Flounder
fishing in the back bay areas of Ocean City and Assateague Island continues to
provide a lot of action but few keeper size flounder; the throwback ratios
continue to be high. For fishermen on vacation it is certainly better than no
action at all and many fishermen are raising the odds in their favor of hooking
up with a really large flounder by using large baits such as live spot and
finger mullet. The Main East Channel close to the Route 50 Bridge and the
Thorofare have been good places to fish lately. Croakers and small sea bass have
moved inside the inlet and are playing havoc with squid baits. There are plenty
of spot in the back bays and some are large enough for table fare.
Triggerfish are being caught in and around the inlet
on sand fleas and squid; some small tautog and flounder are also being caught
during the day. At night there are plenty of undersized striped bass being
caught on lures and live spot and eels. Small bluefish are moving through the
inlet at night also and Got-Cha lures tend to be the best way to catch them.
Surf fishermen are catching a mix of large sharks in
the evening hours off the beaches on large baits. Small bluefish are being
caught with bottom rigs baited with finger mullet and towards dusk croakers and
spot are being caught on bloodworms and squid. Todd Bathgate sent in this
picture of a 6’ sand tiger shark that was sporting a tag which he caught and
released at Assateague this past Saturday.
Fishermen are finding good bottom fishing for croakers
within a mile of the beaches with some flounder. The boats heading out to the
wreck sites are catching a mix of sea bass, trigger fish and flounder.
Chris Toner
was fishing with friends on a charterboat from Ocean City that specializes in
shark fishing this past weekend near Great Gull Shoals for small to medium
sharks. A large cobia was spotted in the chum slick and the captain was prepared
for such an event with a rod rigged with a live spot. After a long fight on 12
lb test line Chris was able to reel in a new state record cobia at 72 lbs even.
Offshore fishermen have been finding a mix of white
marlin, blue marlin, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, dolphin and wahoo from the
30-fathom curve out to the canyons this week.
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:
-
Date
-
Angler(s)
-
Hometown(s)
-
Photo credit
-
Location
-
Weight/length of catch
-
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.
