Article by Larry Jock
I want to start this week’s column by addressing some questions that were raised concerning the striper on last week’s cover. The fish was caught by Bill Winkler on a live hickory shad. As some folks know, anglers are prohibited from possessing both hickory and American shad in Maryland. However, in Delaware, where the fish was caught, it is legal to keep both hickory and American shad in all waters except the Nanticoke River and its tributaries.
Now, onto the report...
The fishing gods were shining on Delmarva anglers this week with good bites from the Delaware Bay down to the barrier islands of Virginia.
Sharks
Two thresher sharks were caught out of Ocean City on Sunday, nine days earlier than the first threshers caught in 2009. The first one to hit the scales was landed by Tenille Schrier at the Jackspot while fishing on the “Hookin’ Wubbas”. The shark ate a whole mackerel in 59-degree water.
Fishing right next to the “Hookin’ Wubbas” was the crew on the “Keep Er Wet”, who landed a 154 lb. thresher while trolling for bluefish.
Another thresher was caught by a group of anglers out of Delaware on Sunday at the Twin Wrecks.
Further south at the Parking Lot, the crew on the “Nontypical” found what they were searching for, a mako shark, but unfortunately lost it during the fight.
Big schools of blue sharks were spotted both at the Jackspot and at the Parking Lot. Scott Murray on the “Salt Addiction” called in on Sunday afternoon to report that they released 3 blue sharks at the Lower Sausages.
Striped Bass
There was an incredible bite in the Indian River Inlet during the day on Friday and on Friday night, so it’s no surprise that anglers fishing off the beach in North Ocean City caught some nice linesiders. Stripers are still moving up the beach after spawning in the Chesapeake Bay and we should be getting close to the end of the big run, which usually lasts from the 3rd week in April through mid-May.
Anglers also picked up a few stripers around the South Jetty, but most of the catches in the bay continued to center around the Rt. 50 Bridge at night. It was not as hot as it has been, but some nice stripers were caught, in addition to some small snapper bluefish.
Anglers fishing off the beach are having the best luck with either strips of bunker or whole bunker heads. Those casting off the bridge and around the jetty had good results tossing Storm lures.
Flounder
On Saturday, the flounder bite was the best we have seen all year. The water was really clear with temperatures pretty stable around 65-degrees.
The “Bay Bee” had an incredible trip on Saturday morning, bringing back 4 nice keepers and releasing over 60 fish. The largest keeper of the day was 25-inches.
The bay behind Assateague Island was definitely the hot spot on Saturday, with several flatties over 20-inches caught. Ronnie Spittle landed himself a 25-incher, one of 4 keepers caught by Ronnie and his wife. Steve Kansler caught a 22-incher down by the airport.
On Friday, Ray Whittaker caught a 25.5-inch flounder on an Assateague Tackle Delmarva Double rig near the Rt. 90 Bridge.
Anglers are having success drifting and trolling live minnows, Gulp! Alive! artificial baits, cut bluefish and squid.
Bluefish
Small snapper bluefish have congregated around the Rt. 50 Bridge, creating a fun time for anglers tossing Gotcha plugs and other metal lures. Other anglers had good success catching bluefish and shad off of the Oceanic Pier.
Local angler Joe Molone did manage to catch a 6 lb. 11 oz. bluefish while using squid near Buoy #13 in the bay.
A good number of chopper bluefish were caught by surfcasters fishing off the beach in North Ocean City. Surprisingly, we didn’t see any big bluefish caught further off the beach. Over the weekend, anglers trolled for bluefish around the Jackspot with no luck and shark fishermen at the Twin Wrecks and the Parking Lot never saw a bluefish.
Something is bringing the threshers, makos and blue sharks to these locations, and it is usually bluefish. I guess we will see in the next week or so.
Don’t forget, the 1st Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Bluefish Tournament is coming up on May 29th and 30th. You do not have to be an Ocean City Marlin Club member to fish in the tournament.
Tautog
Anglers fishing both on headboats and private boats continue to peck away at tautog on inshore wrecks and structure in the bay.
The wrecks off 28th Street produced some nice catches for anglers fishing with green crabs and calico crabs.
In the bay, most blackfish anglers found success fishing around the South Jetty and along the rocks just south of Gudelsky Park.
Reef Foundation
Over the years, strong currents and storms have moved some of the material the Ocean City Reef Foundation had dropped in the ocean. The group is in the process of updating their reef charts. If you looked for any of the OCRF’s reefs, and were unable to locate them OR you found them in a different location and have the coordinates, please email Capt. Monty Hawkins at [email protected].
Updating the reef charts is a big undertaking. I know Capt. Monty has been working hard on this project and already has logged new numbers for both Purnell’s and Russell’s Reefs. If everyone helps out with this project, it will get done much quicker, which is better for the entire fishing community.
