Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
On Saturday, September 22nd at 10:49 AM, Autumn officially begins. To those who live for the days when there’s a nip in the air, the leaves are a blaze of color and they can sit along some trail in the woods or edge of a marsh and wait for wings or hooves to bring their quarry within range, the change of season is welcome news. On the other hand, the start of fall also marks the end of summer, and to a lot of anglers who have been enjoying the heck out of the last few months, that’s not necessarily an event they’re ready to celebrate.
Fortunately, regardless of the angle of the sun or the length of the day, one thing September 22nd does not mark is the end of the 2012 fishing season. As the weeks pass and the waters cool, the multitude of inshore and offshore species that are available right now will wane to just a few of the hardier fish that can handle the change. But even when we’re knocking on the door of winter, there will be more than just a few options to give anglers a reason to keep their hooks sharp and a couple packs of bait in the freezer. And if it stays on the warm side like last year – who knows? We might once again still be catching big stripers right into March, which pretty much translates to a year-round fishing season.
But right now it’s still officially summer, and most of everything that has been biting since May is still here and hungry, along with a few additions. But fishermen who want to get in a couple more “blue water flings” with any of the warm water species had better get cracking because, as evidenced by some of what we saw the first week or so of this month, like it or not, change is on the way! This is the time of year when cold-fronts start pushing through from the west and lows start moving up from the south and either one can spell “no-fishing” for more than just a day or two. Put things off too long and those last few marlin or dolphin you’ve been hoping to catch might have to wait until next year.
Over the last couple weeks anglers have enjoyed some of the best billfish action of the year, and there also seems to be plenty of dolphin out there along with a few wahoo. Although yellowfins haven’t exactly been consistent, anglers have been picking away at a few and usually about this time they start to come on a bit stronger, so there could be some good news to report about the tuna bite over the next few weeks.
For those who wish to get in on some really fast and fun offshore action, but aren’t worried so much about bringing home anything to eat, there are plenty of false albacore 15 to 25 miles offshore including the waters on and around the Jackspot. While these 6 to 15 pound speedsters have virtually no food value, on light tackle they offer excellent sport and can at times prove so abundant that anglers get physically exhausted from pulling so many in. False albacore can be caught by trolling small to medium size spoons and feather jigs, or by chumming and casting plugs or flies back in the slick. In September and early October, anglers fishing for albacore around the Jackspot might also encounter oceanic and Atlantic bonito, dolphin, sharks and bluefish. It’s some of the best light-tackle fishing of the year and I simply can’t understand why more anglers don’t get in on the fun.
Even though there are now, and will continue to be lots of fish out there, in the weeks and months ahead the amount of anglers heading out to take advantage of the inshore and offshore opportunities will get less and less with each passing week. For many local anglers that’s probably a good thing. For those of us in the for-hire industry it’s pretty much a bum deal. When you’re in the charter fishing business it’s tough to sit at the dock with no charters when the fishing is good, particularly with winter creeping closer all the time. But I guess that’s just the way it has always been and always will be in this business, June through August, the phone rings off the hook and you’re turning customers away. Then Labor Day rolls around, the kids go off to school, hunting seasons kick-in, not to mention football and other diversions, and before you know it “fishing” is just not on everyone’s mind like it was all summer. What’s wrong with people!?
Anyway, it has been a great summer and as this is the last issue of the Coastal Fisherman until the “Winter Issue” in January, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read this column now and then, particularly those who made a point to mention to me that they did – writers really do need assurance once and while that people actually read their stuff! We’ll be running the “Fish Finder” at least until early November, maybe longer if the weather stays good. November through February I’ll be teaching a few captain’s classes for the 3B’s Captains School, (one in Ocean City in December if anyone is interested) then we’ll head down to the Keys for March and April. Charlotte has another record or two to pursue and I’ll be tying flies and throwing them at every permit I see. Of course, while we’re there we’ll mess around with some Florida sharks just to “stay in practice” for the 2013 season up here, and before you know it, we’ll all meet again on the docks or in the tackle shops and have the chance to squawk with each other about how our winter went and what’s in store for the new season. So until then ….
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.