Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
Last week in Maryland produced nicer days as well as calm seas for fishing. Surf fishing on Assateague Island is still productive but a little slower than past weeks. Big drum both reds and blacks are in the surf biting clam and cut bait. The back bays are finally producing some decent catches of fluke. The Rt. 50 Bridge is still holding rockfish and blues on the near ebb tides.
Back Bays & Inlet
The inlet is still producing some quality fish on the incoming tides. Swim baits as well as cut bait are producing rockfish and blues along the rocks. The Rt. 50 Bridge has been holding big blues and rockfish. Fishing on the down current side of one of the bridge pilings has been the best method for scoring one of these hard fishing fish. Eric Gable pulled in a nice slammer bluefish last Sunday. The Oceanic Pier has had lots of blues and shad being caught. Scott Sacks used a white spec rig to fool his fish into biting. He stated he can’t wait till July 4th to come back down and do it again. Craig Cropper pulled in some nice choppers near the bridge this past week. He was of course using his Roy Rigs. Later in the week he scored his personal best, that being a 55 inch rockfish off the south jetty. The “Miss Ocean City” had a few customers out on Wednesday. The bite was not on fire however, Ben Boyer and his girlfriend Corryn White did catch a nice fluke. “Lucky Break Charters” stated the past few trips have been very productive with flounder, bluefish, rockfish and even some trout thrown in. The “Tortuga” had a very productive morning last Sunday bringing 8 keeper flounder back to the dock for their clients. The bay head boats are a great way to explore the back side of Ocean City and are even a better way to bring young children out for a day of fishing. The captain and crews of these boats are very knowledgeable and eager to help the young anglers and even the novice adult. They have all the bait, rods, and knowledge you need to have an enjoyable day on the water. The larger headboat offers after dinner cruises as well as a couple of wine cruises that are being tried out this year. Seth Price had an epic catch from his kayak reeling in a 30 inch weakfish.
Nearshore Wrecks & Reefs
Sea bass has been spotty this past week with many anglers finding fish reluctant to bite even the freshest of bait. Jigging has worked the best with fresh clam as a close second. The “Ocean Princess” stated fishing was fair with calm seas. Although many anglers did not achieve a limit they all had fish to bring home for dinner. The “Ocean City Fishing Girl” got some quality bass this past week. While not exactly jumping in the boat, they are putting in some quality catches. The “Angler” was out again this past week adding up their totals of sea bass as well as some quality flounder. Captain Chris stated the anglers had to fish hard but the work paid off for many bringing home a cooler of fish for the table. The biggest fish on the boat for this week was a 4.5 lb sea bass and a 5 lb flounder. Kevin McNeilis was out with a buddy and managed to bring home 5 nice flounder with the biggest being 23 inches. Ted Poseus was out fishing the wrecks this past week and pulled in several big flounder. He stated the squid things on a hi-low rig worked best. It is great to see the ocean sites producing these quality fish so early in the season. The “Judith M” stated the wind and seas have been very cooperative this past week with anglers bringing home the bass as well as a few fluke. The crew offers 8 hour trips leaving Bahia Marina at 7:00 am and returning at
3: 30 pm. Peter Renzi along with Mike Renzi and Tyler Niblett had a productive day on the ocean in front of Ocean City. Mike caught and released a 25 inch tog on a jig. The crew brought home some big sea bass for dinner.
Surf Fishing
The southern beaches are a little slower in producing quality fish this past week however if you're there at the right time big black and red drum can still be had. Jim Johnson did a quick evening trip on Tuesday and was glad he did. He wasn't there long before he hooked into a big 46 inch black drum. Although he thought the fish was too big so he safely released it. He said it was a hell of a fight. Many anglers , myself included, won't keep the big black or red drum as they tend to have worms in the meat after they attain 50 lbs or more. Adam Sierocinski took about 35 minutes to bring in his 48-50 inch red drum. The 50 lb. fish was caught on the Delaware line. They didn't get a true measurement because they wanted to keep her in the water to assure a safe release. That's a big drum for this far north. Mark Stull used sand fleas to fool his big black drum while fishing the north side of Assateague Island on Wednesday afternoon. Sand fleas and fish bites are still producing some real quality fish off the surf. Marcelo Zangrilli decided it's time to end his rockfish season.
After a strong start in May he expected larger numbers of fish to be caught. He stated he can't complain though, despite not catching as many as past years he did manage several nice ones including a few brutes he caught this past week. He also stated he met several nice people along the way. George Frigm fished on the Fenwick line Friday about one hour after high tide and while using finger mullet managed to score two big blues from the surf. The first fish was 32” and 8 lbs and the second was 26” and 5 lbs. I bet those fish put up one heck of a fight.
Till next week...
Tight Lines and Fins Up §
