Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
The waters of Maryland gave us more warm weather and a few big storms mid week. Although cooling off the temperature and helping with the humidity, the wind still came out of the south and west leaving the nearshore waters very cold. Surface temps were between 50 and 65 degrees, unlike the normal mid 70s we see this time of the year. Flounder and wreck fishing in general is slow with sporadic bites depending on water temperatures. Finding warmer water in the 60-70 range is the key. The water near Marine Electric appears to be some of the warmest water around and also the best catches. The back bays are alive and thriving with big flounder and weakfish. The Rt. 50 Bridge is still producing big rockfish and blues in the evening hours. Swim jigs and live spot are working best. “Flip N Fins” stated the north jetty saved the day with a nice 31 inch striper caught on bucktails.
Nearshore Wrecks & Reefs
Cold water still haunts our inshore wrecks and is forcing anglers to fish multiple spots in order to find fish willing to bite. Surface temps are as high as 70 and as low as 48 degrees making the bite very inconsistent. The southern areas appear to have a better concentration of warm water and are producing better catches. The “Judith M” had a lot of typical throwback sea bass along with a few nice flounder thrown in the mix. Despite a few stormy and blowy days the ocean has been very nice, making it an easy ride for anglers. Lots of sea turtles and dolphins are around to the delight of visiting anglers. “Fish Bound Charters” reports the cold water has made life difficult for their anglers. 50 degree water is being found out front of Ocean City making targeting fish difficult. The crew reports that anglers that pay attention and hold their rods as opposed to leaving it in the rod holder are managing to catch a few nice fish for dinner. The fish that they are catching appear to be larger doormat type fluke. The African Queen site has been a good producer of keeper flounder last week. The site also produced a few big sea bass including Jeremiah Anderson and his son who caught several keeper bass. Jeremiah’s son also captured his personal best bass which measured 16.5 inches. “Double Trouble Charters” stated that the spanish and bluefish troll has been a grind to find fish for their clients. Many days were saved by wreck fishing for flounder and sea bass. Sam Creek said he was out shark fishing south of the inlet, and although he caught several clear nose rays he did not get any sharks. Jim Frazetti went out for flounder on the “FV Clam Digger” and caught 20 flatties with only one being a keeper at 19 inches.
Back Bays & Inlets
The back bays and inlet have the warmest water around and are producing far better than their ocean counterpart. Big flounder are being caught all over the bay with the inlet areas and Thorofare above the bridge being the best areas of late. Sam Campbell found a keeper flounder while spending the afternoon on the dock near the inlet. Jason Jenkins was out with his son on the Ocean City Fishing Pier where he got his first flounder using a bucktail. Big bluefish and rockfish are all along the rocks of the inlet as well as at the Rt. 50 Bridge. Brian Reynolds was out with his son last week and landed a limit of slammer blues along with a good rockfish bite. The rock did not make the slot limit, however they were a blast to catch on light tackle. Steve Bassett Jr. had an epic night on the Rt. 50 Bridge catching several big stripers including a slab at 30.5 inches.
Surprising with the new small slot how many anglers are still catching keeper slot fish this late in the summer. Jamie Crosby, Austin Purnell, and William Hausmann fished the outgoing tide at the Rt. 50 Bridge and caught several nice rockfish as well as some big bluefish. Luke Wrye had very little luck at the inlet so he moved to the bridge using his trolling motor to anchor at the down current side catching several stripers including their limit up to 30 inches. Surprisingly they caught no bluefish on this day. Gregory Hall was using a 1 oz. Spro bucktail and landed a keeper rockfish off the bridge on Thursday night. At the inlet Mark Jameson lost two giants but landed a beautiful 16 inch trout on Thursday night. Small swim baits have been the ticket to big trout while fishing off the rocks at the inlet. “Coastal Guide Service' reports that fishing has been pretty consistent with lots of short and keeper flounder depending on where you are in the bay. Spot and croaker are showing up which is great for the younger kids to have the rod bend. Young Logan Riser was fishing with his dad using clam strips and shiner combo when he hooked and landed his very first flounder. The young man was all smiles holding up his fish. Kelsi Beard of Fenwick was fishing the Thorofare with her dad when she caught her first flounder using a deadly double rig.
Surf Fishing
Assateague Island has been a slow steady grind of kingfish, rays and the occasional flounder. I did not receive many reports of redfish last week as I have in weeks gone by. Meg Dalton told us she caught a bunch of good sized kingfish to make her day on the island enjoyable. John Unkart fished the low tide from 5 - 7 am and scored several nice kingfish. He said heavy fog kept the morning a little cooler than the inland areas. He kept the 3 biggest fish for dinner returning the rest to be caught again. Dawn Torres had a great day fishing the beach with her boys. The group caught a few rays and then lost a big fish with several good head shakes. A little while later they had another strike resulting in a big redfish. All the fish strikes came on circle hooks tipped with chunks of spot or croaker. Jake and Nick Spencer fished off of 127th St. and caught several kingfish and spot. The kingfish were up to 13 inches.
Until next week...
Tight Lines and Fins Up
