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
July 1st, 2013
Water Temp: 68.9
Fishing Report by Sue Foster
(Free Fishing Day in MD and DE on July 4th! No fishing license required
on July 4th!)
Flounder fishing in the bay was was up and down. We sure had a lot of
wind to mess things up again. The best fishing was around the Inlet,
main East Channel, and some were caught in the West Channel. Oceanic
Pier had good luck with flounder and trout. Quite a few spot in the bay
but most are large. Good eating but not small enough to use for flounder
bait. Surf saw kingfish, spot, and croaker with sharks at night. Sea
bass fishing was respectable. Further offshore fishing fell off.
Hopefully we'll get some better weather!
Oyster Bay is now open summertime hours 6 A.M. till 10 P.M. daily.
Fenwick Tackle is open 7 A.M. till 10 P.M. Daily. We will close 9 PM at
both stores on the 4th of July so our employees can get home and watch
the fireworks! 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 MD 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 open and anglers can catch
flounder, tautog, spot, croaker, little sea bass, triggerfish, bluefish
and the occasional striper, drum, or trout. You can fish here without a
MD license but you still need to obtain a free registry. We can do that
for you at Oyster Bay Tackle or call 1-855-855-3906. My brother, Dave
Mumford, was riding his bike by the bulkhead and saw someone pull up a
keeper on Friday!
The Ocean Pier is another place you can fish without a MD License. This
week the pier had some trout, croaker, spot, sharks and rays. One man
took his daughter there and caught a bunch of "short" flounder.
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. (We also got some tank tops in our stores.)
>
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 up and down with the weather and the wind. Some days
you couldn't hold bottom and other days it was good.
Jason Ellison of Newark, DE e-mailed in his picture of a 60-inch
blacktip shark he caught and released from the MD line on Saturday
night on fresh bunker. He also caught and released a nice black drum
caught on Fishbite Bloodworm.
His picture is in our Surf Fishing Photo Gallery.
"Lefty 26" posted on Stripers Online: "Fished Assateague Island Thurs
night through Sat evening. Lots of kingfish and skates, decent amount of
spot, couple big toothies. Some real nice blues showed up Sat evening in
the 2-3lb range.
"Ffejkim" posted on the 24th: "Fished this weekend, lots of Kingfish and
Spot, 3 Bluefish - 1 at 17"
Red drum! Maria Morse fishing with her dad, Tyler Morse caught her first
real fish, a 20" red drum. 20-inches, 2 pound 9 oz caught on bloodworm
in the bay off Jamestown Rd. (behind our store!) They were playing
around catching spot when the little girl caught the big one!
This picture is in our Inshore Photo Gallery.
Anglers also caught legal red drum from the Northside Park Wednesday
night! Very unusual! A school must of come through! Had another phone
call on Saturday from an angler that caught a 20-inch red drum in the
bay in North Ocean!
Flounder fishing was a little slow this week due to windy conditions and
dirty water. We had a few flounder reported:
Steve and Bob Klacik came in with two flounder 16 3/4 inches and 21 1/2
inches (1.5 pounds and 2.6 pounds) caught on squid and minnow combo
aboard their boat the "Vondy Schnaut" Caught behind Assateague near the
duck blinds on 6/26/13
Mary Muller of Shillington Pa. caught a 17 1/2" keeper IN THE channel at
the end of 28th st on Saturday at peak high tide.
These pictures are in our Inshore Photo Gallery.
Walter Moore went out with his Dad on Saturday and said the conditions
were just "Bad" on flounder. Anglers have been catching some stripers
at the South Jetty but it's been rough there too and hard to fish. Lots
of short stripers and a few keepers for anglers catching live spot and
live baiting... Most of the spot around are on the large size, so it's
been hard to find spot small enough for flounder fishing! Have to
fillet them out and use a strip!
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 excellent flounder
fishing the last few days of the week. The Pier had anglers leaving with
up to three keeper flounder. There was also a couple really good nights
on sea trout. Anglers are using Gotcha Plugs, Spec Rigs, and Gulp at
night. There's a few blues too, but more sea trout. There have also been
some sporadic runs of croaker. Anglers are catching spot and little sea
bass as well. (You do not need a fishing license to fish the Oceanic
Pier.)
Anglers in boats were complaining about that the flounder fishing was
really slow over the weekend because of the wind and dirty water. So
there must have been some clean water in the inlet!
Larry Jock of the Coastal Fisherman reports on Friday: "Anglers fishing off the Oceanic Pier
had a fantastic morning catching flounder during the outgoing tide.
Bucktails tipped with 4-inch, chartreuse Gulp! Swimming Mullets were
the ticket this morning. J.J. at the Oceanic Pier also said that
anglers fishing off the pier have really been slamming the weakfish at
night. Some nights over 100 weakies were hooked on all types of rigs
and bait. One angler in particular has been doing really well with
6-inch Gulp! Jerk Shads.
On Thursday Larry reported: "Charter boat, "Skip's Charter and Guide
Service" ended their day with the one 36-inch striper in the box. Caught
at the South Jetty on live spot.
Charter boat, "Get Sum" had 3 flounder caught on white Gulp! Swimming
Mullets in the East Channel. Largest measured 22.5-inches and weighed
4.2 lbs.
Head boat, "Morning Star" returned with a good catch of sea bass.
Largest weighed 3 lbs. 4 oz."
ON Wed: "Head boat, "Morning Star" returned with sea bass. Heaviest
weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. and was caught on squid."
Jeff Grimes Of Helbent Charters reports: June has come to an end and so
did a poor weekend for fishing. The steady south wind held the water in
the bay for several days causing the water to be very dirty. We tried to
to fish on Saturday and we spent five minutes cleaning our lines of
seaweed after every drift. We tried to find clean water and never really
did. The best water we found was over by Captains Hill but that was not
really still not clean enough to find a any bite. There was a very large
swell in the inlet that made it not very tough going in addition to
being very dirty. A light rain and thunder storms in the area kept us
off the water this morning so now we look forward to the 4th of July
weekend. The weather forecast is for the wind to continue to blow out of
the south for the next several days and that is going to make it real
hard for the bay to clean up the water to make it fishable. Lets hope we
catch a break and get the the south wind to lay down. Don't miss out on
a great day of fishing this summer and book a trip now. Call me at
717-574-4010 or email me at helbentcharters@hotmail.com. Check out our
website at helbentcharters.com. where you can find everything you need
to know about a great day of fishing. See you on the water.
Dave Beall of Dave's Delmarva First Mate Service reported on the ____:
"" Check out his new web site.
Flounder and Surf, Rig and Lure Packages, Selection of Swimming Shads or Gotcha Plugs!
Crabbing has been decent. Sorry but the Northside Park is closed for the
4th of July FireWorks display and will reopen shortly after the 4th of
July after all is cleaned up. In the meantime, you can crab from the
Isle of Wight at 62nd Street, Convention Hall at 41st Street, Jamestown
Road (the whole city park side of the lagoon), 9th Street Pier, or
Assateague State Park.
Capt. Monty on the "Morning Star reports on June 20th:
"
Sailing Everyday Reservations For Sea Bass Trips at 410 - 520 - 2076.
See much more info at http://morningstarfishing.com
Regular 8 Hr trips $110.00 - 7AM to 3PM – Saturdays 6AM to 3:30PM -
$125.00 "
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
Capt Chris Mizurak of the Angler (410-289-7424) e-mailed in: "Seabass
fishing has picked up since our last report. Still not as good as we
would like for this time of the year, but definitely better than the
last few weeks. Most folks are going home with 5-8 keepers, with the
high hook usually around 12. We have seen a few flounder with the
largest weighing 4lbs. The flounder fishing should only get better in
the coming weeks. We are sailing daily from 730 am to 2pm. The cost is
$65pp, which includes rod,reel,and bait. This upcoming Friday 6/21 &
Saturday 6/22 the boat is chartered, we have an open boat on Sunday. For
more information and reservations please call 410-289-7424. Thanks and
hope to see you soon!"
Joe at Lewes Harbour Marina (302-645-6227) reports on June 27th: "Continual southwest
wind has made it tough for tuna fishermen. Catching had been good along
the edge of the canyons, but several days of southwesterly flow broke
up warmer water that had been holding baitfish and gamefish in the
Wilmington, Baltimore and Poor Man's. Inshore water turned green, and
offshore water became void of life. Up until this weather event,
trolling boats had done well with yellowfins. .....Inshore bottom
fishermen found sea bass and ling on the Del-Jersey Land Reef Site.
Site 11 held bass too, but the quality of fish and number of keepers
was better at DJL. Gladdy Dcruz decked a 4.16 pound knothead there
aboard Martha Marie. Before all the southwest breeze and the effect of
the recent full moon, Site 11 yielded some decent flounder. Bob
Kauffman and his group fished there with Captain Brent on Katydid last
Thursday and returned with 18 keeper flatfish to 4.9 pounds. Brent took
the Katydid back to 11 on Saturday, but only ended up with 8 in the
box, however, the largest was a 6.33 pounder that Brent boated himself.
Captain Pete on Top Fin worked Sites 9 and 10 Saturday and brought back
12 flatties to 4.5 pounds.
The Old Grounds southeast of DB Buoy has been producing some flatfish
too. Captain Ricky on the Thelma Dale IV has been drifting that region
for fluke and sea bass and he reported that there were schools of small
mackerel all over the place. He's been deploying sabiki rigs to catch
the little macks whenever he sees them on the screen. The mini
mackerels make excellent bait, and are candy to flounder and other
species as well. In Delaware Bay, croakers, spot, kingfish, blowfish
and spike trout were caught on the rubble of Reef Sites 5 and 8. Strong
currents from the big moon made flounder fishing challenging, but some
flatties came from artificial structure. "Fishin' Ricky Mills" and Jack
Henriksen had 3 keepers to 22 inches at Site 5 Monday.
Flounder continue to come from Lewes Canal. Eileen and Gary Smith had
keepers of 18,19,20 and 22 inches using 6 inch white Gulp Saturday.
Eileen used a speck rig with pink Gulp to tempt a 4.57 pounder Sunday.
.... Stripers were also roaming the Canal. Keepers were caught around
the drawbridge by boaters using eels or clams. The striped bass slot
limit goes into effect July 1st. Anglers will be able to retain 2
rockfish between 20 and 26 inches per day in Delaware Bay and it's
tributaries until August 31st. The minimum size for the Ocean and
Indian River remains at 28 inches."
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 June 27th:
I have been nothing but solid Flounder fishing with my All-Day trips now
for two weeks straight and while I would never say this fishing has been
anything other than just "pick fishing" we have most certainly seen some
signs of greatness with the flat fish in these last couple of weeks. Up
in the Delaware Bay Half-Day trips and private charters that opt to fish
in the Bay or close to shore have also been enjoying decent fish
catching action with small sized Croakers, Kingfish, Spike Trout, and
the occasional Flounder.
I will continue to target the Flounder with the All-Day trips, we are
mostly jigging with Bucktails and teasers or just using a jigging style
rig with a short teaser. Several fish however continue to fall to the
traditional Fluke Killer rig during certain conditions. We may see a few
Sea Bass daily however the Bass are pretty much a bycatch for us right
now. Some of our Fluke baits have actually been bigger than the Bass we
have seen. We are also catching a few Sea Robbins and Dogfish and even
some small Croakers for fresh meat baits. Half-Day trips will be
targeting primarily the Croakers and Kingfish along with Spike Trout and
various assortments of Junkfish to keep the kids on their toes. Both
trips will be sailing Daily. All-Day Fluke trips departs at 7:00 a.m.
and will return to the docks at roughly 4:00 p.m. Half-Day trips depart
at 8:00 a.m. and then again at 1:00 p.m. and return at 12:30 and 5:30
p.m. respectively..
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 the 24th: "Lots of
small fish on the beach typical of the summer season. Mixed bag of spot,
kings, and croakers. Tn.he bets fishing has been early before the heat
of the day kicks in. Fresh bunker, bloodworms (real and fake), and surf
clams are the best baits. The fish are still spread out up and down the
beach. The rays and horseshoe crabs have eased up a bit and we are
hearing about an improving flounder bite in the Inlet and bays. Gulp
Alive swimming mullet in white on a lead head are like flounder candy
and of course the good old minnow sandwich (minnow and cut squid) will
work as well. They are picking up a few stripers here and there on swim
shads and bucktails during the early morning hours. Look for the night
time bite to pick up on the really hot days. Dark swim shads, black
bucktails and plugs, and live eels will all work at night. A few blues
and shad around on the incoming tide during the day time. Reports of
seabass and a few flounder on the "Old Grounds" southeast of B Buoy in
about 80 feet of water. Reef sites 10 and 11 are holding fish too. Tuna
and dolphin action reported in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons."
Bill's Sport Shop (302-645-7654) in Lewes, DE reports on June 28th:
Keeper flounder are being caught at the Cape Henlopen Pier. Massey's
Landing have seen keeper black drum and nice spot. Sheephead weighed in
from Indian River Inlet. Red Drum at the Indian River as well. Beaches
have seen kingfish, spot, croaker, some drum and trout and sharks.
" Pretty cool web site... Lots of pics, reports and descriptions and
directions to get to some of those fishing places in DEL everyone talks
about but you might wonder where they are! The site is DSF Delware Surf Fishing.
(http://delaware-surf-fishing.com)
Capt.Dan Stauffer (866-623-4746) of the Fin Chaser does wreck,
inlet and trolling trips. Here's a couple of his reports from this week:
06/25/13 Today was to be a combo bluefin troll/wreck fishing trip but
after explaining to the father of the family from NY how lousy the
inshore trolling bite has been, he decided to go scrap the trolling
portion, smart move. Ran quite a way north and found a very steady bite.
Did see a few more throw-backs than the last few days but still had a
very respectable keeper to throwback ratio. Big fish of the day was
Kory’s 12 lb. cod, the biggest we’ve had in years. Back in the slip with
35 mouth watering fish in the box.
06/24/13 Ran north with a crew of five from Bedford, PA who wanted to
try their hand at sea bass fishing. Morning bite was steady but slowed
by around 10 am. Our second drop added a few more very nice fish to the
box but it too slacked off after an hour of fishing. Sometime around 11
am the “long evil fruit” (aka: banana) made its first appearance of the
year. With-in 30 minutes the wind went from nearly nothing to 15 knots.
Decided to try one more piece before heading for home. This drop was the
stuff dreams are made of. I haven’t seen sea bass fishing like this in
years.The average size of the fish hitting the deck was incredible. By
12:45 the wind was cranking @20 knots and it was time to leave this epic
bite. Hauling the anchor turned-out to be quite a chore. We struggled
for nearly 20 minutes bringing up not only the anchor, but a huge piece
of wreck too……remember that banana. Back in the slip with 65 sea bass
and ling in the box.
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