Article by Sue Foster
Well, it’s the last Coastal Fisherman for 2010. We’ll miss the color pictures, the heaviest fish page and the tide table you can read without putting on a pair of cheater glasses. We’ll miss opening up the paper to see what Dale Timmons has to say this week and the excitement of Larry Jock’s Fishing Report. It’s always of interest to see what piece of electronics Pat will discuss (I always wish I was smart enough to understand it all), and whose boat is crossing Capt Mark’s Chum Line. What is Mama Jock going to cook this week and what’s happening up north in Rick Willman’s “neck of the woods”? It’s amazing how different fishing can be just a few miles from Ocean City!
Being in the bait and tackle business, customers are always asking me, “How was your summer? How is your business in these trying economic times?” I think all small businesses do their share of struggling. You have to buy right and sell the things you buy at a fair price. You have to stock what anglers ask for every day. I have found over the years that my business in Ocean City depends on two things that have nothing to do with the economy. We need the fish to be biting (and the seasons open to catch them) and decent weather to bring the anglers to Ocean City to fish.
We were blessed this summer with a good flounder bite and some pretty good weather. We didn’t have a lot of “keeper” flounder in the middle of the summer; but anglers fished anyway. There was usually action even though we had a lousy croaker run. Having a longer flounder season this year (April 17th-November 22nd) has given the local anglers a whole lot better attitude. They experimented with different kinds of Berkley Gulp! artificial baits. They found new holes, tried bigger baits, caged dozens of live spot and spent a lot of hours on the water getting ready for the “Second Season” which is upon us now! Last year (2009,) when flounder season closed in mid-September (and then sea bass was suddenly closed) the talk was “Gloom and Doom”. Anglers released huge flounder while trying to catch stripers that just weren’t there yet. This year, the talk is of “Hope and Optimism.” We’re going to catch those big flounder again this year, and we’re going to be able to keep them! We’re going to be able to go offshore and catch (and keep) some flounder and sea bass.
I was disappointed in the spring run of bluefish that never really materialized in the surf. The finger mullet rigs remained on the shelf and the frozen finger mullet baits were a slow sell.
But the May striper run was right on time. In 2009, we had nice big stripers from the surf in Ocean City during the month of May. In 2010 we had big stripers from the surf in Ocean City during the month of May. I see no reason why we shouldn’t expect the month of May to be a good month in 2011! Anglers bought fresh and frozen bunker baits and we had anglers that had never caught a striper before bring fish in to the scales.
The summer surf season of 2010 did not disappoint any anglers that wanted to catch sharks. I’d rather see a good run of bluefish myself, but as long as the anglers are happy I am happy! We sold bunker, whole mackerel, chum, whole spot and big surf rigs for all the folks that wanted pullage and big sharks all summer long. They also caught humongous rays. Anglers stripped a lot of gears and popped out the rings on their surf rods pulling in these huge fish. Good for business. Hard on the pocketbook. Anglers fishing for sharks learned they had to buy a higher end grade of tackle to continuously reel in these huge critters.
During the 2010 surf season we saw a nice run of kingfish, some spot, and croaker at night to keep things interesting. Bloodworms and FishBite Bloodworms were a popular commodity in the tackle business. But where were the bluefish? They were biting on the Rt. 50 Bridge at night all summer long. Some of them weighing up to 11 pounds. In the middle of the summer! Gotcha Plugs flew off the shelf. Some nights the stripers bit too. And some nights they didn’t!
2010 saw a fair tautog run inshore. Nothing spectacular. We’re revving up now for an active tautog run this fall. As soon as the water starts to cool (which is now) the tautog bite is on with green crabs or sand fleas. Anglers don’t often think about tautog fishing till it gets colder and other fish aren’t biting, but they are there now. The best tautog fishing is usually in October and November.
Finally, finally… we are seeing bluefish in the surf again. This past week we heard about a lot of happy anglers catching 12-18 inch bluefish in the surf with whole finger mullet and mullet rigs. Bluefish are easy to catch and a good fish for the beginner angler to learn on. Not bad eating too, if you clean them right away and cook them right. Just ask Mama Jock!
Anglers always ask when the fall striper run is. Well, it’s usually when the water cools down. October, November, and December are usually the best, but every year is different and anglers are already catching them around the Inlet and Rt. 50 Bridge. I’m a believer of “going fishing” when you get the chance or have the time. Waiting for that perfect day or perfect tide may find you missing out on something while you’re waiting around.
As Libby Kelly says at Oyster Bay Tackle, “Quit analyzing so much and put some meat on your hook, and GO FISHING!”
Some people ask if the 2011 Fishing License will affect our business. Well, one thing is for sure, if we have fish and we have weather we’ll certainly have fishermen!
Thanks to Larry Jock for another great season of the Coastal Fisherman. Thanks to Dale Timmons for some really good fishing rigs. Thanks to all of my faithful readers and customers.
Always feel free to e-mail me during the “Second Second” with your fishing questions at [email protected] and don’t forget to read my weekly fish report online at:
http://atbeach.com/fishrpt.html
Good fishing….
Sue Foster is an outdoor writer and co-owner of Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City, MD and Fenwick Tackle in Fenwick, DE.
