Fishermen report the flounder fishing in the back bay areas of Ocean City and Assateague to be improving every week. The best fishing behind Ocean City is reported to be in the region around the Route 90 Bridge; but flounder are also being caught around the Thorofare. The area near the Ocean City Airport behind Assateague is also another location of note where better flounder catches are being reported. Squid, minnows or a combination of both have been working and flood and ebb tides have both been producing fish.
Tautog continue to entertain fishermen in the Route 50 Bridge/ Inlet area and a number of fishermen are reporting that it is about as good as it gets. Fishermen can fish from the bulkheads from 1st to 4th Streets, the bulkheads at the end of 5th and 6th Streets, the section of the Route 50 Bridge over the East Channel and the North Jetty of the Inlet. Those that have a boat have the South Jetty all to themselves. Pieces of green crabs, frozen sand fleas are the usual fare offered up to the tautog; but a number of fishermen are taking notice of Gulp Baits also working for tautog. Medium-sized bluefish have been moving in and out of the inlet area and fishermen have been catching them by casting Got-Cha plugs. A few under-sized striped bass have also been caught recently in the inlet area as well.
Surf fishermen started to see a little variety starting to show up in the
surf this week in the form of kingfish, bluefish and striped bass. Fishermen have been catching kingfish on bloodworms and Fishbites. The “spring runner” bluefish are being caught on cut baits or finger mullet. A few large striped bass were reported over the weekend and this fishery should begin to take shape in the next couple of weeks. Dogfish and skates of course continue to abound in the surf zone and will part of the spring surf fishing equation for a while longer.
The party boats headed out to the artificial reefs and wrecks off Ocean City report good to excellent fishing for large tautog at most sites. A few large sea bass have been caught now and then and fishermen are anxiously waiting for this fishery to develop with warmer water temperatures. Tucker Calquhon holds up a nice tautog for the camera on a recent trip on a party boat out of Ocean City.
Click here to view recent bay region satellite images at mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/NASAimagery/EyesInTheSky.cfm
A Couple of Closing Notes...
Don't hesitate to e-mail your recent
fishing/crabbing photos and trip information. Send your photos via E-mail by the
following Monday in order to be included in the next update. The file should be
in .jpg format with the longest side sized at 320 pixels. Please keep the file
size small. The photo should clearly depict the angler(s), fish, and ethical
handling practices. For information on ethical angling practices please
reference the Catch and Release information located at URL:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/articles/catch_release.shtml
Include the following information:
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Date
-
Angler(s)
-
Hometown(s)
-
Photo credit
-
Location
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Weight/length of catch
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Bait/lure
Important Note:
If anyone in your picture is under 18
years of age, we must have a
photo release
signed by that person and a parent/guardian before we can post your picture.
Send your photos and information to
Keith Lockwood
The Fisheries
Service is pleased to have you visit. We want to make this
site as user friendly as possible, if you have any suggestions, please
mail them to
Paul Genovese.
