Now that the flounder season is closed most fishermen have been focusing on the good tautog fishing that is occurring at the Route 50 Bridge/Inlet area this week. 
Fishermen are fishing from the bridge, bulkhead areas and the jetties and finding a much larger grade of tautog from just a week ago. Most fishermen are using pieces of green crab or sand fleas but some fishermen are using fiddler crabs and pieces of blue crab with equally good results. Surf conditions have been rough over the weekend as this picture shows as this jetty fisherman tries to head for a better footing and safer ground.
Towards the evening hours fishermen are catching increasing numbers of good sized striped bass by casting Storm type swimming shads or drifting live eels, finger mullet and spot. A few big sea trout are being caught every night and small bluefish continue to move in and out of the inlet every evening. 
Nathan Reichenbach holds up a nice 34” striped bass he caught in the Ocean City Inlet from shore while drifting a finger mullet.
Surf fishermen had a tough time fishing last weekend due to rough surf but conditions are expected to improve later on this week. The surf is thick with small bluefish and fishermen have been catching all they want on finger mullet. A number of larger bluefish have been showing up this week and the numbers of large striped bass is definitely on the increase.
The boats trying to head out to the wreck sites have been having a difficult time with the strong winds but when they do slip out they have been finding a mix of sea bass and tautog. The large bluefish are moving through the region and can be a problem at times cutting sea bass off behind the head. A number of boats reported catching a mix of striped bass and bluefish while trolling within a couple miles of the beaches earlier this week.
Persistent and strong winds have been making it difficult for anyone willing to try to head offshore. A few boats slipped out on Sunday and reported wahoo and white marlin at the Hot Dog. One boat reported limiting out on wahoo and releasing four white marlin.
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 600 pixels. Please keep the file
size under one megabyte if possible. 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.html
Include the following information:
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Date
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Angler(s)
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Hometown(s)
-
Photo credit
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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. By sending any photos or art to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources you are giving DNR permission to use the image(s) online and in print. You are also giving DNR permission to distribute the photo for non-commercial purposes to other media, print, digital and television for their use. You are not giving up your copyright, but are allowing the photo(s) to be used for educational and news purposes.
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.
