Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, July 29 Update:
Anglers: with both sorrow and joy, we inform you of the departure of our Fishing Reports Editor Mollie Rudow. Mollie has begun a different chapter in her life with a new full-time job and will no longer be the driving force behind our angling intel. We wish her all the best, and thank her for four years of compiling the FishTalk fishing reports. We do have a new die-hard angler lined up to step in and fill the void – stay tuned for next week’s big announcement!
Weather was been tough on the offshore fleet at times this week and we didn’t hear much from that crowd, so fingers are crossed that the yellowfin are still staging on the inshore lumps off of OC in good numbers. Just prior to the winds kicking up there was a solid bite at the Ham Bone, with many boats reporting multiple tunas on the deck. From Virginia Beach, most of the word has been about mahi-mahi and blueline tilefish.
Inshore anglers have fared a bit better, though the conditions were still less than ideal most of the past week. Captain Cook says there are flounder biting on the wrecks and a few stripers and blues are along the Delaware shore; night fishing is best for the rock and blues. On the Morning Star, Captain Monty is reporting decent catches of sea bass though most anglers aren’t hitting the limit. Fortunately, the action is being spiced up with some schools of peanut dolphin zipping around the inshore waters. Plus, some flounder are coming over the rails. Farther south along the coast Spanish mackerel have been the main target of trollers, with a smattering of bluefish and ribbonfish spicing up the catch. Flounder fishing has also been good for those drifting the wrecks and reefs off the VA coast with some limit catches reported recently and Gulp! Swimming Mullet in pink, green, or white getting the job done.
Dave from Shark Whisperers reports that the OC inlet has provided some interesting fishing recently, with sheepshead present but playing hard to get, some small tog snapping at the baits, and some trigger fish being hauled up on the rocks.
In the HOLY COW department, we have two cool fish of note this week: angler Tyler Adams caught a 41-inch cobia from the beach. The catch was made on a chunk of cut fish, while casting from the sands of Ocean City – congrats, Tyler, that is one cool surf fishing event! On the beaches of Assateague, meanwhile, Dave Moore was guiding an angler when an angel shark grabbed the bait. That might not be as tasty as a cobia but hey, that’s one you don’t see every year!
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, July 21 Update:
It seems a chunk bite has come on along the inshore lumps! A reader checked in mid-week after hitting the Ham Bone and tying into 10 yellowfin, another let us know he put four on the board, and a third checked in with four tunas plus a pile of blueline tilefish. Staying inshore also produced mahi for some anglers, and Captain Monty on the Morning Star mentioned that in-between drops for sea bass this week he encountered multiple schools of dolphin. Captain Cook also reports a good bass bite and great flounder fishing at DelJerseyland, plus a striper bite at night. Word from the Virginia Beach fleet, meanwhile, was focused more on the tilefish plus an uptick in the number of mahi and white bites coming at the canyons. Trollers working closer to the beach were picking up a mix of Spanish mackerel and cutlass fish.
The AIC reports that here’s an active summer bite on the beach in Bethany his week. He noted that on the last of the outgoing tide a mix of kingfish, spot, and (lots of small) dogfish were hitting Fishbites bloodworm flavor combined with a tidbit of squid, fished on kingfish rigs. Anglers casting larger baits intended for blues were mostly reeling up skates. He also noted that on the low tide the fish were well off the beach as opposed to in the breakers, and long casts were a must.
The Route 50 inlet and bridge in OC have some sheepshead biting, plus a smattering of blues. The main attraction, however, is flounder. They’ve been biting strong and aren’t slowing down. Drifting squid and shrimp strips or bouncing soft plastics off bottom for them is common.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, July 15 Update:
Big news from the offshore front, the Talkin’ Trash scored big with a 256-pound bigeye tuna, and even though the Reel Crazy had a monster 275-pounder aboard, it pushing the Talkin' Trash's stringer into first place in the OC Tuna Tournament. Mega-congrats go out to our friend lifelong angler turned pro mate (on the Talkin’ Trash, of course) Josh Lowery!! Unfortunately, we don’t have a ton of other good news to report from the deep. Tuna fishing overall has been spotty, and although a relatively good number of bigeye have showed up, yellowfins have been in short supply more often than not. We heard from a reader trolling the Washington last weekend that there were certainly a lot more boats there than tuna and they scored a zero on the troll before successfully deep-dropping on the bluelines. We heard a similar story from a reader departing Virginia Beach (no canyon specified) who also said dropping baits to bottom saved the day.
Wreck and reef anglers are enjoying standard-issue summer sea bass fishing and an increasing flounder bite as well. Capt. Monty is reporting good if not spectacular bites on the Morning Star with some customers taking home limits and most at least gathering up dinner; he also did encounter the first inshore mahi-mahi of the season this week. Inshore anglers in Virginia Beach are reporting a consistently increasing number of Spanish mackerel chewing on their spoons plus some ribbonfish are around. Ocean’s East suggested pulling Clark spoons for the Spanish mackerel, and Rapala CD MAG 18 rigs for the ribbonfish.
Surf anglers are enjoying a variety of species right now, as many move up the coast and settle into their summer abodes. Shark catches off OC and Assateague were reported this week, plus a smattering of smaller fish. Kingfish, bluefish, croaker, spot, and flounder are all coming in. Bloodworms and squid strips are a great bait for these species, save the bluefish who are more prone to taking fresh cut mullet or spot.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, July 8 Update:
While stormy weather made it tough to get offshore for a chunk of this week, what we heard from anglers who did get out prior was more of the same: yellowfin have been spotty, but the blueline tilefish are providing an uber-reliable backup plan. We had a report of one yellowfin followed by tiles at the Washington, and of zero trolling bites at the Parking Lot followed by an excellent surprise (see below!) while heading back to the barn. Then midweek reports began picking up a bit and some boats were hitting the dock in OC with a nice pile of yellowfin in the box. A reader checking in from Virginia Beach stuck with the tilefish report… so it should be considered iffy at the canyons, but there are some tunas out there.
Inshore, Capt. Monty on the Morning Star is reporting a steady pick on some nice sea bass on the wrecks and reefs out of OC, but an up and down bite overall from day to day. Flounder seem to be a bit thinner on the reefs than usual for this point in the season, but that’s not at all the case in the ESVA coastal bays. Reports from Chincoteague, Wachapreague, and on down the line continue to be better than expected with spring-like action and limit catches not at all unusual. This week we heard from two readers who plugged their box with fish up to 24 inches. Farther down the coast in VA waters Spanish mackerel and ribbonfish are providing a fast bite for inshore trollers pulling plugs and spoons, and there are some schools of monster reds prowling close to the coast to keep things interesting – very interesting.
Dave Moore from Shark Whisperers checked in to let us know that the beaches of Assateague were invaded first by rays and then by a flock of bull reds last week, and they caught them up to 49-inches and at one point had a quadruple hookup—now that’s what we call a nice surprise! He also noted that a sand tiger and a backtip made it into the wash, and for those casting smaller rigs kingfish were plentiful.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, July 1 Update:
The AIC reports that a trip offshore to the edge south of the Washington late last week produced a few yellowfin bites, but just a few, and one of the two tuna cranked up to the boat was undersized (the other around 40 pounds). Blueline tilefish were biting much better when squid baits were dropped to bottom in about 300 feet of water, with a couple in the 10-pound class swinging over the gunwales. He also mentioned that the entire Virginia Beach fleet seemed to be in the area, there was a lot of moaning and groaning on the VHF airwaves, and although they heard of a bigeye being caught most boats had zero or one yellowfin in the box. Other reports mirrored this, with many anglers ranging from the Poor Mans down to the Norfolk striking out on the troll then turning to tilefish to get a bent rod. An interesting catch of note out of OC this weekend, angler Steve Schad went for the deep drop when it became apparent the tuna wouldn’t cooperate, and came up with a pair of cusk in the 20 to 30 pound class in 1,300 feet of water. Now that’s one we don’t hear about too often!
Sea bass are providing a very summerish bite on the inshore wrecks and reefs, with most anglers catching enough to keep them happy but fewer limits than a red-hot bite would provide. Capt. Monty on the Morning Star says some of his anglers are hitting double digits most of the time. He also had an influx of cutlassfish plus a few flounder during the past week. Congrats go out this week to “inshore” oceanic angler Farral Stackhouse, who boldly beach-launched his kayak from Assateague during the Fish N Paddle Saltwater Slam tournament last weekend, sighted a 46.25-pound cobia, cast to it (with 20-pound gear no less), and smashed numerous tournament records after landing the beast. WTG, Farral!
The inlets and back bays are producing a strong, ongoing flounder bite. Drifting squid chunks and bouncing lures off bottom is working for them with catches bigger on the ESVA than in Maryland, where throwbacks are very common. Some readers have begun fishing the Virginia Beach inlets at night for redfish - successfully - as the daytime crowds and summer mid-day slowdowns arrive. One noted catching them on the fly, using small brown and orange crab flies with some tinsel (thanks for that tip, Tim!)