Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 11/30/2018 update:
The big stripers still haven’t showed up just yet for surf anglers hitting the beaches, but on the Delaware beaches and down into Maryland some throw-backs are being caught on mullet and bunker. A few bigger fish have made brief appearances in the lower Delaware Bay and at Indian River, so they could show up in good numbers literally any day now. New Jersey anglers have had the fish for a couple weeks now so stay tuned in the coming weeks as we get reports of their southward travels. Meanwhile, there are still blues in the surf from Assateague down through Virginia. However, most of them remain small snappers with only an occasional fish of two or more pounds chewing on your mullet.
Coastal bay waters have been housing meandering schoolie stripers that have decided to stick it out just a little longer before migrating. The structures behind Ocean City, both the Rt. 50 and Rt. 90 bridges, have produced good action on jigs with 7” BKDs and similar soft plastics or swimbaits. Every now and then a keeper gets caught, but he vast majority of these fish are undersized.
Tautog are starting to wake up for the winter both in the bays and inshore waters. Many, many, many of those being caught along the rocks in Indian River, the Ocean City jetties and the bulkhead along the East channel, and also along the CBBT, are toss-backs. Sand fleas and crab baits will both get them biting but plan on lots of culling and a little luck, if you want to take fish home with you. If you have access to the wrecks and the reefs off the coast you’ll have a much better shot at putting fish in the box with the larger tautog mostly sticking to deeper water. However, the black sea bass bite is still stealing the show out there. Capt. Monty on the Morning Star had been reporting limit catches of bass when the weather allows access to the reefs and wrecks.
The offshore scene is still providing some action off the Continental Shelf. There are reports of several yellowfin over 50 pounds and some swordfish. Not nearly as many this past week as last week, but this may be due as much to the winds keeping most boats at the dock as to the quality of the fishing. Previous reports did have fish from the Baltimore all the way down to Norfolk Canyon, and recent SST shots show some warmth in Norfolk, so even if the fish are pushing south now, boats with long ranges or leaving from Virginia should be able to reach them. Deep droppers, meanwhile, are still having no problem locating tilefish. However, the number of spiny dogfish is steadily creeping up and they have been problematic in some areas. This will grow worse as the waters cool so if you want to get in a shot at the tiles, now’s a good time!
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 11/22/18 update:
Happy Thanksgiving, anglers! As it get colder and colder out there several bites have stayed pretty consistent for those on the coast. Starting with the offshore scene, the fall is giving a few boats that are still heading offshore their fair share of action off the continental shelf. There are reports of several yellowfin in warm water at the Washington and Norfolk, and even a few bigeye being hauled in with a variety of hardware including rigged ballyhoo, spreader bars, and green stick rigs. The 800/800 line has also provided action recently. Deep dropping with eels has allowed for that rare chance at a swordfish and a few large ones have been caught but there are also reports of boats pulling up small swords. Keep in mind that the broadbill action could still get even better for those who delay winterizing and see a weather window.
On the sandy side of things, kingfish are being caught with consistency with bloodworms on tandem hooks in southern parts of the region but grow thinner and thinner as you head north, with most of them having departed Delaware’s waters entirely. Snapper bluefish are following almost the exact same pattern, except that anglers are picking at the blues with greater frequency from the Maryland beaches south through Virginia. Try using finger mullet on Doodlebug or mullet rigs to entice the larger ones; it’ll be tough to weed through all the 10 inch fish for a stab at the occasional two or three pounder. The striper run is still passing through our northern neighbors as we speak. New Jersey anglers are getting the delight of rockfish on the beach, with a few reporting monstrous fish up to 40 pounds. The first catches from Delaware have now been reported so this bite will hopefully pick up in the coming weeks.
Striper fishing has been better, but for throwbacks, near structures in Ocean City. Both the Rt. 50 and Rt. 90 bridges have produced schoolie action on jigs with seven-inch BKDs. Better fishing in the bays has been discovered by those looking for tautog. This species is starting to rear its head in time for the winter with good bites being reported from the Icebreaker and Outer Wall in Delaware Bay, at the rocks in Indian River and Ocean City, at the Rt. 50 bridge and along the East Channel bulkhead in OC, and at the CBBT. Many, many of these fish are tossbacks, mind you, with a keeper-to-throwback ratio of 10 to one or even double that in some areas, with sand fleas and crab baits triggering the action. See Tautog Fishing: These Fish Like It Cold, for a refresher on where and how to catch 'em.
If you move out towards the wrecks and the reefs off the coast of the beaches you’ll receive much greater success with tautog of keeper sizes. And what of the black sea bass? The charters and head boats are still limiting out on most days. We heard from Captain Cook of First Light Charters in Delaware and Capt. Monty on the Morning Star in OC that the bass bite has been excellent and Cook added in that he found a good mix of bass and tog at reefs in the 95 foot depth range.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 11/16/18 update:
Temperatures are dropping, but the bite has stayed pretty consistent for those on the coast. Since few boats have been getting off the dock due to winds recently, we’ll start on the sandy side of things, and on the beach from Assateague south kingfish are still being caught with consistency with bloodworms on tandem hooks. Bluefish are following almost the same pattern, except that anglers are picking at the blues with greater frequency now that the mullet and bunker are running. Try using finger mullet on doodlebug rigs to entice the larger ones but note that it’ll be tough to weed through all the 10-inch fish for a stab at the occasional two or three pounder. The striper run, meanwhile, is still passing through our northern neighbors as we speak. New Jersey anglers are getting the delight of their lives though, with a few reporting monstrous 40 pound fish just off the coast of the turnpike. It looks like we still have a while to go until we start surf-casting for these bad boys, so stay tuned in the coming weeks as we get reports of their southward travel.
The inshore and bay waters have been housing some meandering stripers that have decided to stick it out just a few more weeks until migrating. Procrastination on their end has allowed us a stab at them with limited success in Indian River inlet (though most are throwbacks), where there are also a few small tog being pulled from around the rocks on sand fleas. There’s been some good fishing near the structures of Ocean City for schoolie stripers, with both the Rt. 50 and Rt. 90 bridges produced all the action you desire on jigs with seven inch BKD’s attached to them. Tautog are starting to rear their heads in time for the winter and are around structure in and inside the OC inlet but many, many of which are tossbacks, mind you. If you move out towards the wrecks and the reefs off the coast you’ll receive much greater success with the larger tautog and flounder alike. Black sea bass and tog at the reefs and wrecks? The charters from Indian River, Ocean City, and Virginia Beach are limiting out on most days when the weather allows them out. Captain Cook on the First Light let us know that Monday was the only day of the week weather allowed for fishing in the ocean, but in 90 feet of water they had a ball with tog, sea bass, and also triggerfish. Sheepshead, on the other hand, seem to have moved out of northern waters. The northernmost point we heard of any this week was the CBBT, where sand fleas had ‘em biting.
OFFSHORE RED ALERT: Lastly, we’ve got a special treat. A few brave boats ventured out to the canyons (mostly on Monday when the wind was down a bit) to see what’s been happening, and it looks like the tuna are hanging around to play. There are reports from Poor Man’s down to the Norfolk of good numbers of yellowfin (all over 50 pounds) and a few bigeye being hauled in with a variety of hardware. Ballyhoo, cedar plugs, spreader bars and the like are all great, but the green sticking method has also been a hot ticket as of right now. A few brave boats have also reported multiple swordfish catches on recent forays offshore, as well.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 11/9/18 update:
Temperatures are dropping, but the bite has stayed pretty consistent for those on the coast. Headboats are still getting out, and are coming back with many a happy angler. Most charter vessels headed out to the wrecks and reefs are hauling back limits of black sea bass and still some flounder. Many of the flounder are close to hitting the five-pound range, and most are being caught on drifting live mullet or strip baits. Either way, the bite doesn’t appear to be slowing down, so get out there sometime this week before your attention is devoted fully to the striper migration. Tog are also in play, with the best catches thus far being reported from off the Delaware coast but boats taking some fish throughout the region.
Moving on to the bays, the inlets have been producing lots of bluefish. Night has been having a great bite after dark, and it looks like it may increase as the new moon will cause some stronger currents and tides. A few flounder are being hauled up using squid, clams, and even white GULP mullet baits, too. Massey’s Ditch in Delaware and the inlet and East channel in OC have been the spots. Other great spots to head to inshore would be the Rt. 50 bridge pilings and the back bays of Assateague, as well as the Fenwick Ditch. Both inlets are also reporting small tog and a few nice sized sheepshead for those fishing fleas or crab baits, and the occasional keeper striper. Using 1.5-ounce jigs with seven-inch tails in chartreuse near the pilings and structures will give you the best chance for the striped bass, as the schools are suspended in the middle of the water column. Anglers hitting Virginia's inlets, meanwhile, are enjoying steady speckled trout action of soft plastics; most of the fish are throw-backs or in the barely-keeper range, but a few gators have showed up, too.
On the sandy side of things, kingfish are being caught with some consistency with bloodworms on tandem hook doodlebug rigs. Snapper bluefish are eating in the surf, too, except that anglers are picking at the blues with even greater frequency. Try using finger mullet on specific mullet rigs to entice the larger ones, but it’ll be tough to weed through all the 10-inch fish for a stab at the occasional two or three pounder. We didn’t hear of drum north of Virginia this week, but they are popping up here and there along the Virginia coast. There'e more nearby action in these areas in the Way South and VA report, as the CBBT and lower Bay zone are looking like a pretty good option right now.
The striper run is still passing through our northern neighbors as we speak. New Jersey anglers are getting the delight of their lives, with a few reporting monstrous 40-pound fish just off the coast off the turnpike. It looks like we still have some time to go until we start surfcasting for these bad boys, so stay tuned in the coming weeks as we get reports of their southward endeavors.
Weather has made getting offshore difficult and the last report we had of offshore action now goes back over a week, of the bailers targeting mahi. They may still be out there, but if so we can’t confirm it. What we can confirm, however, is that when conditions are good the headboats have been putting a hurt on the sea bass and still some flounder at the inshore wrecks and reefs from Delaware all the way down to the Virginia coast (with more flounder reported the farther south you go). Many anglers around the rail have been catching their limits of bass, with clam baits triggering the best bite. In the coastal areas south of the Chesapeake blues and a few Spanish are still solid possibilities for inshore trollers pulling spoons.
Back on the beaches, the striper bite hasn’t picked up yet along the DelMarVa coast and last we heard the bulk of the fish were off Jersey but some contacts have said that they aren’t even in the Ocean City, New Jersey area just yet and remain farther north. Look to focus your efforts on other species for now. Fortunately, the beaches will provide you with a crazy amount of small bluefish (most are under 14 or 15 inches) and a kingfish here and there. No big chopper bluefish have been reported as of yet but that could happen any day; keep some big chunks of mullet out there on Doodlebugs with wire leaders to prospect for them. The red drum bite in the surf is still hit or miss with mostly misses being reported, but anglers on Assateague Island down through Virginia’s beaches will still have a shot at them at this point of the year. As with the flounder and other species departing as the water cools, the farther south you go the better your chances of encountering them right now.
In Indian River and Ocean City flounder have become rarer while the tog bite along rocks and bulkheads has been picking up steam. Unfortunately most of the catch in both inlets has been undersized fish, but with a few sheepshead still lingering to boot if you play your cards right (use sand fleas) you might get lucky! Meanwhile, the striper bite around the Rt. 50 bridge in Ocean City is still happening, but again most of these fish are sub-legal.