Coastal Fishing Reports

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, November 6 Update:

The offshore wreck and reef bite is producing a nice mixed bag of sea bass, flounder, and also some porgy, while swordfish action remains strong at the canyons. Closer to shore, resident striped bass are keeping anglers busy around the Ocean City Inlet, Route 50 Bridge, and Route 90 Bridge as we wait for migrating fish to move farther south down the coast.

The wreck and reef bite is still going strong up and down the coast. Captain Cook of First Light Charters reports a great mixed-species bite, including sea bass, flounder up to 25”, and porgy off the Delaware coast. He mentioned that several of the bass and porgy were very nice ones, and getting over structure in 120’ was the hot ticket. Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star has taken advantage of weather windows to get offshore and fish for sea bass at the reef and wreck sites. One report from this week was that it took a few stops at different sites to locate quality fish. His first two stops of the day only produced a few fish, but after moving much further east, he stumbled into a nice grade of fish and his anglers boxed plenty for dinner. The boats heading offshore of Virginia are finding a much better grade of fish on a more consistent basis. They have also run into some bull red drum at reef sites while bottom fishing, which is a nice surprise. The reds are likely moving offshore to their wintering grounds and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.

Swordfish are biting strong at the canyons, although many are on the smaller side. A subscriber fishing out of Chincoteague reported getting eight up to the boat one day this week, with the two biggest making the grade at around 55". Squid got the most bites but rigged eels also did the trick.

The striped bass bite up the coast near New Jersey and New York has been going strong for the past week. The bulk of the migratory fish are feeding on bunker in this zone but will continue to migrate south over the next few weeks. Anglers fishing in Delaware and Maryland coastal zones should start to see some migratory fish show up soon. Some of these fish wander close to shore near the beaches and around the Ocean City Inlet, but a lot of fish stay a few miles off the coast on their way south. The biggest key in finding them offshore is to find bait, specifically schools of menhaden.

There are still plenty of resident stripers to keep rods bent while we wait for these fish to arrive, and the action has been good inside the Ocean City Inlet. We have reports that fish are being caught around the Route 50 Bridge and Route 90 Bridge. The night bite has been best, but some fish are being caught in daylight as well. Most of these fish are below the coastal slot of 28” to 31”, but some slot fish have been pulled from the Route 50 Bridge. Other areas to find stripers are the coastal marshes in the back bays, specifically near shoreline points and creek mouths. Any area that sets up as an ambush point during a running tide can hold stripers this time of year.

Dave Moore of Shark Whisperers reports that there are some other options in the back bays right now, too. Recently he's been catching a mix of puppy drum, small black drum, and tautog. As usual for inside the coastal bays the bulk of the tog are throw-backs but he also notes a few have been nice ones. Sand fleas and crab baits will get them on the line.