Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Heat, heat and more heat! This was the story for the past week in Ocean City. Temperatures in the 90’s and turbulent evening storms controlled most of the weather. Many anglers chose to stay in the air conditioning and watch fishing shows rather than venturing out on the water. For those that did fish last week, although a little slow, the catch was fairly good. Flounder and sea bass ruled the inshore waters along with a few kingfish, cobia and spanish mackerel to finish off the bonanza of fish.
Sea Bass, Flounder & Tog
Nearshore Areas
Sea bass remains fairly good despite the warmer water temps. The deeper wrecks like those of the Jack Spot and Great Eastern Reef are your best locations for keeper fish. The “Angler' headboat was out on the water with Captain Chris Mizurak reporting good catches of sea bass and flounder. He said that despite the hot water, sea bass can still be found on the deeper wrecks in good numbers with some keepers thrown in. This is the time of year for throwback bass as many have headed for offshore waters.
Dave Sliwinski had a nice box of sea bass up to 2.5 lbs. Fish were caught on squid, clams and jigs. Also on the “Angler” was Bobby Telford with a limit of flatties up to 4 lbs. The “Angler' runs daily trips and is a family friendly boat with plenty of room to enjoy a day on the water. Just a note ... it's usually several degrees cooler on the ocean, and with temps still in the 90’s this coming week, that could be a game changer! The Bass Grounds and the African Queen Reef have been your usual bunch of throw-back sea bass and flatties. If you pick through the small fish, keepers can be found. Fishing during the week as opposed to the weekend is always a good choice. Fishing early morning or late evening is also a good idea for bringing home a better catch.
The tog bite is slow as is normal for the summer however, Captain J.D. Eddy of the “Green Reaper”found a nice keeper on a near shore wreck using sand fleas. Mary Eddy also caught a big starfish off the same wreck.
Inshore & Bay
The Assawoman Bay is full of summer boat traffic, but the water has been dirty making fishing harder than normal.
John Lewis of the “Happy Hooker' stated that the water clarity still rules the roost. When the water is clear they catch lots of fish. John reports a lot of the fish are ½” short and as Maxwell Smart said, ”missed it by that much”. John did say they are catching keepers on his trips, but with the dirty water and warmer temps fishing was a little slow.
For anyone new to Ocean City, the bay head boats such as the “Happy Hooker” are a great place to take the kids out for a few hours on the back bays. You get a great view of Ocean City and the kids can even catch a few fish. If you are lucky and head south from the city you may even see a few Assateague ponies on your trip!
The main Thorofare and East Channel have been the best spots for targeting fish. Tanner Adams of PA, caught 2 keeper fish on the West Channel using Gulp. Pat Degroodt was out this week and caught several flounder in the bay then went to Little Gull and caught triggerfish as well as 24” sheepshead. Nice catch Pat!
Spanish Mackerel & Kingfish
Ted Proseus of “Ocean Arsenal Tackle” was out at Fenwick Shoals this past week and caught several spanish mackerel as well as a few bluefish. Ted stated that the macks would not touch anything on the surface and only wanted the smallest of Clark Spoons. A zero or double zero were the ticket on a #1 planer. Use about a 40 ft. leader off the planer to the spoon. Ted reported that most of the fish were right up on the shallow reef in the middle of the shoals. If you trolled east around the last wreck you would most likely be picked up by hungry small bluefish. Run 2-4 rods depending on the size of your boat and remember, the line pulled on a planer has a lot of tension on it and will need a stout rod and reel to stop line creep.
Michael Halfen also was out at Fenwick Shoals on his center console late afternoon, and after a slow start due to the 100 plus dolphins, he did manage 2 blues as well as his first 2 macks of the season. A little further out at Jack Spot, Dave and James Weller trolled for most of the day and were rewarded with a 38” king mackerel. For those who have never had it, king mackerel makes a great smoked fish dip and is often sold in the Florida Keys as a smoked wahoo dip. Try it, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. The Jack Spot has also been producing a good number of keeper sea bass and an occasional wahoo swimming by. If this warm weather keeps up it won't be long before we see mahi move into the areas inshore. The past couple of years have seen small mahi as close as the Bass Grounds.
Surf Fishing
Assateague Island was packed with beach goers and tourists. This didn't stop Frank Trovato from getting out on the beach and fishing late in the afternoon. Frank and crew caught a plethora of fish, including a way overslot redfish, skates, sharks and black drum. I received several reports of large redfish still in the surf ready to eat as the sun sets. Many rays, skates, and sharks are also patrolling the beach as the evening comes to a close so be ready to have a long fight on your hand if you fish the evening here. The further south you go on the federal beach the better your chances are of nailing one of these brutes.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
