Coastal Fishing Reports

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, November 13 Update:

Fish In OC reported that some squid were being caught at the Route 50 Bridge this week, and there were some signs of possible bluefin off the beaches. These fish have been close to shore up the coast along New York and New Jersey, so it wouldn’t be surprising for them to be pushing into our area. Just remember that the fishery is catch and release only until the new year. Anglers fishing in the Ocean City Inlet are catching a mix of tautog, bluefish, and striped bass. The tautog bite has been excellent at the inlet jetties and other rocky structure in the back bays. Most of the fish are just under legal size, but some keepers have been caught. Regardless of size, they are a lot of fun to catch. The bluefish and stripers have been hanging out around the Route 50 Bridge. The coastal slot for striped bass is 28” to 31”, so most of the fish are falling outside the slot.

The party boats have only been able to make it offshore a handful of times thanks to windy conditions. When they are able to get out, there is good bottom fishing at the reef sites. Black sea bass have been the main target, but some bluefish and flounder have also been in the mix. A reader checked in after going offshore out of Virginia Beach with Drew Payne of Big Worm Fishing Charters for sea bass last weekend. They caught an 11-man limit (165) of sea bass ranging from two pounds up to six pounds. They also had a few bluefish and triggerfish as bycatch. The class of sea bass has been larger for boats fishing out of Virginia Beach compared to Ocean City, but the bite has been good up and down the coast. Other charter boats in the area are having great success with both black sea bass and triggerfish. The triggers should hang around for a few more weeks, so there are some great opportunities at the offshore grounds right now.

Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, November 7 Update:

There has been a lot of wind lately, so it’s been tough to get offshore, but we had been hearing a few daytime swordfish were caught prior to the latest cranking up of the wind machine. Fresh mahi belly strip baits were proving effective. We also heard from an angler who went offshore last weekend and was able to pull in a fair number of mahi near buoys, though they didn’t say which area they were in. A reader checked in to let us know that there are still good numbers of kingfish in the surf at Assateague, though finding days when the wind allows surf fishing has been difficult. At the Ocean City inlet, anglers are still catching plenty of tautog, though most of them are undersized. Route 50 Bridge is still holding striped bass. As the migratory fish push down the coast, we should see some bigger fish show up at the inlet and nearshore along the beaches.

The nearshore wreck and reef fishing leading up to this week was very good, especially out of Virginia Beach. Boats running out for sea bass had been enjoying an excellent bite, with several boat limits reported. There has also been a lot of great bycatch, including big triggerfish, bluefish, and plenty of blueline tilefish for those who want to catch them. The sea bass out of Virginia Beach has been a better class of fish than those to the north in the vicinity of Ocean City. The larger sea bass were around five pounds, and the triggerfish had been upwards of six pounds. Though the sea bass have been smaller out of Ocean City, there are still some in the four-pound range being caught. The OC Angler was out fishing last weekend and reported that their clients landed sea bass up to four pounds and flounder up to seven pounds. The flounder bite has been good at the wrecks recently; if you enjoy flounder fishing, now is the time to get on the flatties before they move deep for the winter.