Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 6/29/2018:
Ah, friends of FishTalk. How I wish more of you would send us your hotspots, carefully guarded numbers, and exact GPS coordinates when you caught fish. Alas, the anglers stepping off the docks were relentlessly protective of where in our vast Atlantic they pulled those fish from this week. Thus, I can only confirm that there are indeed yellowfin and bluefin tuna in the vicinity of Poormans and Baltimore Canyons - that's as "exact" as we could get this week. We didn't hear much from the southern canyons, except for deep-droppers catching tilefish and some very big sea bass. The Ocean City Fishing Center reported that trolling has been the most popular tactic, however it has seemed that a pretty even ratio of chunkers to trollers are bringing in tuna. On your way out to the canyons, be sure to keep an eye out for flotsam and floats that could carry dolphin or trigger fish underneath. Don't pass by spots that look promising — it’s worth throwing a few chunks of bait to lure out fish that could be around the structure, but not directly in eyesight underneath it. You may be a bit surprised at who's coming in with dolphin these days...
Closer inshore, boats heading just a few miles from shore can enjoy solid sea bass fishing on the wrecks off Ocean City. Peeler crab, sand flea, and green crab have been the best baits, and a few doormat flounder are now in the mix for reef and wreck anglers. Up north in Delaware waters the flounder fishing seems a bit better but the sea bass aren't quite as numerous. As a general rule of thumb up and down the coast, pushing out farther tends to result in bigger and more numerous bass as there's more competition closer to home. Down south some inshore anglers are turning their attention to the light tower, where excellent spadefishing is going on right now (same goes for the CBBT; read the Way South and VA report, for more details). Bring plenty of clam to set up a stream of chum and bait up with small bits on small hooks, drifted back bare or with a small weight.
The backbays have began to liven up, as flounder are being caught with reliability on squid and minnows. Old Inlet is reporting that some flounder are around and there are also croaker plus small blues in Indian River. Anglers who have been using soft plastics are enjoying the abundance of rockfish in the Ocean City inlet, although they're all throw-backs. In the Thoroughfare and off the airport flounder fishing remains fair to middling, which isn't bad for this time of year. Minnow/squid combinations and Gulp! jigs are both doing the catching. Flounder is also the main catch these days in Rudee, but most of the anglers who have a boat and can get out are enjoying the cobia action or the hot bite at the CBBT (again, check the Way South report for more details on that fishery).
Things have slowed significantly in the surf. Delaware anglers are reporting a kingfish here and there, but not much. Coastal Correspondent John Unkart hit Assateague several days this week and dragged some short flounder and some eating-sized snapper blues out of the suds, but that was about it. He noted that for some odd reason, the blues hit cut bait fished on yellow Doodlebugs, only, while ignoring bait fished on red ones.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 6/22/2018:
Tuna fishing is in full swing! The Ocean City Fishing Center reported that it’s still seeing boats coming in from offshore flying bluefin and yellowfin flags, and they’ve also seen mahi hitting the docks, with most reports are coming from the canyons where trolling has been the primary mode of fishing. A couple of bigeye were reported, however not in numbers as big as the recent past. FishTalk intern Parker Martin hit Baltimore Canyon last week and reported it was on fire for yellowfin tuna. Baltimore was also the hotspot of note according to Coastal Correspondent John Unkart who said that mid-week the Ocean City and Indian River fleets found 50 pound class yellowfin in around 100 fathoms willing to snap at Sterling Tackle spreader bars. Several readers sent in photo-verified reports of yellowfin in the Poormans, as well. There were also bluefin reportedly busting farther inshore, at around 30 fathoms.
We’re also hearing about more dolphin from points farther south. On the flip side it seems that most of the tuna have pushed north, with fewer reports of yellowfin coming in from the Virginia Beach fleet than from boats hitting Baltimore and Poormans. Anglers deep-dropping the Norfolk are still reporting good catches of tilefish and Capt. Stan Gold on the Blind Date got his first two barrelfish of the season this past week. If you’re interested in targeting this species be sure to grab the latest copy of FishTalk, the July edition, which hit the streets yesterday and has a feature written by Capt. Gold on how to go for barrelfish.
Sea bass have been hanging around the inshore wrecks and reefs, and are taking peeler crabs and clam. Delaware anglers seem to have it toughest for now with boats reporting averages of half-limits although some flounder have showed up this past week to make the catch more interesting. Ocean City boats seem to be doing a bit better on the sea bass, and Virginia boats are reporting solid numbers of bass.
Anglers fishing Indian River are getting flounder here and there plus throwback stripers. The back bay in Ocean City has come alive with a scattered flounder bite but most of the fish are short — casting jigs with Gulp! Jerk Shad and Swimming Mullet and retrieving near bottom has been a good way to land flounder, as well as some (throwback) rockfish near evening, especially around the Route 50 bridge. Anglers fishing bloodworm or squid on bottom rigs have also discovered the first croaker of the year have showed up behind Ocean City, in the Thoroughfare. Two cobia and a couple sea trout also showed up in the Ocean City inlet this week, to keep things interesting.
In the surf things have slowed down significantly from Assateague north. Delaware anglers are still getting a kingfish here and there but that bite seems to have dropped off quite a bit and the past week there were more skates caught than anything. Our Coastal Correspondent spent several days on Assateague this week with very little to show for it, just a handful of throwback flounder. Down in Virginia, however, Oceans East is reporting that kingfish, (snapper) bluefish, and croaker have all been plentiful in the surf, and using sand flea, peeler crab, and bloodworms on bottom rigs has been the way to get them. Sand fleas have been fingered as the top pick.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 6/15/2018:
The big day is here, the first white marlin of the season has been released! The folks at Island Tackle let us know that the 53’ Stalker and her crew raised, hooked, and released the fish at around 8:30 this past Wednesday morning. Congrats to the crew for their accomplishment (and that $15K award!) We’re not saying targeting marlin right now is your best option, but it could produce an anomaly if you’re lucky. The tuna bite, on the other hand, could not be any hotter. Bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna are getting brought in at the Baltimore and Wilmington canyons, with yellowfin and bluefin chomping on the troll in a variety of spots around the 30 and 40 fathom lines. Coastal Correspondent John Unkart let us know that the tuna bite busted wide-open on Thursday with multiple boats reporting double-digit yellowfin catches and in addition to yellowfin the Marli caught three – count ‘em, three – bigeye in one day. The offshore fleet to the south has been hard at work, with Virginia Beach boats reporting good numbers of yellowfin plus a bigeye here and there. Captain Stan Gold let us know that deep dropping has been productive, too, with jumbo sea bass and blueline tilefish, plus black bellied rosefish, aboard the latest charter on the Blind Date.
Back home closer to shore, up at Indian River there have been some flounder caught inside the inlet but boats working the wrecks and reefs report mediocre sea bass action. Bass have been a bit better to the south, where Capt. Monty on the Morning Star says he’s working hard, but his anglers are doing well on the bass. The bay behind Ocean City and Assateague has also been okay for flounder, when using white Gulp Jerk Shad and Swimming Mullet. Most are throwbacks, but there are keepers mixed in. Small rockfish are getting plinked around the Rt. 50 bridge when jigging, but these aren’t in the keeper class. Our Coastal Correspondent also let us know that sea trout had showed up at the south Jetty in Ocean City.
On the surf in Virginia and Maryland, kingfish and blues are consistent with bloodworms and cut bait, respectively. Up towards Delaware kingfish are hitting bloodworms and some black drum are getting suckered into biting razor clams, though the big spring rush seems to be over. The beaches have also had some action with sharks, as the days are getting warmer.
Editor’s note: Mollie Rudow is on break; this week’s reports were compiled by FishTalk intern Parker Martin.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 6/8/2018:
Big news this week for Delaware anglers: Old Inlet Tackle Shop has reported a new pending state record for a 640 pound thresher shark. This is just the beginning of the big news, though, since the offshore scene has seen a huge uptick in tuna action. Bluefins are slashing at bait towards the 30 fathom line and are also hanging around temperature breaks. The OC fleet is also reporting red-hot action; one day mid-week the Marli caught their three bluefin then released another shocking 17 bluefin… and then added nine yellowfin to the box!! Meanwhile the Restless Lady II hit the docks with a cool dozen tuna fish in the box. It’s happening, people!
The Virginia Beach fleet is also scoring on a mix of bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Some boats are reporting catches of four to six fish, and some others are hitting their limits on yellowfin in the 30 to 50 pound range, caught on trolled ‘hoo. A few mahi are mixed in here and there, but they don’t seem to have arrived in mass numbers just yet.
Inshore boat fishermen targeting sea bass seem to have better luck as you move southward. Delaware boats are reporting mostly shorts, Maryland boats are reporting a mix, and Virginia boats are reporting limit or near-limit catches after also sorting through a lot of throw-backs. There haven't been any reports of flounder on the inshore reefs yet but this should change soon, and hopefully expand the options of inshore anglers.
Surf fishing has been a make or break scenario, folks. Everywhere from Dewey Beach, to Bethany, down to the south rockpiles have been either turned on or ice-cold. Bluefish have been very spotty up and down the coast while rockfish have been slim pickings and undersized when found. On the flip-side, kingfish have been all over the beaches when bloodworms are fished on small hooks, so be sure to get out early to catch the height of the bite. Bethany Beach has had a solid amount of commotion. Coastal Correspondent John Unkart checked in and let us know that while the bite isn’t necessarily steady there are some quality fish to be had in the surf, and several chopper blues were pulled in through the suds this week. Another exciting event this week was the first confirmed sheepshead catch in Ocean City, a 10.5 pounder that ate a sand flea fished at the South jetty. John also mentioned that the flounder bite has been okay in the Thoroughfare and near the duck blind.
Editor’s note: Mollie Rudow is on break; this week’s reports were compiled by FishTalk intern Parker Martin.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 6/1/2018:
The big news as June begins: offshore action finally took off this week, with Coastal Correspondent John Unkart reporting a mix of species hitting the docks. Yellowfin, mahi mahi, bluefin, bigeye, and thresher shark were all reported coming in to Ocean City. We also had two reader reports of bluefin from near the Poorman's and one of yellowfin (unconfirmed) from Baltimore. The temp charts show several temp breaks from near the Norfolk up to just south of Baltimore Canyon, ranging from 62/64 to 65/68 with the warmer water pushing in, so with a little luck this action should continue to improve. Stan Gold, captain of Blind Date Charters, reported that they had a successful offshore trip out of VA this week, bringing in their limit of blueline tilefish, some golden tilefish, blackbellied rosefish, and hake.
Closer to home, Capt. Gold also mentioned that some cobia have begun to show up inshore, and were being caught catch and release - up until today, when the season comes in. The cobia are being sighted both outside and inside the mouth of the Bay; see the Way South and VA Report, for more. At the Light Tower, spadefish have moved in and can now be effectively targeted by chumming clams and fishing small hooks baited with clam bits. Also inshore, the sea bass bite on clam baits has been decent if not red-hot from Virginia up through Maryland, with a lot of shorts being reported but still a steady enough bite to eventually fill the box. Anglers do seem to be doing better the farther they travel out.
Bayside the flounder bite has been described as sporadic in Indian River, but in Ocean City, although the vast majority of fish are undersized it's become an active fishery with lots of bites. One day this week the Get Sum caught 27 flounder, of which seven were keepers. Gulp Jerk Shad and Swimming Mullet fished on bucktails and jig heads are the best bet but the traditional squid/minnow sandwich will also do the trick. Our Coastal Correspondent also reported that the flounder are primarily being caught around the Thoroughfare, with some down south near "the duckblind." There are also a good number of stripers prowling around the Rt 50 bridge, but they're too small to keep.
In the surf the bite has ranged between epic and dead, with no apparent rhyme or reason. Reports from the Delaware beaches (as well as Indian River) down through the Maryland beaches on one day include blues and (short) stripers on cut mullet, kingfish on bloodworms, and still some black drum here and there on clam or sand flea baits. The next day, getting a bite becomes impossible. John Unkart had two utterly bite-less days on Assateague this week. Hopefully, that bite will turn around and soon.