Ocean City Maryland & Assateague Island – Delaware Beaches – Ocean n Bay Fishing Report
By Sue Foster, Oyster Bay Tackle Shop, Ocean City MD – Fenwick Island DE
June 3rd, 2013
Water Temp: 60.3
Fishing Report by Sue Foster
Nice sized bluefish in the bay. Fair fishing for flounder this week.
Surf started seeing some spot, kingfish, and sea trout. Sharks and
skates are still around, but the stripers slacked off with the south
wind. Heard of a couple. Stripers were reported from the South Jetty,
Route 50 Bridge, and Indian River Inlet. Offshore, sea bass are picking
up when anglers can get out. Further offshore saw mostly shark action.
Oyster Bay will be open 7-7 Mon and Thursday...-Friday-7-9 and Sat-
6-9 & Sun-6-7. Fenwick Tackle will be open 7-7 weekly and till 8 on Fri
and Saturday nights. E-mail Sue Foster at: Oyster Bay Tackle. The online mall is open. We sell
MD licenses and 2013 boat stickers at our Oyster Bay and Fenwick Tackle
locations. De Licenses are sold at our DEL location. IF YOU WANT A
BOAT FISHING LICENSE PLEASE TELL US THAT WHEN YOU GET TO THE
COUNTER. Voids are no joy! For DEL boat fishing licenses you MUST
bring in a current boat registration and a driver's license. (For MD
boat stickers, all you need is a driver's license.)
MD fishing licenses are really quick and easy once you're in the system.
If you have last year's license, bring it in with you, and all we have
to do is punch in the DNR ID number Otherwise, bring in your Driver's
License.
BTW, There's a mistake in the MD Fishing Guide about clamming. If you
are out of state it IS legal for you to catch clams in Worcester Co. The
state fixed the mistake online, but of course, thousands of Guides were
already printed! I have had several e-mails about this.
The Bulkhead at 2nd thru 4th Street is finally finished and anglers can
now fish there again. The Ocean Pier it also open. If you fish the
bulkhead you still need to obtain a free registry. We can do that for
you at Oyster Bay Tackle or call 1-855-855-3906.
Owners putting crab pots behind their places are catching some crabs
finally. It's been a slow start for crabs, but hopefully we'll see more
action with crabs.
2013 Tide Charts are now available in our stores and online. Go to our website and click on More Fishing Info.
Flounder season is now open in MD- Minimum Size - 16" Creel - 4 fish
open all year.
New Ocean City chart by Capt Seagull available:
Buy at Oyster Bay Tackle or online. The bay portion of this chart is a
little small, but it shows the nearshore Reef Sites with numbers.
2013 White Marlin Open T's are here! Instore or Online.
>
2013 Shark T's! In store or on Online. We also have the 2013 Shark Tank Tops. Got a few left. Get them quick.
Stopping in to Oyster Bay Tackle or Fenwick Tackle? Clip out a coupon for xtra savings! Coupons
Surf fishing was slower this week due to the constant south wind. Anita
Chandler called me up from the Delaware State Beach on Saturday to tell
me she caught some kingfish, spot, and a legal sea trout on a
combination of bloodworm and Fishbite bloodworms. She says the fish
bites help keep the bloodworm on the hook. Interesting...
On Wednesday, a man came into Fenwick Tackle to tell me he caught three
nice kingfish in the surf. Another man caught a couple good sized
bluefish from the Ocean City surf. I didn't hear much on stripers this
week. I did have an angler come in to say he caught a surprising amount
of blowfish from the Ocean City surf on Saturday.
Though I didn't hear much about stripers, apparently there were some on
Assateague on Saturday. Larry Jock reported on Sat: "Hugh, Myra and Hugh
Thomas Cropper had 3 stripers, up to 42-inches, while surfcasting off
Assateague Island. They also had a small black drum."
Many anglers ask about reading the beach when surf fishing. "Poppy" a
very good angler has posted another very good description with pictures
on Stripers Online. Check it out: Reading the Beach He draws it out
completely! If you're not catching fish in the surf, you need to study
this!
Our online mall is now open and we have:
Trailhead Tire Deflators! We also carry the Oasis Trailhead brand.
Surf Packages, complete with sinkers. (Also flounder, Aqua-Clear, Swim
Shad, and Got-cha Plug Packages.)
J.J. from the Oceanic Pier (410-289-2602) reported great action on sea
trout Thursday night. Anglers caught over a hundred of them, but most
were short. Some were keepers. On Friday night anglers caught mostly
bluefish. The shad seem to have dropped off. Flounder was decent on the
days it wasn't too windy. Tautog picked up. There were sting rays and
skates and some puffer fish. J.J. said he saw some keeper stripers from
the Rt. 50 Bridge and the surf downtown this past week. (You do not
need a fishing license to fish the Oceanic Pier.)
Larry Jock of the Coastal Fisherman reports on Friday: "Charter boat, "Get Sum" had 9 keeper
flounder. A couple from the East Channel but most from around the South
Jetty. Caught on white Gulp! Headboat, "Morning Star" brought back some
sea bass. Largest weighed 4 lbs. 13 oz. John and Dasha Lentz caught
their limit of stripers from around the South Jetty. Nice size fish!"
Stripers and Flounder!
Oyster Bay Tackle local Jake Allnutt fished the Ocean City Jetty Wall on
Saturday night 5/25/13 and caught a 34 inch Striper weighing in at 12
3/4 pounds using a jig head with White Ice Soft body Zoom lure during
the low out going tide.
Jason C Hughes from East Berlin, PA fished the RT 50 Bridge during the
evening for Striper on High Tide using Storm Lures and came up with a 22
inch Flounder weighing 4.5 pounds.
These pictures are in our Inshore Photo Gallery.
My husband Bob and I went out into the bay on Tuesday and tried fishing
for flounder, but they just weren't biting for us. We caught one keeper
just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge in the main channel. But we did get into
bluefish! Blues in the one to three pound range were mixed with shad. We
threw bucktails and grub heads tipped with Gulp and probably caught at
least 50 of them. We just followed the birds and casted. It was a blast.
We saw lots of boats getting into the action. The wind was blowing from
the southeast making it great conditions to catch blues.
Talked to an angler that went fishing on Saturday when the wind was also
blowing from the southeast. He said he caught all the blues he wanted.
Another angler said he caught blues from the seawall on Gotcha Plugs on
Saturday. Another man got into shad.
Jeff Grimes Of Helbent Charters reports on the 27th: "Fished the Rt.90
Bridge today. Had a decent Flounder bite with one keeper. Skates were
all so around today. Flounder lived live minnows but also had some bites
on Gulp. Water was 66.8 by the Route 90 bridge. Water was very clear."
"Jeff has one of the few charters going out of North Ocean City.
717-574-4010"
Dave Beall of Dave's Delmarva First Mate Service didn't have a report
this week. Check out his new web site.
Flounder and Surf, Rig and Lure Packages, Selection of
Swimming Shads or Gotcha Plugs!
Capt. Monty on the " Morning Star sends us his update and comments on June 2nd:
"Greetings All, The sea bass bite has improved. Given weather to work
with we can scratch up a catch.. Coming into the holiday weekend, a
dying swell with calm winds Friday lured us into a NW wind trap: Calming
down.. calmer.. then picking up 15 to 20 — 20 to 30 — gusting over 40..
Had to tuck under the beach to avoid the worst of 35-knot wind-driven
waves. Got in on time with half-off coupons around.
Saturday? Fugedaboutit.. Memorial weekend's gale saved many a sea bass
from the frying pan.
Sunday we picked & measured; boxed some. Lowest low tide I've ever seen
behind that NWesterly.. Monday was calm, a pretty day on the water.
Nicked a few.. Tuesday I had a special trip – a diving trip with
professional u/w videographer Nick Caloyianis and friend to reef
building, Ted Green. Last time was Nick's choice – Radford. This time I
picked the dive — Natural Reef.. More on that below. Nick & Ted reported
54 degrees on the bottom, up 10 degrees from May 10th..
Wednesday's weather concerns had me call clients the night before with a
high-seas warning. Some cancelled. Naturally the winds were lighter than
forecasted & sea bass bit the best they have this season..
As the old fisherman's adage goes: If you listen to the weather you'll
go broke; If you don't, you'll die.
On Thursday's x-long cbass trip Coach Bill had our first limit with
splendid fish around. Friday & Saturday were much better than I'd
hoped..
Sunday the weather got me again. Sent everyone home with dinner and a
partial credit for another trip.. Weather will break Tuesday afternoon –
back at it Wednesday..
This is not the sea bass fishing we can achieve, this is not what it
will look like when management's gotten cbass right: It is the fishing
we have however. We're averaging 6 to 12 fish per/person in a 20 fish
limit with sometimes even 100 throwbacks each. Pool winners are
generally over 4 lbs.. If you need to fill a cooler – stay away. It can
not remain that I would sometimes catch & keep more sea bass in one day
than we now catch in two summer months. Management can't keep accusing
us of overfishing and not realize they're being mislead by terrible
catch estimates..
Bottom temps up 10 degrees; we're seeing a lot of turtles in warming
water. Loggerhead turtles eat what's on our reefs – lobster, crab,
perhaps even fish. Old–timers would always stop to try a spot with
turtles, would make a test drift. I've got two very good reef fishing
spots that came from turtle sightings…
Saw two turtles Tuesday when I took Nick & Ted to a few patches of
natural reef; Reef here long before the first ship ever sank; Reef I've
been trying to get scientifically 'found' for almost 15 years.. I've
only seen back-of-the-camera shots: Video & Pics came out splendidly.
Sponges & whips, many hydrozoas & bryzoas.. will get a link to these
pics soonest. As long as I've been at this.. these are our first
professional photos & video of this reef type. I can't wait."
Go to " Morning Star to read Capt Monty's entire newsletter...
E-mail Capt Monty at: Capt Monty about upcoming trips or to subscribe to his newsletter:
mhawkins@mediacombb.net
Capt. Monty Hawkins mhawkins@siteone.net Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076 http://www.morningstarfishing.com/
Watch the weather.
Help and Donate to the Ocean City Reef Foundation! http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/
It's a 501c3 tax deductable .org
Joe at Lewes Harbour Marina (302-645-6227) reports on May 30th: "The season's first mako
hit the dock this week. Wes and Shane Olson and Barney Gallagher were
drifting 59 degree water in the tip of Baltimore Canyon when they
hooked and landed the 84 pounder. Wes said they had just finished
putting the first line out when the blackeye bit. Captain Steve Moore's
crew aboard the All In, out of Ocean City Fishing Center, took a 201
pound mako from 30 Fathoms outside the Hot Dog. Other sharkers found
threshers in The Fingers and at the Twin Wrecks. Threshers should be
caught along the Delaware shipping lane soon. Strong winds kept most
boats in Saturday and Sunday over the Holiday weekend, but seas laid
down Monday, allowing Katydid to head off to the Del-Jersey-Land Reef
for a sea bass trip. The results were good, and patrons returned with
114 bass, 99 ling, a bucket of cunners and a pair of nice codfish. Lou
Pennella landed a knothead bass scaling 4.7 pounds. One of the cod,
which Brent himself boated, weighed 22.7 pounds and was the largest
we've seen in some time. It's great that cod have staged a comeback off
Delaware's coast in the past few years. Captain Carey's bassers aboard
Grizzly had a productive trip Monday. John Mattson and friends put a
mix of 121 seabass, ling and cod in the box. Wesley Bernard checked in
the unusual combination of a 4.2 pound cod and a 4.2 pound flounder he
caught while reef fishing on the Dana Lynn. Structure of the
Del-Jersey-Land Reef Site, that includes wrecks of the Radford and
Gregory Poole, has yielded good action, but bass also came from Site
11, closer inshore. Striped bass catches have been good during
nighttime incoming tides at Indian River Inlet. Jetty jocks and boaters
had rockfish while casting Storm Shads and bucktails. Carl Swinn and
Buster Bair stopped by with a trio of bass to 20 pounds they got by
livelining eels from the rocks. Stripers were also hooked in Delaware
Bay. Guys tossing lures around the Outer Wall got into fish. Bombers,
X-Raps, RatLTraps and Stretch 12 plugs were popular. Paul Matthews
managed a 22 pound linesider with a swimming plug at the Ice Breakers.
Black drum continued to come from the Coral Beds, but the run
traditionally tails off through early June. Kevin Parker had his hands
full with a 69.2 pound boomer he boated with light spinning gear. Mark
Gardenghi and friends drummed aboard the Grizzly for their limit of
fish to 68 pounds. Captain Brian's group on Lil' Angler II had plenty
of action Sunday night. P.J. Sneeringer muscled in a 73 pound brute.
Tara Wiker wound in a 57 pounder and Anthony Wiker wrestled one of 56
pounds. Jackie Robinson reeled in a 55.5 pounder aboard the Angler.
Sophie Gressens came all the way from France to catch her first black
drum. She's an exchange student and celebrated graduation by boating
the 50.1 pounder on the Fish Hawk. Flounder aficionados are still
picking flatties from Lewes Canal, along the Inner Wall, and around the
Henlopen Pier. Trout have been in good supply too, and those using
Gulp! and other soft artificials have had some nice sized weakies.
Increasing numbers of spot and croakers are showing up in Delaware Bay.
Kingfish have been plentiful on the Coral Beds."
Anglers need a DE Fishing License to fish, crab, and clam in DEL:
Individual Delaware Fishing Licenses are now available online
Stop by to the Oyster Bay Tackle location and buy your 2013 Ocean City
Reef Foundation Charts. The donation fee for these charts are $50. $54
if you use a credit card. These charts pin-point all the GPS numbers for
all the Artificial Reef materials that have been scattered near offshore
wrecks, reefs, and obstructions. The charts give you hundreds of numbers
to find fish. All the money collected goes back into the Artificial Reef
Foundation. Come to Oyster Bay Tackle or buy online.
(They are up in price, but all the numbers have been redone and the
charts are in book-form.)
Check out the link on our web site to the local chapter of the MSSA. They are keeping us
abreast on all the Fishing Issues. From our Oyster Bay Website, go to
"More Fishing Info" on the left hand side, and click on "MSSA Atlantic
Anglers".
Check the weather before driving hours to go offshore or fish the surf.
Go to Coastal Marine Forecast to get an idea of
the weather and height of the waves.
Capt. Rick Yakimowicz of the "Thelma Dale V" fishes out of Fisherman's
Wharf. Here's his report from May 29th:
Despite the fact that the best description that I can give our first
full week of our Sea Bass season would be a low grade at best, we have
actually at times seen some decent fishing, some very nice fish in the
mix and for the most part some very happy anglers when they got off of
the boat.
We will continue with our daily trips targeting the Sea Bass and Ling
for at least another week anchoring over the wrecks before we switch
gears. Honestly the outlook for any big numbers of Sea Bass right now is
iffy at best and I doubt you will find many who know what they are
talking about with a different opinion. We can catch them but certainly
not like we did just a few short years ago at this time of the year. Not
the numbers you would expect to see anyway. Trips depart the docks at
7:00 a.m. and we are usually back to the docks around 4:00. We supply
the Clams and the Squid but your welcome to bring anything you think
might work, I have seen an awful lot of nice fish caught on just Gulp.
We will also be running Half-Day trips and Capt. H.D. has a Long Range
trip on the schedule departing Friday into Saturday at midnight for Tile
Fish and possibly Sea Bass depending on the weather.
If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the
Wharf or you would like to book a private charter or reserve space on a
special trip please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.
His full report and boat info is here.
Capt. Rick Yakimowicz Thelma Dale V catchfish@verizon.net"
Old Inlet Bait and Tackle (302-227-7974) reports on May 29th: "The surf
action has been steady. Southeast wind yesterday blew in some kings,
blowfish and small trout. Look for the spot and croaker to be here in
good numbers soon as the weather warms up. Summer weather is finally
here!! Still the occasional striper on the beach. Cindy Wesley landed an
11 pounder last Thursday. Bob Foraker had a 24.5 pounder just north of
the Inlet on Monday. We have heard about a few blues on the beach too.
The Inlet is producing some stripers, blues and shad. It's been a
morning bite for the stripers lately. Mike Sabatelle landed a 21.5
pounder on a bucktail on 5/23. Swim shads and bucktails are the best
baits right now. Look for eels to start working at night as the weather
and water heats up. Had another trout on the scales Monday. Joe Woz
posted a 3.5 pounder that he landed from Inlet on a Spec Rig. More signs
of a trout comeback!! Flounder fishing in the bay is still good given
the cool water temps. Cool water will keep the flounder around in the
inland bays longer. As always, minnows, squid and Gulp should be on the
end of your line. Massey's and the VFW slough are the hot spots.
Starting to hear about decent sea bass fishing on the Old Grounds and
around B Buoy. "
Bill's Sport Shop (302-645-7654) in Lewes, DE reports on May 30th: ""
Plenty of kingfish, croaker and spot at Beachplum Island. Drum in the DE
Bay. Weakfish and blues in the Broadkill. Kingfish, blowfish, blues,
croaker, striper, sharks and skate in the surf. Cape Henlopen State Park
Pier - blues, flounder ,weakfish, striper, croaker. Indian River Inlet -
striper flounder and shad. Masseys and Rehoboth Bay - striper, blues,
flounder, blowfish. Reef sites and wrecks in the ocean and DE Bay - sea
bass, sharks. Offshore – mako..."
Capt.Dan Stauffer (866-623-4746) of the Fin Chaser does wreck,
inlet and trolling trips. Here's two of his reports from this week:
"05/31/13 Broke the inlet today to find much lighter winds and seas.
Ran 25 mile south to a piece of bottom that I thought we would be able
to drift with today’s conditions. The fish were scattered, no huge
shots at any one spot. We looked all over this piece of bottom. When
I’d mark em, we’d drift em until they would shut down. Then we would
look around for another shot of fish. This scenario played out over and
over again today. Can’t remember the last time I had to work this hard
to put a respectable catch together but we did. By the days end we had
60 sea bass in the box and a very happy crew of regulars.
05/30/13 Few are the days I set out with trepidation about the bite.
Today, was one of them. Arrived at the sea bass honey hole where we were
immediately slapped in the face with fairly strong winds, very choppy
seas and super cold water temps . Way too sporty to drift so out went
the anchor. Bite was good but the keeper ratio was horrible. Worked hard
but just couldn’t manage to find any numbers of keepers. Called it a day
a little early so we could get one of the guys back to solid land. This
was quite possibly one of the worst days of bottom fishing I’ve ever
had."
Larry Jock of the Coastal
Fisherman reports from offshore: "Excellent morning shark bite
around the Hambone and Fingers.Charter boat, "Marli" returned with a
120 lb. mako shark from the Fingers. Caught on tuna bloodline. Charter
boat, "Restless Lady" had a 115 lb. mako shark caught near the Hambone.
They also released 12 blue sharks, 4 duskies and a small mako. Charter
boat, "Muff Diver" released a great white shark (est 300 lbs.), 5 blue
sharks and 2 duskies at the Chicken Bone."
( Wilson Cropp Charters and
Guide Service. Cape Charles, VA- 1-434-531-6376)
Stripers....Flounder....Drum... Speckled Trout....Tog... Eco tours
as well.
Dave Beall has retired from his "real job" and has set up a little local
First Mate Service. I have a lot of anglers ask to pay someone to go out
with them on their new boat and show them the waters and how to fish. I
also have anglers that would like to pay someone to teach them how to
fish off the beach. Check out his new web site.
(Just a note to say to my readers that many of my fishing reports are
from other anglers and party boats that come over my e-mail. When I
"copy/paste" their reports I try to leave them intact. It keeps the
fishing reports lively and interesting. But any comments/politics
within the quotes are their comments and views, and not necessarily
mine.)
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