Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 7/27/2018 Update:
Notice: Due to the torrential downpours and high winds, the fishing report may be a bit abbreviated this week. It was difficult to locate many people who were able to fish, much less those who have caught, within the past five days.
Surf fishing was shut down most of the week, but we do have one current report from the suds. It became (just barely) possible to hold bottom again yesterday (Thursday), and Coastal Correspondent John Unkart immediately hit the beach on Assateague. It didn’t take long for kingfish, croaker, and spot to start snapping on bloodworm-flavored Fishbites, despite the water being dirty and discolored.
Heading through the inlets was a non-option this week, as high winds and rain made conditions downright dangerous. Angler in chief Lenny Rudow reports that just before the mess began, last Friday they found good water but tuna with lockjaw at Masseys, icky green water in Baltimore, and some mahi willing to eat in much better water, in Poor Man’s. Reports from many anglers at the dock told a similar story as the tuna could be spotted on the meter but had shut down. However, it's a sure bet that the deck has been shuffled by the recent weather and everyone heading offshore should be prepared to do some exploring, as opposed to choosing and sticking with a spot based on past reports.
Inshore, the wrecks and reefs from Delaware down through Virginia had a good flounder bite, but again, it’s gone untested since last Friday. Some brave souls have managed to soak bloodworms on the bottom in Indian River inlet, where some croaker were willing to bite this week. We can’t say the same for the OC inlet, as we didn’t talk with anyone who had current intel. That said, hopefully the decent flounder action in the Thoroughfare and the channel edges inside the route 50 bridge from a week ago will pick right back up this weekend. Gulp! Jerk Shad and Swimming Mullet jigged alone bottom were the best offerings, prior to the storms. Along the Virginia coast, again, we couldn't find much reliable intel thanks to the weather. Ocean's East did say that they had heard of some kingfish in the surf and flounder near structure, but that's about it.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 7/19/2018 Update:
Reports from Delaware, Ocean City, and Virginia Beach indicate that the inshore fishery for flounder is now in full swing. Anglers drifting top-and-bottom Fluke Killers with Gulp! Swimming Mullet are catching excellent numbers of flatfish from virtually all of the reef locations, and plenty of people are hitting their limit. Anglers using squid strips are catching fewer flounder, but are adding some decent sea bass to the cooler.
As for the offshore report, Captain Dale on the Heatwave reports an excellent mixed bag coming off the ocean, catching yellowfin tuna, dolphin, tilefish, and a blue marlin out of Wachapreague last weekend. Mahi Mahi have kept the action in the ocean salty and exciting with great numbers this summer, spread throughout weed-beds and other floating objects like lobster balls. Capt. Stan from Blind Date Charters reports that deep dropping offshore for blueline and golden tilefish remains a solid bet when the winds allow for offshore runs, too. There's also some chatter of a mixed yellowfin/bluefin bite at the Masseys.
According to the Ocean City Fishing Center fishing in the inlet and back bays has been good. Sheepshead have been around lately, mainly being targeted with green crab and peeler. The Route 50 Bridge has seen a fair bite for flounder, too. Using a four to six inch plastic and jigging right on the bottom with a chartreuse or white color has done the job, as has baiting up with squid and/or minnow. Indian River is seeing sheepshead here and there as well, but the better bite is for croaker. A few flounder are also coming from the inlet and Massey’s Ditch.
Coastal Correspondent John Unkart checked in to let us know that the kingfish were biting once again in the surf on Assateague, along with spot and a snapper blue here and there. Using small #4 and #6 hooks was key for catching the spot, which when turned into bait, produced the aforementioned snapper blues as well as some whopping-big stingrays. He also confirmed that the flounder bite in the bay behind Ocean City remains well above par, with some anglers smoking 'em. Plus, he mentioned that a couple of cobia were picked up this week at Little Gull.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 7/13/2018:
The surf bite remains slow, with just a kingfish or a snapper here and there from Delaware south through the region. But if that's bad news, it's the only bad news of the week! Fishing in the bays and inlets has been a highlight, and Indian River is holding croaker (try bloodworm or peeler crab on bottom) plus some flounder (minnow/squid on a Fluke Killer or Gulp! on a jighead), and the Ocean City Fishing Center noted that while wind was a problem last weekend those staying close to home enjoyed some killer fishing for sheepshead and flounder in the inlet and around the Route 50 bridge. Six-inch BKDs or Gulp! lures in chartreuse, pearl, and pink with a slow retrieve along bottom has been highly effective for the fluke, both up at Indian River and in Ocean City. Anglers dropping cut baits such as peeler or green crab for the sheepshead will have the most success in OC or farther south down at the CBBT. Small tog have been mixed in with them, too, in the OC inlet. Coastal Correspondent John Unkart heard from Uncle Tom, who banged out limit catches of flounder on minnow/squid combos multiple days this week in the Thoroughfare, including fish up to 23 inches. He also noted that a couple black drum were mixed in with the sheepshead, for anglers fishing sand fleas at the south jetty.
Offshore, yellowfin returned to the Washington and there are also very strong numbers of mahi there. Lots of commercial gear in the area has been set up, so the mahi have plenty to stick around and bailers can take advantage of the opportunity.
Unkart also said flounder catches on the wrecks and reefs has spiked dramatically this week, with Captain Caffrey (On the Run Carters) mentioning he had a flounder double-header this week – one fish was four pounds, and the other was five! Captain Monty on the Morning Star confirms the uptick in flattie action, as do boats working farther north out of Delaware’s Indian River. Bottom line: if you enjoy fishing the inshore reefs and wrecks for flounder, NOW is the time – it’s on.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 7/6/2018:
There’s a TON of excellent fishing to report from the DelMarVa coast, so we’ll get the slow stuff out of the way right off the bat: surf fishing on the Delaware beaches has dropped off to include a sparse kingfish here and there, on bloodworms fished on bottom rigs. One reader reported fishing all morning in Bethany for one bite. The same is true on the Maryland beaches, although Anglers says they heard of a few sand tigers and sand bar sharks coming from Assateague. Word from Virginia's surf was a bit better, with some snapper blues in the mix as well, but still nothing to get excited about. In the coastal bays there’s been a good bit more action. Anglers fishing Massey’s and inside Indian River have been sorting through mostly throw-back flounder, but are putting a few in the cooler while drifting Fluke Killers with Gulp! Swimming Mullet, or the traditional minnow/squid sandwich. Same goes for the bay behind Ocean City, where Coastal Correspondent John Unkart says the bite has been consistent. However, if your boat is large enough and seaworthy enough to pop through the inlet, the near-shore shoals are producing unusually good action. Capt. John Prather of the Ocean City Guide Service trolled just east of Big Gull and caught six king mackerel plus Spanish mackerel one day this week. Out at the Second Lump, the Last Call loaded up on bluefish, and caught a mixed bag of bonito, Spanish Mackerel, king mackerel, and mahi-mahi. Trolling Tony Acetta and Clarke spoons is the best way to get in on the action.
Captain Monty on the Morning Star, also out of Ocean City MD, has seen some mahi come over the rails too – even though he doesn’t troll. Meanwhile, he says that the high man on the boat is in double digits and sometimes even limited on sea bass – and one day last week they limited-out the entire boat in an hour and thirty-five minutes. He’s happy to send folks home with a nice fish fry and some a lot better, and feels that fishing's not bad at all. The flounder on the inshore wrecks and reefs, however, continue to tease. They catch a few some days, but nothing that would cause him to say "we're catching flounder."
Offshore, the tuna have mostly pushed north. The Wilmington is still producing and some were caught this past week down to the Poor Mans, but it’s not the same frantic action of a couple weeks ago. Those with their heart set on tuna fish may want to stick with the inshore lumps off the Maryland and Delaware coasts, where some bluefin have been caught either chunking or on WWB (way way back) lines pulling blue/while Ilanders with ballyhoo. Remember to hold that rig close to the boat and verify that your ballyhoo is swimming nicely, before sending it all the way back there for hours at a time.
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow says he fished two days on the Heat Wave out of Wachapreague, VA (many thanks to Captain Dale and crew!) and had quite an eventful weekend as well as enjoying the good company of Dale, Kevin, Jane, Kevin, David, and Max. They discovered a crazy number of mako shark from the 30 to 50 fathom lines, caught four while trolling, and saw what looked like more free-jumping. As if that wasn’t surprising enough, they also had three white bites and one blue marlin attack. When they found the weeds, they also discovered oodles of mahi between five and 15 pounds. They boated around a dozen but some of the boats in the marina which had focused purely on catching mahi reported dozens, plural. Stopping and dropping on blueline tilefish produced a limit including a handful over 10 pounds. Boats out of Virginia Beach were also reporting multiple shots at marlin, so it seems safe to say that if you’re heading for the Washington or points south, it’s game on for billfish.