Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in Ocean City I saw some nice fish caught. The regulations for the Chesapeake Bay as well as the ocean were set for rockfish. Starting on May 16th no rockfish over 31” may be taken from any Maryland waters. The bay will be 19”-31” and the ocean waters will be 28” to 31”. It is uncertain what will happen with upcoming bay tournaments due to the new changes.
Rockfish & Drum
On the beaches of Assateague Island and Ocean City, anglers have had a bounty of big fish to target. This spring has shown some of the best fishing along our surf that we have seen in years. Big black drum are being caught along with trophy size rockfish. A few bull red drum are also coming in from the surf. Tryan Stoltzfus was fishing near the bullpen on Assateague Island with sand fleas when he caught a keeper rockfish. Great job getting a delicious dinner before the regulations change next week! Jim Scoggins also pulled a fish from the surf. He caught his fish on peeler crab around 1 pm. Ralph Grant went out for a few hours on Friday morning and was rewarded with a beautiful 42” striper. Ralph said he only got one hit that morning but it proved to be the right one. Gary Harmison was out with a couple friends and they managed 4 big bull reds as well as a black drum and over slot rockfish. Gary’s name seems to come up a lot, both in Delaware as well as Maryland. He will be an angler to watch as the season progresses. Kevin Weber caught 2 nice fish on Wednesday from 6:30-1:30. He didn't have a ruler but took pictures next to his shovel and quickly got the fish back in the water. When home he measured the shovel and found that the fish measured around 42” each. Great job on a great catch and even better release! David Moore and Russell Leaderman fished hard on Thursday and ended up with a 34”, 41” and a small 24 incher. All fish were returned to swim on their journey north. Charles Ritter pulled a 42” and a 44” striper from his solo afternoon trip on Thursday and was happy to find a 43” red drum had taken his last bait for the day. Beautiful day to spend on the beach. Ben Hostetter caught a few small fish but reports the big trophy fish are still eluding him. He further said that even without the big fish, it's still a delight to be lucky enough to live where he can come out on the beach and catch fish while enjoying the sunrise. We often forget how blessed we are to live in such a wonderful and exciting area. Mickey Ketcham caught a nice fish on Monday using crab. Joe Pruitt got a big 50.5” fish off the surf using sand fleas and clam. He reported a few other smaller fish were also caught, but was delighted to see the big one over 50”. Not many anglers can say they have caught a striper of 50” let alone one from the beach. Great job Joe! Patrick Furlow had a slow day Monday, but made up for it Tuesday when he caught 3 nice rockfish. He sent two of them to swim away. Hunter Frey got a fish on an afternoon trip. It hit on Fishbites and sand fleas. John Unkart and 11 year old Brandon went 4 for 5 on good size fish. He said they encountered only rock and no blues or drum. John did report he got his first kingfish of the year though and would enjoy a tasty fish sandwich for lunch. Brady Sensenig was on his first trip driving on the beach and pulled in 2 rock along with a drum and kingfish. Not a bad day for your first time. I expect many more reports from this man as the season continues. Tommy Barbetta was in north Ocean City and pulled a 37” striper from the surf. Tom Willoughby was fishing the island for stripers and instead caught a beautiful 21” black drum. The black were a little slow showing up this year but have definitely arrived in the area. Blake Gunther and Derek Yobst had a good day on the water pulling in several tog as well as a fat black drum.
Tog & Near Shore Wrecks
Tog season is coming to a close but not before anglers cash in on the big fish off our coast. Archer Morgan said they slayed them in the afternoon on nearshore structure. Several large fish were taken home for dinner. The “Angler” also made a dent in the tog population with anglers bringing in several double digit fish. The crew said they can't wait for sea bass season to open on the 15th. The “Ocean City Girl” took clients out for a last trip of tog fishing and were rewarded with lots of action and some fish to join them for dinner. Captain Shawn Croney along with anglers Larry Dee, Dean Wells, Jason Whaley and Camrin Croney fished ocean structure with green crabs and brought home 4 citation fish measuring 15.8, 14.89, 6.0 and 8.4 pounds each. That is quite a way to end the season. Great job to all the anglers.
Flounder & Back Bays
Flounder remains strong in the back bays of Ocean City, with the main bulk of the fish coming from the inlet area and adjoining channels leading up to the bridge. The back area by the airport continues to improve but is still slow compared to the other areas. Squid and shiners remain the best bait, with Gulp as a good second choice. Tommy Barbetta from Pennsylvania, along with Matt Toth, were out on the “Lucky Break” with Captain Jason Mumford and brought home some flatfish up to 17”. Further in the back bay near the Verrazano Bridge, Michael Lupiwok Jr. out of Berlin, MD, pulled a keeper fish using a Gulp and minnow combo. Jonathan Tourgee was drifting in the inlet for fluke when he hooked a 23” rockfish. That's a good by-catch to get. Randy Cassie and lil’ Bo got a beautiful 24” flounder from the East Channel on minnows. Vincent Cannuli brought in the first report I have had of sheepshead in Ocean City while fishing for tog. Good to see them arriving early. Last year was one of the best seasons for sheepshead we’ve seen in years with several double digit citations being caught in both Maryland and Delaware.
Till next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
