Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This past week in Ocean City brought with it hot weather and a very sharp rise in water temperatures. These changes have sparked the fish alive with renewed energy as well as abundance. Sea bass continues to slow as water temps reach 70 degrees however flounder and other summer species are returning to the area with every degree rise in the ocean. Spanish Mackerel are on the Fenwick shoals and spadefish and sheepshead are also located at their summer haunts.
Nearshore Wrecks and Reefs
Nearshore wrecks have been greatly improving for keeper flounder. A few sea bass are still being found but most are undersized. Target deeper wrecks and coral for the larger ones and use jigs instead of squid. A few cobia are being seen on the nearshore shoals just south of the inlet. The “Angler “ had some good trips landing their clients coolers full of tasty sea bass and flounder to bring home. Skip Maguire took his group to the Fenwick Shoals and managed to troll up several Spanish Macs and a few bluefish. The bite on the shoals really seems to have come alive this past week with the warmer weather. Kevin McNelis had a good day out on the wrecks catching a limit of flatties including his dads personal best, a big 6.8lb fluke. Brandon Olewiler came down from NJ to fish off our coast and reported he found a couple of gold mines catching flounder up to 25 inches 8 triggers and a big angel shark. They also caught several small cookie cutter fluke which they returned. Michael Kapsak fished near the Old Grounds and landed 2 keeper sea bass as well as 2 keeper flounder. Bahia Marina reports the “Miss Kathleen” had some good trips last week with anglers catching sea bass, fluke, and triggerfish. Although several fish are undersized the sheer amount of bites kept anglers busy throughout the day. “Fish Bound Charters” had some decent catches of big sea bass and fluke. The crew did not report limits as they usually do, but did manage to send anglers home with tons of fish for dinner. Peter Renzi said he could not keep the triggerfish off his Gulp baits. Although not the targeted species it was still a welcome sight and as any good polite fisherman does, he invited them home for dinner. Davey Brickman and his son dove a few wrecks off shore and shot several sheepshead and triggerfish. Many of the sheepshead as well as triggers are coming from the nearshore wrecks near Fenwick Island. The deeper wrecks near the NJ/DE Reef are holding the best sea bass.
Back bays and Inlets
The back bays are holding a ton of small flounder right now with many of the party boats reporting catches of as many as 40 fish on one trip. The “Bay Bee” had 22 anglers on the boat and ended up with around 80 fish that trip. They reported a few made the size limit with the largest being 19”. They reported several were just shy of the 17.5” minimum size. They also had an assortment of sea bass, kingfish, and several skates. “Back Bay Adventures” had a few good trips this past week and even landed a nice 20 inch, 5 lb sheepshead along the rocks. They further report several anglers did catch keeper flounder. “Get Sum Charters” definitely made a day of it landing several keeper fluke along with some throwbacks to delight the family he had on board. The “Miss Ocean City “ also had some good trips and even brought home a few fish for dinner. Anglers were greeted with a ton of fish ready to bite the lines and put up a good fight on the light line, even if most were not keepers. They also reported tons of dolphin activity along with sightings of ponies on the island. Carl Ward had a great morning in the heat hooking and landing a huge rockfish. The way over slot fish was caught near the inlet. Craig Cropper had his high school buddy Dane Brady fishing the Rt 50 Bridge with him and landed 3 nice blufish on his Roy Rigs.
Surf Fishing
Surf fishing has slowed to its summertime doldrums. Anglers are switching to pompano rigs for small spot, croaker, and kingfish as well as setting one line with either cut bait on a fish finding rig or a whole mullet rig on a float. Alex FloPortillio did manage a nice size bluefish from the state park on the north side of the island. Kyle Kasher fished Assateague Island south and using Gulp landed a few flounder to include a nice 20.5” keeper. Be aware as we get truly into tourist season if you are not on the drive-on beach early, the odds are you are not getting on as the beach has filled by 9 am on many days last week. Gary Tarbuk caught and tried a stingray he caught off the beach this past week. He was surprised how good it tasted. Many people don’t realize a lot of seafood companies will substitute stingray or shark for scallops. They are hard to filet but are very tasty.
Clams and Crabs
Crabbing has been producing around 6-7 keepers per pot with most of the crabs dirty and full of meat. Carl Littleton reports a haul of 48 crabs for a 6 pot string with most being close to rover 6 inches. Clamming has also gotten very good with clams being close to the sandy surface and anglers being able to land their 100 clam quota within one hour.
Until next week
Tight Lines and Fins Up
