Mid-Atlantic Coastal Fishing Report 11/23/2017 Update:
Happy Thanksgiving, folks! Reports this week from our Coastal Correspondent John Unkart mostly relate to deer hunting instead of fishing, as high winds and falling temperatures put the brakes on much of the area fishing recently. When anglers have been putting their mind to it close to home, however, the tautog have been biting steadily at the Ocean City inlet, at the bulkhead on the bay near eighth street, and the south jetty. Even with the wind, it's also been possible to sneak out to the AT&T wreck (just few miles from the inlet). Just remember to bring lots of extra tackle if you fish here, however, as the snags are just as plentiful as the tautog. The good news here is that while numbers have remained more or less consistent, there are now some larger fish showing up and more keepers in the mix. Sand fleas fished on top-and-bottom rigs remain the top bait. Tog reports are identical from Indian River inlet - steady numbers, and some bigger fish now showing up. Using green crab instead of sand fleas will lower the number of fish you catch, but help cull out some of the smaller fish. See Tautog Fishing: These Fish Like it Cold, to read up on tagging tactics for both shore-bound and boat anglers.
Thanks to the wind we don't have a wreck fishing nor an offshore report for you this week. That said, there's no reason to believe anything should have changed much at the wrecks and reefs other than a possible thinning out of the flounder being caught. Tautog and sea bass should still be present and accounted for. We'd also expect the tog bite at the Ice Breakers and Brandywine to remain good. If anyone fishes in the next couple of days and we catch wind of the results, we'll post an update.
Along the Virginia coast, again, much of the recent past has been a blow-out. One bright spot, however, is that some big stripers have showed up in the CBBT area. It seems a bit strange as they haven't been caught in Delaware nor Maryland waters just yet (we hear the main body of fish is still well to the north, off New Jersey) but plenty of verified catches of keeper stripers up into the 40-inch range have now been made. Check out the Way South & Virginia report, for more info on the bite at the CBBT.
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Fishing Report 11/17/2017: RED ALERT (well, orange alert?)
It's been an interesting week along the beach, to say the least. The offshore bite has continued to be slow overall, however, those making the long run to the canyons have been rewarded with a few fall swordfish in Poor Mans and Washington. We expect to see some swords in the fall, but we most certainly don't expect to see gigantic orange flying saucers in the form of an opah, like the one brought in by Captain Austin Ensor of the Primary Search - who also, incidentally, had a sword aboard and was going for more swords when the opah bit. The fish, common to the Pacific but rarely heard of in this part of the world, was 105 pounds and the first on record ever caught out of Ocean City, MD. This is, without question, the coolest catch made in the Mid-Atlantic that we've heard of all season.
"It fought much like a tuna and took 1.5 hours to bring in," said Ensor. "And it was the best fish I've ever eaten, somewhere between tuna, swordfish, and mako." Congratulations to Ensor and his crew (James Doerzbach, Brian Stewart, and Tommy Clark)!
Meanwhile, the wreck fishing has been producing a variety of species recently up and down the coast. Both tautog and sea bass have been around in past weeks, and are easily caught both on the wrecks and inshore. The same species are also being caught at the Ice Breakers and Brandywine, in Delaware. Taugtog have been taking pieces of green crab, and there have also been some sheepshead mixed in with the sea bass bite, taking clam and sand fleas. Sheepshead numbers grow as you head south and shrink as you head north, and Virginia anglers have a much better shot at them, at this point. Flounder are also on the inshore wrecks and have been taking bait on bottom. Triggerfish are still in town, too, and have been mixed in with the catch if you put some small hooks and baits on the line (remember that triggerfish have small mouths and you need to rig up specifically for them; see Triggerfish Tips, for more info). Capt. Monty on the Morning Star reported that when the weather has allowed the boat to get off the dock the catching has been good, small blues are also in the mix, and he's even had some limit catches aboard.
Some rockfish have started showing up in the inlets at Indian River and Ocean City, and also at the Route 50 bridge in Ocean City, but most haven't been breaking the 30 inch mark. The big migrators have yet to be seen and are still to our north. Some doormat-sized flounder have been caught in the inlets, though, as they migrate offshore.
Surf anglers are still reeling in kingfish on bloodworm baits, and snapper blues on cut mullet and spot.
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Fishing Report 11/10/2017:
The offshore report is bleak, as it has been the past few weeks, and bluewater is no longer the focus of many anglers along the coast. Instead, most anglers leaving the Indian River, Ocean City, and Virginia Inlets are heading straight to inshore wrecks to catch their fill of black sea bass and tautog, as well as flounder. Clam has continued to be a good bait for the bass, however we're getting more reports of anglers dropping spoons to jig them up. The better than expected flounder bite has been a highlight of wreck fishing lately, and some flounder being pulled off the wrecks have been doormats, according to the Ocean City Fishing Center.
Back inside the inlets and at the mouth of the Delaware Bay (at the Ice Breakers and Brandywine), the best bet for good numbers of fish is tossing sand fleas out on bottom rigs for tog, though the vast majority are just undersized. Plug away at them, and you should get a keeper or two and potentially a hold-over sheepshead. There are also some hold-over flounder still being caught passing through. The Virginia inlets have a bit more variety at this point, with tog around rocks (and at the CBBT - more on this in the Way South and VA report) sheepshead still being caught, a few flounder, and still some puppy drum in Rudee.
The surf bite is also holding up well. Kingfish are still present and biting bloodworms, while snapper blues are hitting cut bait on doodlebug rigs. As of his last check-in with us Coastal Correspondent John Unkart had still been pulling kings, an oddball flounder or trout, and snappers out of the suds. However, good hunting seems to have distracted him from fishing the past few days.
Just for the record, other than a few popping up near the CBBT (see the Way South and VA report) we still don't have many solid reports of ocean-run stripers heading down the coast, at least not south of Jersey.
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Fishing Report 11/2/2017:
Offshore fishing has been made hard this week due to the high winds we've been experiencing, not that it's mattered much the way the tail-end of the season has been. Most anglers have been staying inshore, with Hook 'em and Cook 'em reporting the best fishing has been on nearshore and inshore wrecks, for sea bass. In addition to the sea bass bite, tog have moved into the area, providing a great cold water fishery. Tog have been not only found at the wrecks, but in at Indian River inlet and structure at the mouth of the Delaware Bay as well. The inlet has experienced an influx of flounder, as well, who are moving in from colder water. The Ocean City inlet report is much the same, with the sheepshead bite still present if not as strong, and very good numbers of (mostly small) tog hitting sand fleas and crab baits.
Inshore fishing has been good, but the surf from Delaware down through Virginia got down-right hot the past few days. The unusually warm beginning to November seems to have the fish excited and Coastal Correspondent John Unkart camped out on Assateague Wednesday and Thursday, and experienced a surf bite so strong his thumb hurt from rubbing against the braid so much. He said he didn't think "10 minutes ever went by without a bite," and caught a mix of very nice kingfish, some short flounder and weakfish, and snapper blues.