Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Spring has sprung and the water and weather are warming very quickly. On the southern side at Assateague Island, drum have shown up early with several over slot stripers thrown in for good measure. On the near shore wrecks, tog are plentiful and in larger size. The back bays are really showing a good start to flounder and we are even seeing a few weakfish thrown in.
Black Drum & Rockfish
As you would guess, when the water warms and the sun gets warmer, surf fishermen start hitting the beaches of Assateague Island and target both stripers as well as big black drum. David Edwards was out on his first time looking for black drum on Assateague and went 2 for 2 for the day. Not a bad start on a fish that is not easy to catch! David Moore also fished the island along with Morgan Mericle and landed 8 blacks, all of the larger size. Sand fleas and Fishbites are the go to bait this spring with fresh clam being a close second. Gary Harmison caught a big black drum on sand fleas and clams. It was a banner day for Steve Maddox and crew on the 7th of April when they beached a total of 12 black drum and a beautiful rockfish. The drum were in the 30-50 lb. range with the striper looking to be around 40”. Joseph Perzanowski went 3 for 4 on drum on the 10th of April. He caught all them using salted clams topped with Fishbites. Joseph reports he had very little activity until the tide started coming in and that was when the bite turned on. The largest fish was 40 lbs., with the smallest one around 20 lbs. Joe mentioned he was about 3 miles from the Virginia line. David Moore also fished near the VA line and was rewarded with a nice overslot rockfish. Bill Bannon fished this area and got a nice black on clam and sand fleas. Gary Harmison got in on the early bite while surf fishing the island and caught a few perfect eating size drum on sand fleas and Fishbites. Chase Ruhi fished the early morning low tide and lost a big fish while fishing fresh clam, however he did manage a nice drum on sand fleas and Fishbites. Chase, usually an inshore guy, said he just had to try the surf with all the reports of big fish being caught up and down the coast. Chris Siperko also dragged a nice black drum onto the beach with his late afternoon bite. Most anglers are stating that the best bite is early in the morning or late in the afternoon with the best tide being incoming just after a low tide. Many anglers only use clams for drum in the spring, however, given the vast amount of fish being caught on sand fleas and Fishbites, I think it would behoove anglers to try the sand flea method even if you have never fished for drum this way before. Most anglers are putting a piece of Fishbites on their 6/0-8/0 circle hook and then spearing 3-4 sand fleas above that. Fishbites make a variety of clam, shrimp, and sand flea flavors in their EZ Bites. Dave Forester and his wife got a nice black drum to bring home for dinner this past week. Drum should get even better over the next couple of weeks so now is the time to get out and catch some of the trophy fish. As a last note for Assateague Island, the bluefish are beginning to show up with some nice slammers coming in on the gear fished for drum and rockfish as well as mullet rigs. David Moore reported a nice 38” blue off the surf on bunker.
Flounder & Tog
The back bays are alive with nice catches of flounder being reported every day. The odd catch of the past week was a weakfish caught off the OC jetty. Very early for this fish... hopefully that’s a sign of a good season to come. “Get Sum Charters’’ returned to the dock with some nice flounder this past week. John Foreman reported the Thorofare is hot but don’t count out dog and bitch island. John fished using pink Gulp as well as strip baits. Renee Johnson fished a Roy Rig under the Rt.90 Bridge and caught a nice 20” fluke. Luke Wrye struck out for tog at Martha’s Landing but when he switched to flounder he got 2 nice keepers in the Thorofare. Thomas Cline reported his first keeper flounder of the year but reported only 2 bites all day. Patrick Butler was near the airport using a tandem rig with Gulp and 1 oz. sinker and did manage one fish which was an inch short unfortunately. Also, the back bays are showing signs of life with blues and small rockfish along the bridges and rock walls.
Craig “Big Bird” Cropper was at it as usual catching blues, shad, and rockfish on his famous Roy Rigs. Shaun even managed a keeper rockfish on April 17 while fishing with Big Bird. Luke Wrye got a bunch of small stripers as well as a few bluefish off the Rt. 50 Bridge.
As we look to the near shore wrecks the tog bite has been very productive. “Double Trouble Charters” said his clients had to fish hard but were rewarded with some nice fish up to 17 lbs. All of the double digit fish were released. Way to go guys, protecting the future of our fishery releasing the breeders. Not an easy thing to do when you’re holding such a nice tasty fish. Tommy Clendaniel caught a 9.9 and a 8.7 lb. blackfish on ocean structure. He also caught a limit on another outing. Bill Marshal fished Site Ten just over the DE line and caught a big 13.5 lb. 28” tog on sand fleas. Billy Mister got a nice fish while out fishing on the 23rd of April. “Fish Bound Charters” was their usual fish catching experts this past week releasing over 25 double digit fish. 4 out of 5 trips saw a boat rule of 3 fish per person limits. They reported that the fish didn’t come easy but all had a great time. The biggest fish was a beautiful 18 pounder that was released unharmed. Ted Proseus tossed back 14 keeper tog and kept 4 for the table. His keeper fish were up to 6 lbs.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
