Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
What a difference a week makes! The skies have cleared, the water has cleared, and the fish are biting again. Got some great reports from the bays as well as the near shore wrecks.
Sea Bass
Once again the near shore wrecks in water greater than 65 ft are showing great catches of sea bass. Captain Monty on the “Morning Star” reported several great catches of sea bass with a few mahi thrown in as well as a big lookdown fish. It's not very often we see lookdown fish in our waters. Several other party boats have reported mahi as close as Great Gull. Can you imagine if this shutdown continues and our water gets even clearer? “The Angler” headboat reports that the week was great for sea bass with tons of big ones coming over the rail. Captain Chris also stated on Tuesday they got into a big school of triggerfish and a lot of big 5 lb. and above flounder. The “Judith M” also reported good catches of sea bass along with several side catches of flounder, mahi and triggerfish.
Flounder
The flounder bite near shore is once again really hot. Several of the head boats have reported that besides the great sea bass fishing many days they are having lots of keeper flounder coming over the rails. The Angler head boat reported limits on flounder several times this week with fish up to 6 lbs. Many private anglers have told me that the wrecks even at the African Queen wreck as well as the bass grounds are all holding flounder. In the back bays, the water has cleared up and many boats reported limits of flounder. Joe from the Bay Bee flounder boat reported that they encountered dirty water in the beginning of the week with slow fishing that improved as the week went on and the water cleared. On the Oceanic Pier, they caught several big fish including a few in the 20” range. The top baits for the back bay are still squid and minnow as well as pink shine gulp.
Bluefish, sharks & cobia
Craig Cropper caught 15 bluefish in the bay the other day. He reported that it's strange to only be able to keep three. Several bluefish also came off of the fishing piers. Reports indicate they were pretty thick making it a little harder to catch other fish. Bluefish are always around, but during the rest of the summer catching bigger ones is not easy. The fish were caught on cut bait, live spot and bucktails. This year just like sea bass the bigger fish are here. Many captains believe due to the cleaner water from the virus shutdown we are seeing a better quality of fish like we have not seen in years. Several small rockfish were caught off of the Rt. 50 bridge although I did not hear of any keepers. As the temperature of the water cools, the bigger fish should make an appearance. If this great fishing cycle continues into the fall we could have a great rockfish season. The past few years have been lackluster compared to just 5 years ago. Some reports of cobia at Great Gull and Fenwick Shoals have been reported, but this year has not seen the numbers of cobia as we have seen in past years. The cobia that were caught were mostly caught on eels while chumming.
Surf fishing
This week saw a few flounder coming in on squid and shiner combos. The main catch on the surf has been bluefish at night on mullet rigs. During the day kingfish are the main species being targeted. Several reports from Assateague Island surf are that on the outgoing tide one hour past high tide is the best time to target kingfish. Small kingfish rigs with bloodworms are the best bait. For bluefish at night, cut bait as well as mullet rigs work the best. Remember that bluefish regulations have changed this year and only three fish may be kept by an angler.
Clams & crabs
Clamming is good in the back bays behind Assateague Island. When entering the federal park follow the signs to the clamming areas. These areas are large open areas with relatively shallow water(approx 3 ft) and have ample parking for vehicles. The area is also large enough not to get over fished. Remember to head out a little further to avoid the picked over areas. Crabbing remains strong many anglers have reported between 10-15 keepers per pot. Bunker remains the best bait, but chicken will work.
So as the days get nicer get out and catch some fish...
Tight lines and fins up!
