this type of fishing, anglers should have a pretty good knowledge of the area and where the fish travel - they certainly don’t want to spend a lot of their day staked-out and waiting in an area the fish seldom pass through. Good places for “fish-stands” are often the sharp edge of a bar as the tide sweeps over it, the mouth of a channel that runs up through some large expanse of shallows, or the side of a channel. Depending upon the area and the fish species, almost any kind of bottom structure that creates a corridor for fish to follow can be a potential place where fish might travel past and where anglers can set-up and possibly find action.
But fish in shallow water are spooky critters, so unless anglers move in very slowly and quietly they’ll never have a chance to get a cast off before their quarry bolts for safer territory. Moving in close to areas where fish might be holding without spooking them requires low voices, motors off, anchors and chains handled ever so quietly, and definitely no banging or clanging of anything inside or against the boat. Sometimes just the lap of waves against the side of a boat will make fish move off. Electric trolling motors are great assets for this type of approach.
Even though our back bay waters are (usually) not clear enough to see more than 2-3 feet down, by studying charts and observing the water at low tide anglers can get a pretty good mental picture of what the bottom contours look like and where fish might reside. The Rt. 50 Bridge is a great asset for this and a stroll across the span during a good low tide will reveal a wealth of information that will greatly help anglers when they fish that part of the bay. Looking at satellite images is a huge assist and can be a real eye-opener for anglers trying to figure out the layout of our coastal bay waters as well as a critical step in preparing to fish an unfamiliar area for the first time. Fishermen and boaters should not forget that apps on their phones can provide a wealth of location information for not just finding fishy places but also for finding the best way off a sandbar and back to navigable water.
Though the option of true sight-fishing is not usually available to Delmarva anglers, those who know the layout of the bottom of the area they fish should at least have a pretty good understanding of where the fish “are likely to be” and then be in a better position to successfully slip in and set up within striking range of what they hope to catch - which is always better than sleeping outside the inlet while spider crabs chew on your baits! §
