Ocean City Fishing

The fishing this week in Ocean City is starting to improve daily with the Route 50 Bridge producing keeper Stripers at night. The Oceanic Pier has a hot bite of Blues and Shad , 2nd to 4th street bulk head is giving anglers, Tog, Trigger Fish, and keeper Flounder. The South and North Jetties are bending rods with Sheepshead, Tog, and Stripers in the 40” plus range. The East channel, Harbor Island , and the Airport are giving Flounder fishermen nice limits of keepers. Offshore anglers are experiencing one of the best Shark seasons we’ve seen in years, plus Blue Fin and Yellow Fin are starting to make their appearance at most marina cleaning stations.
Here at Talbot Street Bait & Tackle the store is starting to take shape , with shipments of tackle and bait showing up daily. We did open last Saturday , but the store still has a few weeks to go before all are shipments arrive. One of the new things at the shop is our front porch called “Liars Lounge” with lots of seating for fishermen wanting to share stories while enjoying a free cup of coffee. Stop by and check it out!

We did have some weigh-ins this week with one of the high lights being long time friend, Captain Bill Leinemann formerly of Ocean City, now living in Del Ray Beach, Florida. Bill was a great customer back when I owned Skip’s, usually bringing fish to the scales daily. Bill is one of Ocean City’s top Jetty an d Bulk Head fisherman. This day was no exception, Bill brought a nice Trigger Fish in that he had just caught at the 2nd to 4th Street Bulk Head. Anyone who fishes that area knows that Trigger Fish are very seldom caught, especially this time of the year. I have heard of a few Triggers caught this year but all came from offshore wrecks and reefs. Bill told me the fish hit on a live Sand Flea, he also was using a small black hook which is also very affective for Tog and Sheephead. Stop by the tackle shop and one of our sales associates will show you how to set that rig up.
Another weigh in this week was a father and son team, Jack Koslosky of West O.C. and his son Jack Jr. from Lanham, Maryland. They were fishing near Harbor Island when Jack Jr. hooked into a nice flattie that measured 26” and tipped the scales at 7lbs. 2 oz. Jack Jr. was using a minnow and squid combo. With the new size and creel limits imposed over the past few years , we are starting too see nicer size Flounder coming from the Ocean City waters. I’m a true believer in managing fisheries, and I believe the new 18” limit on Flounder will just improve the fishier for years to come.

I had a lot of reports come in this week from Tackle Shops, Charter Boats, and Head Boats , here are those reports: Adam from Bahia Marina reports, Flounder fishing has been decent with several anglers reporting catching their limits. The Therefore, Harbor=2 0Island, and the bay behind Assateague still seem to be producing the best. Jim Benke caught a 21 ¾” 3.4 lb. Flounder in the Therefore. Stripers are still being caught at the tip of the South Jetty. Brenton McCleary of Captain Mac’s Bait and Tackle reported catching several Stripers this past week with the largest being 35”. Bluefish have been plentiful at the Inlet and Route 50 Bridge, especially on the incoming tide. Spec Rigs and Gotcha Plugs are always a safe bet when trying to catch Bluefish. Adam also reports the Judith M had a private charter for the fishing club at Stephen Decatur High school, with Scott Stienhoff, Mike Murray, and Cody Smith all from Ocean City catching 3 of the nicest Seabass all weighing over 3 lbs. They caught them all on clams at a artificial reef.

Jen from the Ocean City Fishing Center reports a great week for offshore fishing with most boats having lots of action with Blue, Mako, and Thresher Sharks. The boat “Wayne’s World” caught a 443.4 lb Thresher which was the biggest of the week. Jen also boats also brought some small Blue Fin Tuna back to the docks.

Noha at Ake’s reports, they weighed in some nice Mako’s this week, one of those boats was “Cat Tails” they weighed in a 93 lb. Saturday, then came back on Sunday with a 112 lb. Mako. Both Sharks were caught on Bluefish fillets. Noha reports that the Flounder bite has turned on in the south bay at the=2 0Airport and Snug Harbor.
At Buck’s, Cindy reports the striper bite has slowed at Assateague, but they still had some come to the store for weigh ins. One of the nicest of the week was caught by Skeets Zinkhim, it was 35” and tipped the scales at 14 lbs. The Striper hit on Bunker.

All Tackle in West Ocean City reports, Lots of Sharks being caught, Blue Fish bite off the Route 50 bridge and inlet. Also not many Flounder brought in this week.
Sunset Marina reports, lots of Flounder but most are short with a few keepers mixed in. Stripers coming from the Route 50 Bridge, and the South Jetty. Sharks plentiful, best we’ve seen in years, they also report 6 Yellow Fin were caught this week.

Bill’s Sport Shop, in Lewes tells us the Flounder Tournament ends the 12th with Randy Jensen leading with a 6.87 lb. flattie worth $1,000.00. Bill Zisskay of Ocean Veiw is in 2nd place with a 6.09 flattie that measured 24 ½”. Captain Bill took some time off this week to do a little fishing with family and friends. They had a great day at the Tea Cup, with 6 Blue Sharks, and 1 Mako all released, The crew on that trip was Sue & Roy Hillen, Joey Neely, and Bill Jr. they fishing on Bill’s boat “Slicker III”. All the Sharks were caught on Rigged Blue Fish. At Bower’s Beach the 65ft. “Reliable II” reported the Flounder fishing is heating up, with Ben Bolton of Newark, Delaware catching the largest at 3lbs. Skip Stewart also scored with a 3.8lb Flounder, Ben also caught 6 keeper Tog that he released due to the Tog season being closed till July 1st. Jim Kenworthy of York, Pa. caught 3 nice Stripers at the Cape Henelopen Pier, Two measured 25” the other came in at 32”. All were caught on Squid Heads. Bill also reports the Flounder bite has turned on at the Cape Henelopen Pier and Spot are also being caught now.

JJ at the Oceanic Pier reports the Blue and Shad run still is heavy , with night time under the lights producing better then the day light hours. The Flounder bite still continues to improve with lots of angles catching their limits of keepers. Most Flatties are being caught on Shinner and Squid combos. Finally JJ reports we still have a good tog bite at the end of the Pier near the wall, with lots of keepers.

The last report comes from one of the top charter boats in Ocean City “Restless Lady” with Captain Jim Duncan, and Captain Sean. They report, Shark Fishing is red hot, we’re catching Mako Sharks, and Blue Sharks, there is so many Blue Sharks they are swarming the boat and we them in by hand before we release them . They also are running bottom trips with good bites of keeper Sea bass. We are continuing to look for the steady Blue Fin bite which has started top the south. The “Restless Lady” is docked at the “Whit e Marlin Marina”. If your interested in fishing with them stop by Talbot Street Tackle Shop for a brochure and more info.

Well that does it for the reports this week, If you would like to send me a report and picture for the next issue of the “ Coastal Dispatch” you can email me at Skipstackleshop@aol.com. Also don’t forget to check out the web site for the latest fishing reports at tips at oceancityfishing.com. By the time this issue hits the street, I will have finally started my charters for the season, so next week’s issue should have reports and pictures from those trips. I would also like to let you know that the Tackle shop received its first load of Striper sized spot baits. So if you’re a Striper fisherman these are the hot baits for the big ones. Stop by and check them out.

The Charter Trips we offer this summer are a choice of three boats our 32 Foot Topaz with twin diesels for off shore trips; a 30 foot Mako CC with twin outboards for offshore, inshore, wreck and inlet trips: and a 24 foot Sea Ark CC, single outboard for bay and inlet fishing. I also use the Sea Ark for my family adventure trips, which are a great deal at $375.00 for a half-day of fishing, sightseeing, clamming, and crabbing. So Give me a call at 410-289-FISH(3474) or my cell at 410-430-5436, and lets talk fishing.
The fishing is improving daily and the weather looks good for this weekend, so get out there an d fish. Who Knows? Maybe I’ll be writing about you next week.