Article by Sue Foster
“We’re planning our family vacation for a week in August! What kind of fishing should we expect?”
The last few days of July and the beginning of August is a month of warm water. Ocean temperatures are in the 70’s and bay temperatures can be in the 80’s. This is the time of year we see fish that are more typical to southern waters such as triggerfish, pompano, sheepshead, spadefish, porgies, redfish and grunts. You just never know what you are going to catch! We see the usual flounder, bluefish, tautog, and stripers. Plus we also see croakers, big spot, spinner sharks, and occasionally some catches of cobia right in the bay! You just never know what’s going to hop on the line in August!
“We’re going fishing in the bay in our boat. What should we take? We want the kids to catch some fish!”
In the early spring, most anglers go flounder fishing because that’s about all there is to catch. In the last few days of July and beginning of August, we usually see a pretty decent croaker run in the bay. Some years the run is better than others, but it’s always good to have your croaker rigs and bait on board.
“What’s a croaker rig?”
Nothing more than a scaled down version of a flounder rig! A top and bottom rig with two size #4 hooks is what you want for croaker. If you want to go for croaker and spot, use a size #6. Croaker eat just about anything except they are not that partial to live minnows. If you want to flounder fish AND croaker fish, use frozen shiners and squid strips. Croaker love any kind of cut bait, and they especially love worms, though it’s usually not necessary to waste bloodworms on them when they would just as readily bite squid or a night crawler.
If you have kids and stop by the Rt. 90 Bridge, bait up with a combination of bloodworm, night crawler, or artificial Fishbite Bloodworm with a little strip of box squid or cut spot fillet on size #6 hooks. You won’t be disappointed. Spot, croaker, grunts, porgy, blowfish, small sea trout, maybe a flounder, snapper blue, or sand shark are all possible catches this time of year. Casting underneath the bridge will catch you those ugly toad fish, so fish slightly away from the pilings to avoid hooking them.
“OK, the young ones had a ball, but the croaker were running kind of small at Rt. 90. Where can we find bigger croaker in the bay?”
Croaker schools move around, so sometimes you have to “hunt and find.” Generally you can find croakers in the Thorofare in around 9 to 15 feet of water. If you have a fish finder, you will actually see the schools of croaker on it. Croaker tend to hang out around the entrance of Harbor Island just offshore of 14th Street to 9th Street in the East Channel. Croaker also can be found around the deep hole just offshore of 32nd Street where the townhouses jut out into the bay in the East Channel. Croaker are also caught in the Inlet and just around the corner in the bay behind Assateague Island, offshore of Mystic Harbor or Snug Harbor. Just outside the Inlet on the south side of the South Jetty holds croaker as well.
“OK, we’re ready to go flounder fishing now!”
Live minnows and frozen shiners sandwiched with a strip of squid always works. But if you want to catch big flounder, take some of those smaller spot you caught around the Rt. 90 Bridge and put them in your livewell or aerated minnow bucket. Let the kids go out to one of the sandbars at low tide and throw the cast net on some small finger mullet and keep them alive. Take some of the big spot or legal croaker and cut them into some nice long strips for flounder.
Fish the deepest holes in the bay on the change of high tide (two hours before high tide and two hours after high tide). The deepest holes are in the Thorofare, the main East Channel close to the draw of the Route 50 Bridge, the Inlet, the entrance to Harbor Island, and the entrance to the Commercial Harbor. Live bait the spot or mullet and wait for the big one! You might also catch a striper or one of those lost cobias!
“Flounder in the Ocean!”
In the heat of August, lots of flounder move out into the ocean near the wrecks and artificial reef structures. Purnell’s, Russells, African Queen, Great Eastern, Kelly’s Reef…. all of these artificial reefs area have their share of nice flounder swimming around. Drift with your regular flounder baits or take out some live spot or mullet, or strip of any kind of fresh cut bait. Jig your baits slightly up and down to avoid the skates and rays.
You may also catch some sea bass with fresh clam or cut squid, but don’t forget about offshore flounder this time of year. They are out there! And when you catch one, even if it’s a small one, there’s likely to be more!
“We don’t have a boat but want to go out on a party boat!”
The bay boats go out in the bay for flounder or croaker. That’s a great way to spend the afternoon or a couple hours for the kids to have an outing and a good fishing experience. The party boats that go out in the ocean fish for sea bass, flounder, and croaker. The half-day is good for the “I’m not sure if I’m into it or not vacationer…” The full day is best for the serious angler, but may be a little too long for the young children.
“What’s biting on the Piers?”
The Inlet, Oceanic Pier, Ocean Pier, 9th Street Pier, Route 50 Bridge, Homer Guldelsky Park, and the bulkhead along 2nd through 4th Streets see flounder, snapper blues, and croaker action during the day. For anglers using crab for bait, you may also catch triggerfish, sheepshead, or tautog. Anglers using worms may catch some nice Norfolk spot.
The piers in North Ocean City are mostly for catching small fish and crabs. Go to Northside Park at 125th Street, the Isle of Wight offshore 62nd Street and Rt. 90 Bridge or behind Convention Hall at 41st Street. Take bloodworms, night crawlers, or Artificial Fishbite Bloodworms on small #6 to #8 hooks and catch Norfolk Spot, croakers and sand perch. And don’t forget the chicken necks! There’s blue crabs under these piers!
At night, lures are used to catch stripers, a lot more bluefish, and shad and maybe trout. Croaker also bite at night on cut bait.
“What’s snapping in the surf?”
August is the month for variety in the surf. There’s usually pan fish for the vacationers using small kingfish rigs with bloodworm or artificial Fish Bite bloodworm. I like to tip my worm with a little strip of box squid or fresh bunker or spot strip. Norfolk spot, kingfish (whiting), croaker, small trout, even a few pompano are caught in the suds.
For anglers using finger mullet on a whole finger mullet rig, there are bluefish. Now, these blues are usually small, and not much bigger than the finger mullet at times, but fun to catch. Cut bait such as mullet, bunker, or box squid can catch you croaker or sand sharks. And kids love to catch sand sharks!
Flounder can be caught in the surf during August if you work for them. Find a clean beach with a nice drop off and cast and slowly retrieve strips of cut bait or work in a whole small finger mullet hooked through the eyes or on a mullet rig with the float taken off.
Night fishing in the surf can be fun in August and unpredictable too! You just never know what you may hook in to. Croakers can run really well at night, usually much better than during the day. So can big sharks and huge butterfly rays, so hold on!
Fishing in August can be fun, and a great time to take the kids…
Good fishing….
Sue Foster is an outdoor writer and co-owner of Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City, MD and Fenwick Tackle in Fenwick, DE.
