Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week’s weather in Ocean City remained hot! The fishing is now in full summer mode and the fish are seeking deeper water. Flounder have become the main target both in the back bays as well as the ocean reefs. The heavy boat traffic in the main channels is also putting fish down to the bottom and making bites harder.
Flounder, Sea Bass & Triggerfish
Flounder at the nearby OC reefs remains fairly strong. The fish have been located on the down current side of the wrecks and will readily take bucktails and high low rigs tipped with Gulp. Bucktails are less likely to hang up on the wrecks but must be put right alongside the wrecks to capitalize on the targeted flounder.
African Queen & Bass Grounds
The “Angler” head boat was hitting the inshore reefs last week with good success on sea bass and flounder. Keith Chu caught fluke up to 4 pounds. Right behind him was Bobby Telford with limits up to 3.5 pounds. Sounds like Captain Chris Mizurak is really on the fish! Captain Mizurak also reports decent catches of sea bass along with the big flounder. Lucas Siple was out at the Queen last week and managed to catch 15 sea bass, but only 3 were keepers. He managed to capture a pair of 18” flatties as well as one just under 23”. “Fish Bound Charters” was out all week. Captain Kane reports the 8 hour trips are focused on the flounder and the 4 hour trips more on the spanish and blues. He said the flatties are really starting to turn on with some quality fish coming onto the lines. Deeper water and searching out less targeted wrecks and structure has been the key to their success. The crews caught some near citation size fish mostly on deeper wrecks and rock piles. The “Ocean Princess' was out this past week and reports that sea bass are getting smaller as the summer heat continues. Matt Moran reported that those who kept the bait fresh and fished hard did find some keepers to bring home. The “Ocean Princess” reported the flounder bite really turned on in the past week with much bigger fish coming over the rails.
Triggerfish are also showing up on many of the wrecks and are a welcome sight for anglers. Triggers are a very tasty fish and often if you leave one hooked in the water the rest of them on the wreck will swim up to see what the commotion is all about, allowing you to hook a few more on the surface. Kevin McNelis was out at the Old Grounds and caught his personal best of this year weighing 5 lbs. Not bad for an afternoon trip. The African Queen site remains the best inshore hot spot of last week. With the cable piles and lobster habitat being the best locations here for sea bass. The longer barges and ships remain best for flat fish. For sea bass you want to use fresh or salted clam and for the fluke, big Gulp baits and long strips of squid.
“Bad Wind Charters” put their clients on some really nice flounder. Tommy and Joe were out with them and the fishing was quite challenging to say the least. Water temps are as low as 61 degrees in some areas. The guys fished hard into overtime and managed to box a few nice fish. Later that week Captain Bruce took time to do a little fishing for himself and brought home some doormats for dinner.
Further Offshore Areas
The Jack Spot has been hit or miss this week with lots of throwbacks. For those who work hard and watch their rods for bites, keepers can be found. The Great Eastern Reef was a little better with some nice sized fluke coming off the wrecks.
Back Bays
In the backwaters of Ocean City, flounder has definitely picked up. There are still several short fish to pick though, but keepers are on the rise! Bob Walther caught a nice 24”, 5.5 lb. fish off the south wall jetty. Mike Brockmeyer got a whopper 7.85 lb., 27.5” flattie weighed in at the Ocean City Fishing Center. Todd Adams caught a nice 23” fish while fishing the boat “Wet Dreams”. Fish were caught on white Gulp. 10 year old Harrison Kincade was fishing live spot on the East Channel and brought home a 20 incher. Joseph, Jonathan and Michael Hager had a great day bagging 5 flounder all around 17” in the Thorofare while using minnows. Captain Nick had a good catch of fluke with Jessica, Jacob, and Ryan Yingling while fishing the south side of the jetty. “Back Bay Adventures” ran their 2.5 hour trips and brought back several fish for their customers. “Ocean City Guide Service” also fished the back waters and caught several nice flounder as well as a few sheepshead. Riley Neall caught a beautiful 29” rockfish on a paddle tail next to the Rt. 50 Bridge.
Mahi & Sheepshead
The mahi have started to show up on the inshore wrecks and humps. Targeting the inshore sea bass pot balls as well as the channel markers is a great place to start. Ted Proseus was trolling and told me that the fish are super picky but will take a chugger or squid trolled behind the boat at a slow speed. Ted managed to bring home several mahi for dinner. Raymond Young trolled from the light to A Buoy, then to B Buoy and reported having some really nice marks which he believes were falsies or yellowfin. They did hook several nice size mahi as well as a couple more knockdowns that didn't hook up. Small chuggers as well as strip baits are the best baits for trolling, and squid strips on a circle hook are best for tossing at fish holding on balls and markers. As the next few weeks continue the mahi should move closer inshore and be ready to take a bait with a hook in it.
Maureen Betchtel was out on the south jetty wall and caught a 21” and 7.1 lb. sheepshead. The south wall of the jetty is on fire!
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
