Coastal Fishing Reports

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, December 20 Update:

Bluefin tuna have been the talk of the town along the coast this month as the big fish have been running close to the beaches offering incredible angling opportunities. On the days when weather allowed for boats to go through the inlets the bluefin have continued to chew from Delaware down through to Virginia. A reader fishing out of Ocean City reported running about 40 miles out before finding whales and tuna feeding on the surface. Ballyhoo pulled on Ilanders and skirts produced three bluefin, two overs and an under, by 11:00. Other reports indicate that the tuna have been as close as five miles off the beach at times, but most fish seem to be at least 20 or so miles out. Down in Virginia Beach, the bluefin action has been steady, but there have been a lot of boats to compete with. Many boats are reporting seeing bluefin breach the surface but getting them to bite has been difficult at times. One reader reported seeing blow-ups and bird shows but having his ballyhoo ignored.

Chasin Tides Charters out of Ocean City had one of the more impressive days on the ocean we heard of this week. Their crew started off by boxing a 69-inch tuna along with releasing two more “overs”. They then switched gears to bottom fishing and boxed a limit of tautog up to 12.5 pounds and a few sea bass up to 4.5 pounds. The bottom fishing grounds have been productive on days when boats can get out to them. We are hearing that there has been a mix of sea bass, tautog, bluefish, and porgy. While a lot of the craze has been for big bluefins, you can still fill a cooler with these bottom dwellers and bring home plenty of fillets for dinner. The tuna bite and bottom fishing bite should remain hot into the new year.

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, December 13 Update:

The weather has made it extremely difficult to get outside of the inlet most days in the past week, but when boats manage to get out they’re still hitting it big with bluefin from Delaware down through Virginia while trolling skirted ballyhoo. A reader reported going home with a 180-pound fish in the boat less than 10 miles out of Indian River, and one fishing out of Ocean City had caught two in that class plus an under by lunchtime. A third said they went farther offshore than most boats have been going and it paid off with busting tuna, breaching whales, and two beautiful bluefin in the box. Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star has even started to get in on the tuna action. Earlier in the week he ran a trip and started finding signs of life including dolphins and tunas that were blowing holes in the water. Trolling ballyhoo with his heaviest planer produced the first bite which was a 60”, 134-pound bluefin. They quickly got a few other bites that came undone and after a few more hours of trolling while watching lots of tuna with no bites, they hooked up again and landed a 62”, 147-pound fish. This is one of those offshore bites that if you have the chance to go, you need to get out there folks.

Away from chasing the bluefish, the offshore wrecks and reefs are still holding sea bass and the season remains open until the end of the month. The action has not been hot and heavy out of Ocean City, but keeper fish are being caught on just about every trip. Bluefish, a few flounder, and porgy have also been in the mix. Down in Virginia Beach the sea bass bite has been producing better results. Wreck Dawg Sport Fishing had an incredible trip earlier in the week boxing a boat limit of 90 fish up to five pounds before noon on a morning trip, and there was a report from an angler who ran out and caught over 20 sea bass up to 17”, 15 tautog up to 19”, six black drum, and four red drum up to 30”. All fish were caught on frozen fiddler crabs. When the wind isn’t blowing, getting offshore to do some bottom fishing can be very productive. Once the season closes at the end of the month anglers won’t be able to catch sea bass until May, unless the special recreational season is open for Virginia anglers again in February.

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, December 6 Update:

Winter is knocking on our doorstep and ranging from Ocean City down to Virginia Beach from 10 to 20 miles off the beach the bluefin bite remains excellent, with multiple boats reporting 10-plus bites per day when the wind lays down enough to hunt for them. Trolled ballyhoo are the ticket, but when birds and surface action are spotted casting surface lures on very large spinning reels (at least size 14000 but larger is better) spooled with heavy braid has made for some very exciting moments. The bluefin range anywhere from 40 pounds to 200-plus with many in the 100- to 180-pound class. Many of the boats out looking for them have been heading to lumps and shoals inside of 20 miles and spotting birds on the way or on the shoals. Fish In OC reported that several of the for-hire fleet boats had great success this week including Chasin’ Tides with a 182-pound fish and an “over” release, the RoShamBo boxed a 166-pound fish, and the Spring Mix II with another in the 150-200-pound class.

Surf fishing has slowed down on the coastal beaches with the colder temperatures, but there are still some dedicated anglers hitting the sand. The bite has been on the slower side but cut mullet and bunker has been catching dogfish and skate. There is still a lot of striped bass action up along the New Jersey coastline and we may start to see some of those fish push south. If they do, there will be opportunities to catch them in the surf from Delaware down to Virginia Beach.

Over at the OC Inlet, tautog have been hanging around the inlet rock jetties with several anglers landing keeper fish on recent trips. There has also been a very good tautog bite out of Virginia Beach with several inshore locations producing keepers including the CBBT and surrounding wrecks and reefs. Green crab, sand fleas, and other crab baits are working well on bottom sweeper jigs. The fish are holding close to the rocks, so you will want heavy leader in case they run into or across the rocks. 50-pound fluorocarbon leader should be a god starting point when setting up your rigs.