Flounder fishing continues to be good in the back bay areas of Ocean City and Sinepuxent Bay but as one would expect boat traffic can be a real problem. Fishing in the channel areas can be a rather perilous situation for anyone drifting for flounder and croakers so be careful. Many fishermen are staying away from the channel areas and opting for a little less rock and rolling and a little more peace. Plenty of flounder and croakers are being caught; the throwback ratio on the flounder remains high but there certainly is plenty of action. Spot and flounder are being caught up by the Route 90 Bridge and a mix of croakers, small sea bass and flounder are being caught closer to the inlet area.
At night striped bass and bluefish are being caught at the Route 50 Bridge/Inlet area. Live eels and spot are the choice of baits for the striped bass and Got-Cha lures for the bluefish.
Surf fishermen are catching a mix of large sharks and sting rays during the days and evenings off the beaches on cut bait and whole squid baits. Bottom rigs baited with finger mullet are catching small bluefish. Flounder are being caught on squid baits and at dusk croakers and spot are moving into the surf zone and can be caught on bloodworms and squid.
Sea bass fishing out at the wreck sites has been a bit slow lately but fishermen are making up with catches of trigger fish and large flounder. Croakers are holding off the beaches in several of the slough areas and fishermen have been loading up on medium sized croakers during the day.
The Ocean City White Marlin Open is off to a good start with a 93.5-pound white marlin in first place. There are reportedly 298 boats entered in this tournament and 175 were fishing on Monday alone; with this many boats out there covering the offshore waters it gives fishermen a good view of what is out there. A healthy mix of bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dolphin and mako sharks have been caught in the first three days of the tournament.
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.
