As water temperatures rise so do the fortunes of fishermen in the back bay and inlet areas of Ocean City. Flounder are being caught near the Route 90 Bridge, the Thorofare and behind Assateague Island. Some of the flounder being caught are nice sized and more of them continue to move through the inlet area each day. There certainly is plenty of room for fishermen in the inlet area as seen in this picture from last week; a stark contrast of what it might look on the 4th of July weekend.
Tautog catches continue to increase this week as water temperatures now climb into the high 50’s. Shoreline fishermen are catching them from the jetties and bulkheads along the inlet and inside often at slack tide. Frozen sand fleas or pieces of fresh green crab have been popular baits.
Surf fishermen are coming out in force with the warmer weather and are catching a variety of fish this week. Those casting the big stuff with menhaden baits are catching spiny dogfish, large smooth dogfish and a lot of skates. A few striped bass and medium sized black drum have been reported and even a bluefish. The post spawn striped bass heading north from the Chesapeake are due to start arriving in about two weeks. Fishermen casting out smaller offerings of bloodworms and clam caught the season’s first kingfish and some fishermen reported good catches. A few blowfish also showed up in the surf this week.
A number of boats have been running out to the inshore wrecks and finding good tautog fishing there. Captains have been reporting limits of tog around the boat and some large specimens with pool winners near 15- pounds.
If you submitted a photo and don't see your picture in the regular report please look in the photo gallery that we periodically run. Click here for this week's gallery!
Real-time water information for selected points in the Coastal Bay
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)
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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.
