Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Heat and west winds have made fishing tough this week. Between very little drift, very hot conditions, and biting flies it has not always been a pleasant day on the water. The good news is the fish are here and waiting to be caught. Several species can be found both in the back bays as well as near shore humps and wrecks. Triggerfish, flounder and sea bass are the mainstay of the hot days of summer; however other species like sea trout, croaker, and redfish can also be found in the bays and near shore.
Back Bays of Ocean City
The bay headboats report very good catches of flounder in the bays with fish to 26”. Squid and minnow duos are the best bait here with spot and Gulp being a close second. The channel above the Rt. 50 Bridge is the hot spot this week for flounder with several keepers coming off the 2nd St. bulkhead. Mike Jones used cut ribbon fish to catch a nice 21”, 4.5 lb. flounder south of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Further north in the bay big schools of croaker have also been found. The area behind Assateague Island is another great location this past week. Targeting the holes on the west side of the bay is your best location. Kyra Allen, Jake Tinsman, and Zach Dalrymple had some nice sea bass action on the “Angler” out at the Bass Grounds. Konnor Hudson was also fishing the Angler and caught nice sea bass and a few mahi. The area near Fisherman's Marina and north to the bridge has been producing some nice catches of weakfish, with night time during the full moon as the best we have seen in years. Spec rigs and bucktails tipped with a long colorful rubber worm are working best for these fish. If you can fish during the last hour before high tide to 1 hour after high tide this will give you the best chances at catching these fine tasting fish. The retrieve should be varied as sometimes they want a steady slow retrieve and other times want a fast jerky one.
Brandi Smeak caught several nice size croakers just off the rocks. Croakers have mainly been found in the north bay areas from the Rt. 50 Bridge all the way up to the Rt. 90 Bridge. Looking further south of the curve just below the airport near the campgrounds is also a great spot this week with some really nice croaker coming to the headboats. Redfish, blues and stripers are around but not in any great numbers. Shawn Flaherty fished with Craig Cropper this week, and using his Roy Rig he did manage 2 keeper rockfish at 30” as well as bluefish up to 29”. I received a report from one angler fishing near them that stated he caught nothing while they just brought in fish after fish. First off, these guys have been doing this since they were kids and have it down to a science, and second, they are bouncing their baits along the bottom and into the structure. Many anglers are afraid to bounce the baits right on the bottom because they get hung up. I have heard Craig and many other bay anglers tell people if you're not hanging up and losing bait you're not in the right location. Be prepared for this when you head out and bring extra paddle tail baits because you will lose a few or several depending on the bottom. This goes for those of you looking to catch redfish also. Bounce the bottom and kick up a little sand or mud to get the fish interested.
The main report I got for redfish was that some are near the Verrazano Bridge leading into Assateague Island. Drift your bucktails or paddle tails right along the edge of the bridge structure and be right on the bottom. Over the next couple of months if our air temps ever get cooler, we should see a big increase of redfish in the back bays. Areas like Oyster, Virginia and south have redfish all summer in big numbers, but we tend to see more of these fish at the end of August into September and October. A few stray reports have been coming in of tarpon rolling on the top of the water in the back bays and ocean. I mentioned the art of catching them in this week's Delaware report.
Near Shore Wrecks & Structure
Flounder is the big catch this week near shore. Almost every wreck and snag in the ocean has a flounder or 2 on it. Big Gulp baits rigged on bucktails is the go to rig for this week. Kane Bounds reports excellent fishing continues with his clients getting a mix of triggerfish, sea bass and flounder with mahi thrown in for good measure. Looking at Kane’s Facebook post, many of the flounder he caught were huge. Kane ran the Judith M for years and knows these waters well. Mahi has been the big surprise this week with many anglers reporting being covered up with mahi. The fish are small peanuts but still make for a great dinner as either fish tacos or mahi fingers. Joey Kazmierski caught 3 nice size dolphin while on the “Angler”. Find his picture on Page 2 and just look at that smile. Key spots for flounder in the ocean this week are the African Queen as well as the area near DE Lightship. The area just west of the Lightship has been the main concentration of dolphin around also. Circle hooks and small pieces of squid work best. Cobia are being caught but not in the numbers we are used to. Joe Schweiger from Berlin, MD was spearfishing on the “Fishbox” and managed a jumbo cobia on a wreck just outside of OC. Chumming the shoals just south of OC has been the most productive. Live eels rigged on a circle hook is your best bait. Triggerfish are on many of the wrecks inshore, however, the wrecks inside of the Fenwick Shoals are loaded with them. Use small pieces of shrimp or squid on a small circle hook for the best results. With so many fish around, get out and catch a few for dinner but please remember to stay hydrated.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up
