Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report 4/27/2018:
Up north in Delaware waters, the first flounder of the season have showed up. The numbers aren't great, but hitting Indian River for spring flatties is now a viable option. Just as good to hear, tog are still biting on the inshore wrecks and reefs, with green crab and peeler crab providing the best action. Just a bit farther south in Ocean City, we heard from Coastal Correspondent John Unkart that several flounder have been caught from the OC inlet up to Rt. 90 bridge, where Alyson Airey caught a 26-inch, seven pound flounder on a bucktail. Underside rockfish seem to be all over the bay with catches reported from Rt. 90 bridge to the Assateague Island bridge. The first of the spring bluefish - along with skates - were also reported by surf fisherman. Surf fishing typically picks up first week in May with a bluefish run, along with striper catches beginning, so now's a great time to get out and give it a shot. Anglers fishing off the Oceanic Pier have had scattered catches of bluefish, flounder, underside rockfish and even some hickory shad over the past week, too.
Virginia's eastern shore inlets and coastal bays have come alive, with good numbers of flounder being caught in Wachapreague, Chincoteague, and Quimby. Jigging bucktails tipped with Gulp and drifting minnow on fluke killers have been top ways to get them.
Captain Stan Gold, of Blind Date Charters, chimed in to let us know that he's starting to see some red and black drum where the waters of the Bay meet the Atlantic ocean. Tautog are still on the wrecks outside the inlets, and some golden tilefish are being caught offshore. Blueline tilefish opens on May first, with black seabass opening on May 15th - something many anglers are certainly looking forward to. Sea Hawk chimed in to let us know that clam has been the best bait to get the drum biting. Oceans East reports that the CBBT has been a hotspot for both the flounder and bluefish, with live gudgeon being the bait of choice for the flounder. The inlets have also been hot, particularly for flounder, with some drum in the catch.
Although we don't have any reports of pelagics off the Mid-Atlantic coast just yet, anglers in North Carolina are seeing decent numbers of yellowfin. If the weather continues warming as expected, we could see the first reports coming in the next few weeks. Stay tuned, people... stay tuned.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report 4/20/2018:
Offshore reports have still been relatively slow, as high winds prevented boats from leaving the inlets for most of the past week. Boats that have managed to escape the confines of the region's coastal bays have enjoyed a productive tautog fishery, with some accidental sea bass mixed in with the catch. Green crabs and peeler crabs have been the best baits, followed by clam when available fresh. Tog were the only fish caught that we heard of in Delaweare waters, and not much other action has been reported to the Ocean City Fishing Center, but there have been some guys catching flounder bayside. Most have been small, caught on jigs bounced off bottom. Our coastal correspondent John Unkart was able to confirm these reports and knew of at least three keeper flounder caught this past week. All were caught on separate boats (which gives you a clue about how concentrated and numerous the fish are at this point) and all came from in or near the Thoroughfare. He also knew of some throw-back tog and at least one keeper, caught from around the rocks at the Homer Gudelsky Park. There were also white perch being caught in some of the feeders to Assawoman Bay, on jig heads tipped with bait. These fish were caught in big numbers and many very nice ones from 11 inches and up treated anglers to full coolers. The trick was finding a deep hole, where the fish appear to still be waiting to make their spawning run. Up the bay at the Route 90 bridge, there were also still some throw-back stripers being reported.
Farther south, the reports from Ocean's East were very similar. A few small keeper flounder have been reported in the inlets, mostly caught on jigs bounced along the bottom. When a break in the breeze allowed boats to get out on the ocean, they did find tog biting and some limit catches were reported for anglers using green crab and peeler crab. In Virginia's zone of the DelMarVa coastal inlets there were a few scattered reports of a flounder here and there, but they're mostly few and far between. We did hear from one group of anglers who caught six keeper fish in a day in Wachapreague, the best we've heard of yet.
4/17 Update:
Early week update - we wanted to let everyone know we did receive the first reports of keeper flounder caught in Ocean City this weekend. There were also some throw-back tog and at least one keeper plucked from the jetties, during that short but sweet warm snap.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report 4/13/2018:
Today may be Friday the 13th, but don't let that fool you - it looks to be the warmest day of spring yet for most of our region, winds have been a lot more reasonable lately, and ocean temps are warming up enough to get the fish moving once again. Up near Lewes it hit 47 and down by Cape Charles, 49 and change. That's still not exactly warm, but it's a much appreciated upward trend and a handful of tog were caught up and down the coast this past week with most boats that got out reporting a couple fish per angler. Note for Delaware anglers: DNREC has reported that the end of the Cape Henlopen fishing pier (but only the last 20 feet or so) has been closed due to ice damage. The biggest news of the week, however, comes to us from the NC oceanic water, where a new state bluefin record was set: 877 pounds, caught off Oregon Inlet March 17 and certified as the new mark to beat this Monday. The fish was an amazing 113 inches long!
Our coastal correspondent John Unkart has finally returned from Florida and reports that he's searching for white perch off Assawoman Bay, as our report's being compiled. Stay tuned for an update, on that bite. Meanwhile over by the Route 90 bridge there are still some small stripers providing catch-and-release action. Outside the inlet, tog are biting once again on the wrecks, with green crab proving the best bait. We couldn't find anyone who caught a bluefish in the Maryland surf just yet, but we did hear unconfirmed reports of a few small ones caught up near Indian River and down in NC, so these fish could show up along the coast in numbers any day now.
The report from Oceans East down in Virginia Beach was particularly interesting, as they said that along with finding active tautog and sea bass (closed - expected to reopen May 15) at the Triangles, some (undersized) flounder were caught. Best baits were green crab for the tog and a minnow/squid combo for the flounder. Expect Gulp to become more effective as the water warms up a bit more.
Meanwhile, a bit farther south on the NC beaches scattered catches of both red and black drum plus a few bluefish have trickled in from Red Drum Tackle. Considering the current weather, we should be hearing more about these species in our neck of the woods in the coming days.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report 4/6/2018:
Once again, we have a very thin coastal report because harsh winds have made it near impossible for anglers to get offshore. This has been going on for months now, and as we move into spring has remained true. In Delaware there's been little to no chatter heard from the folks at Hook 'em & Cook 'em, as the Delaware fleet has been locked in at the docks. There was a mention in Eric Burnley's Delaware State report of some small stripers in Indian River inlet being caught, but we were unable to confirm it with any other sources.
In Ocean City and along the Maryland beaches we have zip, zero, nada. However, we should note that the DNR has published a few changes to tautog regs for 2018, and as soon as the wind chills out a bit, that's one species that should be biting. According to the news release the tog season in Maryland will stay open through May 16, then will close until June 30. It reopens July 1 through October 31, with a two fish per person per day (minimum 16") limit. As usual, after passing on this info we're obligated to recommend checking the latest regs for yourself, prior to any fishing trip.
Virginia anglers have also suffered from the wind-induced shut-down, however, both Ocean's East and Bishop's have reported that those who are Jonesing for a bite have discovered a (very) few flounder willing to eat in and near the inlets, in deep water. This has been the best bet for anglers along the coast during this sad stretch of difficult conditions - which will hopefully end very, very soon!