Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
The past week in Ocean City was riddled with questions on the directions that the hurricane would take. The winds picked up mid week keeping many anglers at the dock. Traffic from the White Marlin Open Tournament kept any anglers away from the main thoroughfares when fishing the back bays.
Reds and stripers are being found behind Assateague Island.
Nearshore flounder are getting more active while sea bass is slowing down and producing a lot more undersized fish.
Nearshore Wrecks & Reefs
The nearshore wrecks and reefs are finally starting to show some bigger fish as the storms begin to bring in warmer water. It would seem that all we needed was a storm to churn up and turn over our water to get the fish biting.
The “Judith M” had 2 five hour trips last week. They stated the fish were a bit finicky in the morning hours but turned on in the afternoon providing anglers with a bounty of black sea bass. The youngsters on the boat caught many of the fish. They said that the storms may have missed them but the fish did not. Several nice knotheads were caught.
The “Angler” was at it again, finding his clients some big flounder as well as a few big knothead sea bass. I'm not sure if the anglers are that lucky or if the boat is, however, every week this headboat produces some really nice catches. Good job guys!
“Fish Bound Charters" told me that fishing is still a little tough for this time of the year, however, anglers that stay diligent and fish hard are catching some big fluke. This year has been a strange one with big south winds and mother nature's tantrums, but the big fish can still be found by those who put the time in and find the warmer water.
Captain D.J. Churchill of “Double Trouble Charters” stated that this year has had lots of challenges but they are making it work putting together some nice catches for their clients.
Hunter Tipton caught a monster butterfly ray fishing the shoals outside of OC. The fish weighed roughly 200 pounds.
Back Bays & Inlets
The back bays are really getting good with a few really nice flounder coming in as anglers begin to expand their target areas.
The White Marlin Open created a big flow of boats in the main channels causing anglers to search out less traveled areas.
The back side of Assateague Island has been a good producer of flounder as well as some redfish, rockfish and trout.
Mike Maliszewski had success with a really nice 7 pound, 2 oz flattie he caught on Gulp while fishing the West Channel on an outgoing tide. Vince Cannuli caught 20-30 short flounder and managed two keepers at 17.5 and 17.75 inches.
The “Miss Ocean City “ stated that despite a few foggy mornings, the bite in the bay has been pretty good with anglers hooking a ton of fish. Many of these fish are undersized, but the steady bite is delighting anglers here on vacation.
Christine Joannette and her family fished the boat last week behind Assateague Island and caught some nice fluke with the biggest being 15.5 inches. The family was from Ontario Canada and stated the fishing trip was a highlight of their vacation. The bay trips are a great option for young and novice anglers usually providing a ton of action as well as a unique view of Ocean City from the water.
The “Tortuga” had a few good days including a keeper fish brought in by both youth and female anglers. Dean was their expert angler bringing home two nice doormats for dinner. The young man was all smiles at the dock showing off his keepers.
The “Bay Bee” said despite the wind and weather the fish are biting. The younger anglers dominated, catching fish 2 to 1 over the adults on board. It's so good to see our youth succeeding on the water.
The bay waters should continue to get better as the storm passes, and hopefully the water warms.
Luke Wrye said he hasn't done much flounder fishing this year with the cold water around. He found the incoming tide water was around 60 degrees in the east channel but still managed to catch 3 keepers on live spot rigs. His biggest fish was a nice 21 inch flounder. Tyler Hines had a good evening at the inlet hooking a big overslot rockfish measuring 36 inches and 15 pounds. The fish was safely released to be caught again.
Surf Fishing
Assateague Island has slowed a bit with kingfish and spot being the main catch on the island.
The kingfish bite remains one of the best ones we have seen in years. John Foreman caught one of the prettiest and most unique northern kingfish I have ever seen. The brown markings were very dark and pronounced.
A few big sharks have been caught from the beaches. Tyler Besche had a great midnight bite with one of the biggest sharks he has ever caught from the surf. The big fish took a chunk bait on a circle hook and put up one hell of a fight. Joe Marshall also got in on the big fish bite catching a big cow nose ray.
John Manchester also got a big cow nose ray which he caught on 134th street. The hard fighting fish took 45 minutes to bring on to the beach.
Shane Moyer closes out our surf report with a five foot bull shark caught on the backside of Assateague Island. For those unaware, the bull shark is a very aggressive shark, and for that reason you should pay attention when releasing fish back into the water from your boat. These fish will actively charge a fish and the hand holding it if you are not careful.
Until next week...
Tight Lines and Fins Up
