Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
The key change this week is twofold,a lot warmer weather and a lot more people in town. This also means a lot more anglers on the water catching fish.
Flounder
Flounder remains strong in the back bays of Ocean City. The area behind Assateague Island is the hotspot again this week. Find the deeper holes on the bends and near flats and you will find the fish. Gulp is starting to be effective but the killer combo of squid and minnows still rules for getting keeper fish. The main thoroughfare has also started to heat up with fish being caught in front of the Coast Guard station. Be careful when you drift this area as currents are strong and the remnants of the old railroad car tracks are very snaggy. The area along the 2nd street causeway is also producing. On the near shore coral and wrecks we still have very few reports of flounder being caught . With the recent heat wave the water should be warming up and should start producing flounder on the wrecks. Big gulp is the go to baits on the wrecks and coral. Tip of the week... The flounder on most wrecks are usually found on the down current side, so as the wreck appears on your sounder drop your bait down. Due to the movement of the boat your bait should touch bottom just on the down current side right where the flounder are staging. When targeting flounder on deeper wrecks as well as natural bottom, live spot or large minnows can be the trick to catching a trophy flounder.
Sea Bass
Sea bass remains strong on the deeper wrecks. The go to sites this week are the Jacks spot and the Great Eastern reef. Target the deeper holes with fresh clam or sand fleas and you’re sure to do well. The rough bottom at the Jack Spot has been holding some nice fish up to 4 lbs. The light winds this week made for a long drift and plenty of action. This week was also a lot less crowded out there so the fish bit more aggressively. In shore the areas of the African Queen as well as the Bass Grounds also began to turn on this week with some nice fish being caught. Targeting the wrecks by anchor or a slow drift over them seemed to be the ticket to filling the boat with dinner. Again, fresh bait is working much better then the frozen or salted ones. Word from the headboats is that they are experiencing some great trips with customers slinging tons of fish over the rails. Jigging is also a great way to catch sea bass. The jigs target the bigger fish and although you won’t catch as many, the ones you do catch are mostly nice size keepers. Metal spoon type jigs or the flat fall jigs are the most widely used and are carried by most tackle shops in the area. There are also a few local guys who make a more solid smaller jig which are also a great option. Whatever your choice, now is the time to get out if you love sea bass as many do! As the weather warms the sea bass will go deeper and be more difficult to find.
Rockfish, Bluefish & Sharks
The rockfish bite showed an increase this week in the bay areas of Ocean City. The top spot was right by the Rt. 50 bridge. Big Bird once again was casting his jigs along the pilings of the bridge and took home a few nice keeper rockfish. Tip of the week... Position your boat just up current of the bridge pilings and let your paddle tail jig bounce along the bottom between the pilings. These fish sit right next to pilings waiting for bait or small fish to swim by ambushing them as they do. Expect some snags when fishing this way so bring a supply of jigs for you will surely use a couple. Cut bait can also work well but will attract more bluefish than stripers. The area of the Verrazano Bridge was also a good area to target rockfish this week, however, the fish there were smaller. The good news is there was a lot more of them and seemed more eager to strike the bait. Bluefish also had a rise in catches this week. Night time is best when targeting these fish. The area around the Rt. 50 bridge is always a great spot to try, however, don't overlook the area along the bulkhead at 2nd Street. Drifting cut bait along the wall is always a crowd favorite. The only problem with this area is you have to watch out for anglers fishing from shore.
Surf Fishing
Surf fishing has tempered down. Even the Assateague surf, which has been on fire the past few weeks, has shown sign of slowing down. Fresh crab or sand fleas is your best bait. The fish are still tight to shore so don't cast too far past the breakers or you will overthrow these fish.
Clams & Crabs
Clamming is starting to turn on, however clams are deep so rake over the same area a few times to get deep enough. Crabbing is slow due to the fact that most females have eggs and cant be kept. Ratio is about 4-5 keepers per pot with most being female.
As always
Tight lines and fins up!
