Article by Larry Jock
It was a week dominated by windy weather, making it tough for flounder fishermen in the bay and too nasty for those heading out into the Atlantic. It’s unfortunate, because it seems like there are good catches to be had when anglers can get out on the water.
Striped Bass
Although it has been a horrible spring for surfcasters off Assateague Island, the striper bite has been excellent around the South Jetty and in the Ocean City Inlet. Not only have the fish been numerous, but they have been large with several fish close to, or over 40-inches being caught over the last 2 weeks. Just as this paper was going to press on Monday, Ed “Greenie” Greene reported a 40-incher caught that morning while he was tossing a Rat-L-Trap around the South Jetty during the last of the incoming tide.
On Saturday, Hugh Cropper took his kids out for some striper fishing and caught 3 fish measuring up to 42-inches. All were caught on fresh bunker.
On Friday, John and Dasha Lentz fished with Chris Trovitch from AllTackle Ocean City and caught their limit of linesiders at the South Jetty on live spot. Their largest weighed 16.2 lbs.
The fish weren’t limited to the rocks around the South Jetty. Several fish were caught during the week by anglers drifting along the north wall of the Inlet and also around the Rt. 50 Bridge at night.
Flounder
The windy weather made it difficult to get a good drift in the channels and made matters worse by creating dirty water throughout bay.
The charter boat,”Get Sum” had a good day on Friday, returning with 9 keepers in the box. Capt. Nick was fortunate to find a small sliver of clean water around the South Jetty where his anglers caught their fish on white Gulp! Swimming Mullets in 62-degree water.
Although many anglers believe the myth that you can’t catch flounder at night, it simply isn’t true. On Tuesday night, Jason Hughes landed a fat 22-incher while tossing a Storm lure off the Rt. 50 Bridge. Veteran bridge fishermen will tell you that this is more common than most people think so don’t be afraid to give it a try.
On a side note, Steve Doctor from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service asked me to remind anglers to complete the Volunteer Angler Survey for summer flounder. It seems like participation has begun to wane and the data is important since the DNR uses the information when setting flounder regulations each year.
I also want to mention that the bulkhead running between 2nd and 4th Streets in Ocean City is now open. Last year, this is where Bob Gummer’s 12 lb.
6 oz. doormat was caught. Flounder fishermen using live spot off the bulkhead have caught some nice flounder over the years. Anglers fishing from the bulkhead need to get their free registry by going to a local tackle shop or calling 1-855-855-3906.
Bluefish
Right now, bluefish are roaming the waters behind Ocean City and I’m not talking about just small, snapper blues. We saw some nice size choppers caught as well last week, not only in the Inlet but in the East Channel and up in the Thorofare.
Late last week, a pair of anglers fishing on the charter boat, “Ocean City Guide Service” caught their limit of nice size bluefish while fishing on the north end of the East Channel.
On Friday night, there was a great bluefish bite for anglers fishing off of the Oceanic Pier.
Sea Bass
Unfortunately, the windy weather kept head boats either at the dock or close to shore most days last week, but when boats could get out we saw some nice size fish come in and a couple anglers return with their limit.
Last Wednesday, Capt. Monty on the head boat, “Morning Star” reported his best day of sea bassing this year with a steady pick all day. On Friday, the charter boat, “Fish Bound” returned with their limit of sea bass for 4 anglers in addition to catching 20 ling cod and some tog weighing up to 13 1/2 lbs.
On Saturday, anglers on the “Jezebel” headed out to the Great Eastern Reef where they caught 27 sea bass, 7 ling cod and a tog. The sea bass were caught on squid and minnows.
Weakfish
Over the past couple of years, anglers have been excited with what seems to be a rebound for weakfish in Delmarva waters, including the Delaware Bay, where good numbers of weakfish have been caught already this year. Locally, anglers fishing off the Oceanic Pier on Thursday night experienced an incredible weakfish bite with over 100 fish hooked. Many were too short to keep, but the action was fast and furious.
Sharks
Makos, threshers, blue sharks and duskies were the stars last week. We saw quite a few makos in the 115 to 125 lb. range make it to the scales during the week, especially on Memorial Day and last Saturday. Most of the sharks were caught around the Fingers, Hambone and Chicken Bone areas, where water temperatures hovered in the low 60’s.
We have already seen more thresher sharks landed this year than all last season when the thresher bite was uncharacteristically slow. The largest thresher caught so far this year came in on Thursday when the “No Limits” arrived at the Ocean City Fishing Center with a 440 pounder caught on a strip of bluefish at the Fingers.
On Friday, anglers on the “Nontypical” had a great sharking day, releasing 2 small makos, a 200 lb. thresher, a hammerhead and some duskies and blue sharks.
The charter boat, “Muff Diver” was fishing between the Chicken Bone and the Hambone on Saturday where they released a great white shark estimated at 300 lbs. along with 5 blue sharks and 2 duskies.
Tuna
Tuna fishermen are chomping at the bit to break the inlet in search of warm, offshore water. Unfortunately, the only significant tuna reports have come in from commercial fishermen longlining 155 miles off the beach.
Very early last week, the “Reel Chaos” hooked several small yellowfins in 500 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon and the charter boat, “No Quarter” caught 3 yellowfins in 1,000 fathoms in the Poor Man’s where Capt. Kyle reported water temperature at 66.7-degrees. That water has since moved on with nothing within reasonable reach for the fleet.
In the Surf
It hasn’t been a good spring for surfcasters. Right now, you will find shad, skates, spot, kingfish, trout, sharks and a lot of blowfish in the suds. Stripers have been few and far between.
Upcoming Tournament
Well, here we go! Bahia Marina’s 17th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament is June 7th, 8th and 9th with weigh-ins from 3:30 to 7:30 PM each day.
Bahia Marina and Fish Tales Restaurant always put on a good tournament and spectators are close to the scale, making it very exciting, especially for kids.
Make sure you get there early because it is a popular tournament and can fill up fast.
See you at the scales!