In spite of the storms and the relatively high surf conditions, this past week has provided to some great fishing around Ocean City. Flounder fisherman did especially well this week. Late summer and early fall is often the best time for anglers to get into the largest flounder of the season, and this year has proven to be no exception. Summer flounder are very aggressive predators and are happy to pounce on just about any type of local baitfish that crosses their path. Lucky for them, there has been a ton of baitfish around lately. In fact, all I have had to do for my charters is throw my cast net from the dock near my boat slip. My bait well has been full with little peanut bunker and finger mullet within minutes.
Flounder are not the only game in town however. This has also been a great year for bluefish. We seem to have good years and bad years for bluefish here in Ocean City. Fortunately for us, this has been one of those good years. The=2 0Route 50 Bridge often sees some of the most consistent bluefish action in town. An outgoing tide either at night or during the day will often see schools of bluefish setting up downstream of the pilings, picking off disoriented baitfish that get swept under the bridge by the strong current. Any time of the day can be productive, but nighttime can be especially good for the largest blues. The cover of darkness can also provide a better opportunity at catching one of Ocean City’s resident stripers, which seem to get a little bit more active this time of year.
With fall upon us, and the seasons beginning to merge… there has been a lot going on in our local fishing scene this past week. I have had a lot of reports coming in, so let’s take a look at some of them now.
At AllTackle, Bob reports; In the bay we are still seeing lots of flounder and croaker. The flounder are getting bigger, most are being caught on live spot or peanut bunker. The hot spots are the east channel and by Hooper’s. The offshore reef and wreck fishing for flounder is still hot, but its been hard for boats to get out with all the storms and wind. The white marlin bite is off the hook, the dolphin and wahoo bite is scattered, and there are no tuna to be found.

Mrs. Mufford at Oyster Bay Bait & Tackle reports; There’s lots of bluefish starting to show up in the surf finally. We are seeing a lot2 of nice flounder this week, the biggest of the week was caught by Pete Balandiak, from Pa. it weighed in at 8 llbs. 10 oz. It was caught at the Oceanic Pier on shiners. In the east channel anglers are still seeing lots of flounder, with a good ratio of keepers to throw backs.

At the Ocean City Fishing Center, Charlotte reports, Lots of flounder in the bay, the east channel has been the hot sot. Here at the Fishing Center, the high winds have kept the offshore fleet in. We have heard reports of nice size blues being caught off the Rt. 50 Bridge along with lots of short stripers.

At Ake’s, Noah reports; Lots of flounder in the bay, the size of the flounder is definitely he biggest we’ve seen all season. There’s still croaker around, blood worms and fish bites are the best baits. Lots of nice size blues coming off the Rt. 50 Bridge, mostly on Got-Cha Plugs. The white marlin bite offshore has been red hot.

At Captain Mack’s, Paul reports; The marlin bite is best we have seen in years, reports of boats catching 8 to 10 per trip. The flounder fishing is getting better by the day, with the east channel being the hot spot. The best baits to use are peanut bunker and l ive spot. There’s lots of blues starting to show up in the surf, with finger mullet and cut baits working the best.

Chris at the Oceanic Pier, reports; Lots of flounder and croaker during the day, the flounder are the biggest so far this season. Some angler are starting to fish for tog again, but most fish are under sized. At night time mostly blues, and croakers, with a few flounder being caught too.
At Buck’s Place, Cindy reports; The fishing has been slow this week because of the high winds. But the reports that did come in are that the blues are starting to show up in numbers in the surf.

At Harbor Bait and Tackle, Bev reports; West Ocean City looks almost like a ghost town. There is not many people stirring around and that is a shame now that fishing is getting better. In the surf, there are more small blues, kingfish, and up to 16 inch croakers being caught. More legal sized flounder are showing up. The flounder bite is good in the East Channel coming in close to 2nd and 4th Streets and in front of Hooper’s. Croakers are still making a showing in the back bays. Small blues and some stripers are in the Inlet and the Rt. 50 Bridge.

Here at Talbot Street Bait and Tackle, Rick reports; There’s been lots of nice sized flounder being caught in the east channel, mostly on live peanut bunker. The Rt. 50 bridge is producing nice sized blue fish during and day and night.20The best plug to use is a 2oz. Got-Cha Plug, there are still under sized stripers being caught also. The south and north jetties are producing some tog now, with the best baits being sand fleas and green crabs. If your lucky you may even hook into a nice sized sheepshead. The bulk head at 2nd to 4th streets are still producing keepers flounder and also some tog. The 9th street is still good for croaker and flounder, along with small sea bass and spot which are lots of fun for the kids to catch.
On my charters this past week its been all about flounder. I’ve caught keeper flounder on every trip, with lots of action. I’ve been fishing the east channel and also south of the Rt. 50 bridge in the channel. The bait I’ve been using is live peanut bunker, all I do is throw a cast net a few times before I leave the marina and I’m good to go. I also have done some striper fishing at the south jetty with good results too. The stripers are all under sized, but they all fight like keepers. It won’t be too long before the fall migration starts for stripers, usually sometime in late October if not sooner. I will be booking striper trips for October, November, and December here in Ocean City. Then in January and February I will be doing striper charters at the Bay Bridge Tunnel, in Virginia. If your interested in booking a striper at trip with me during those months give me a call on my cell at 410-430-5436 .=2 0I’m also booking all the fall season striper tournaments here in Ocean City, so if your interested in fishing any of those tournaments please give me a call for prices and availability. Flounder season closes on September 13th so your time is running out on the best flounder fishing I’ve seen in years, if your interested in a flounder charter now is the time to book, I still have some dates open.

We are blessed here in Delmarva with a lot of beaches that are open to surf fishing. From Cape Henlopen in the North to Chincoteague in the South, and the many miles in between, there are countless opportunities for anglers to enjoy fishing from the sand. If you are a newbie to surf fishing, summer is a great time to get out there and try your hand at it. This time of the year there is typically a lot of different types of fish in the surf, and some of them are very good eating. Kingfish (sea mullet) for example are one of my favorites, and are a favorite of many others as well. They will readily take small baits like squid, bloodworms, and even Fishbites. Croakers, spot, small bluefish, and even flounder are common catches in the surf this time of the year as well. Surf fishing isn’t for everybody, but if you have never tried it I suggest you get out there and see what it’s all about. Who knows, you might discover a new passion.
Here in Ocean City, our fishing was unfortunately interrupted this past week by Hurricane Bill. Boats were unable to get out, and the storm surge and huge waves rocked our local beaches. Fishing was pretty good before the storm however, and I did receive some reports. As of this writing, things are just now getting settled back to normal. The next couple days are forecast to be very nice, and it will be interesting to see how the storm has changed our fishing. But for now, let’s take a look back at some of the reports from this past week.

At Harbor Bait and Tackle, Bev reports; A few smaller sharks are being taken from the surf along with skates, rays, croakers, blues, and kingfish. A customer said he caught a 19 inch croaker off the beach. It seems that a few more legal flounder are showing up in the Thorofare and in the East Channel. Triggers and stripers are being taken from the Inlet. Flounder and stripers are coming from the Rt. 50 Bridge. Croakers are throughout the back bays.

JJ at the Oceanic Pier reports; The flounder bite has been really good this week, We’ve had lots of flatties over the 20 inch mark. The croakers are heavy too, but they come and go, will bite good for a couple of hours then disappear, the best bait for them is bloodworms. Angler are starting to=2 0fish for tog again with some good results even though most togs are undersized. At night time under the lights the blues are still thick, running through in big schools, Got-Cha Plugs are the ticket. We are still open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

John at AllTackle reports; The flounder size is picking up this week, the west channel by Hooper’s is really turning on. The east channel is also producing a lot of keepers. The croaker are still thick in the bays with the size of the fish getting better, some croakers are over 15 inches. The 9th street pier is the hot spot to fish for croaker from the shore line, bloodworms and fish bites are the best baits. The offshore wreck and reef fishing is still red hot, with anglers scoring big with big flounder. The white marlin bite is still the best we’ve seen in years and continues to be consistent. We also are starting to see lots and I mean lots of false albacore.

At Buck’s Place, Cindy reports; Real slow on the surf, some sharks, skates, croaker, blues, and flounder. The bays are producing larger flounder and lots of keeper croaker. We also had a report come in that there was weakfish in the 14” to 20” range being caught in the inlet. Offshore the flounder fishing is still good on the wrecks and reefs. The white marlin bite is still real good, plus there are reports that there are tons of false albacore being caught, plus some dolphin mixed in.

D enny at Oyster Bait and Tackle reports; Still catching lots of flounder in the east channel. Surf fishing slowed after the storm last week, but a report did come in of a decent kingfish bite on bloodworms. Offshore the flounder fish still continues to be good at the reefs and wrecks. And finally the white marlin, dolphin, and false albacore bite is still good.

Captain Steve of the “Happy Hooker” bay party boat reports; The fishing has been good for flounder as long as the water is clear. We’ve had some really good trips this week with lots of keepers, due to clean water. The croaker bite continues to be good also with the size of the fish the largest of the year. We will continue to run flounder trips till the season ends on September 13th, after that we will still run trips for other species. Check us out at the Talbot Street Dock for times and availabilities.

Captain Victor Bunting on the “Ocean Princess” reports; That he is still picking away at the croakers. Most of our trips over the past week have been pretty good however we still have the slow day every now and then. Croakers have been ranging in size from 9″ all the way up to 16″, however most are in the 9″ to 12″ range. Hopefully Hurricane Bill has not messed things up too much and we’ll get back out there tomorrow and have another good day on em.

Captain Todd, on the “Restless Lady” reports; We went out Saturday 8/22 to some inshore lumps, just a half day trip. Lots of spanish mackerel, bluefish and false albacore. Good size swells thanks to Bill. Inlet was a little dicey coming back in, nothing we haven’t seen before, just have to pay a little more attention to what’s going on.

I had some really good trips this week on my boat, one worth writing about was a flounder trip in the bay, with Dr. John Heywang from Teaneck, N.J. . Doc has fished with me for many years now, and he’s a very colorful person, always good for lots of laughs. With lots of unbelievable stories of his life’s adventures all over the world. One thing about Doc is my mate and I always get to fish some on the charter which is a treat for both of us. We headed out to the south jetty first to do a few striper drifts with great results. We made 4 drifts with 3 stripers, all were undersize but they all gave the Doc a good fight. After that we headed up the bay for some flounder fishing, all I can say is the bite was off the hook. I think it was the best flounder bite I’ve seen all summer. We ended up with seven keepers between us and must have thrown back over 25 shorts. Hopefully it will continue to be this way for the rest of the season which ends September 13th. I will still boo k flounder trips till then, plus I’m also booking south jetty striper trips, inshore, lite tackle shark trips. I’m also booking now for the fall striper season, plus all the striper tournaments during the fall. Give me a call on my cell at 410-430-5436.

As much as I enjoy my boat slip, and as much as it seems like home to me, you might be shocked to find out that I am not the only one living there. All you need to do is take one peak over the gunnels of my boat and you will see schools of baitfish that also call my slip home. In fact, the past three weeks I have been watching four different schools of baby (peanut) bunker grow bigger and bigger by the day. Like a proud papa, when the time comes I will almost be sad to see them go. Right now though, my peanut bunker are not alone in my slip either, there are many silversides (shiners) hanging out in there with them. And even better, you might be happy to note that just this past week I noticed some small finger mullet beginning to show up as well. This is a good sign, and is an indicator that—in spite of the heat—fall is not too far away.

Fall is not here yet, however, as I know my air conditioner was turned up on high this past week. The fish also seem to know that summer is here as well. All of our typical summertime species have been present. One of the major pluses that comes hand in hand with the arrival of the finger mullet, is that oftentimes the largest flounder of the season show up to feed on them. Big finger mullet are flounder candy, and in a couple of weeks I would look for that fishery to be in full swing. Another summertime fish that we see a lot of is snapper bluefish. Generally this time of the year you will see them in the inlet in the mornings and evenings and also along the beachfront chasing silversides, or whatever else they can catch. Spot and croaker also abound this time of the year, and they can be caught all through the bay and along the beachfront where kingfish can be caught as well. Some bigger sharks will also be running the surf this time of the year—coming inshore to feed in periods of low light. Croakers and kingfish beware!
Since we have had so much warm weather and clear skies lately, anglers have had some great opportunities to get out and fish. I have quite a few fishing reports to share with you so let’s get started.

At Buck’s Place Shannon reports; surf fishing is slow, most anglers are fishing for sharks with cut baits. There are some bluefish up to 15” being caught also, the best20baits for blues are finger mullet. Some anglers are catching a few kingfish and spot mostly on bloodworms and fish bites. Shannon fished the Poor Girl’s last weekend, which was the first offshore fishing trip she has ever been on and had a great time, she landed a 20 lb. plus dolphin.

At the Oceanic Pier, Terrible Ted reports; A lot of keeper flounder during the day on incoming tide. Minnows, shiners, squid, and Berkley Gulp are the best baits to use. The croakers are biting good at night, and the size are getting bigger, over 12”. The best baits for them are bloodworms, fish bite, and squid. There are some blues still around, their biting on Gotcha Plugs and Spec Rigs. Sea bass, spot, and sea robins are plentiful for the young kids to catch. The tog are over now till the weather cools and fall weather nears. The sea wall and Rt. 50 bridge are producing small stripers on live eels.

John at Alltackle reports; The flounder seem to be getting bigger this past week, minnows, squid, and Berkley Gulp are the ticket. The croaker fishing is getting better by the day, with bloodworms and fish bites working best. The tuna bite has slowed, but most offshore anglers are still catching white marlin and dolphin. The wreck and reef fishing for flounder is red hot, we also had a fisherman weigh in a red snapper, yes I said red snapper, that weighed 40 lbs. coming off a wreck some where off the coast of O.C . The Rt. 50 bridge is good during the day for flounder and small blues, bridge spreader bars and floats are working the best. There also is still some night time striper action.

At the O.C. Fishing Center, Katie reports; The tuna bite has slowed, but the white marlin and dolphin are still there heavy. The offshore flounder fishing is red hot, with most anglers getting their limits with fish over 4lbs. The bay fishing is all about croakers, with bloodworms and fish bites working best.

Lori at John Henry’s Bait & Tackle reports; There’s lots of spot and hard head in the bay, a few keeper flounder also, mostly on live mullet and bunker. The surf fishing is slow with most anglers targeting sharks at night with cut baits.

At Harbor Tackle, Bev reports; Fishing has not changed much this past week. Not much happening in the surf except sharks, skates, and rays. Maybe if you are lucky there are a few croakers, blues, kingfish, and flounder. During the AMSA Camporee Fishing Tournament only one spot was caught by any of the entrants. A few more legal flounder are showing up in the back bays but most fish are under the 18 inch mark. At the Inlet some triggers, stripers, blues and croakers are showing. The Rt. 50 Bridge is producing some stripers, small blues and lots of small flounder.

At Ake’s, Noah reports; Wreck fishing for flounder is picking up, nicer size fishing being caught. Tons of croaker being caught in the bay and just offshore, bloods and fish bites work best. The offshore tuna fishing has slowed but there’s lots of dolphin to be caught. Also the white marlin bite is still red hot. The Rt. 50 bridge is still producing flounder during the day and stripers at night.

Captain Steve, on The Happy Hooker, reports: Slow bite on the out going tide. But the incoming tide has been producing keepers every trip. The croaker bite is still strong and fast paced.

I had several charters this week, inshore light tackle shark, offshore wreck and reef flounder fishing, and bay flounder and croaker, with all good results. The inshore sharking is still going strong with plenty of action with small sharks in the 3 to 5 foot range. The offshore wreck and reef flounder fishing is the best I’ve seen yet with lots of action with flounder tipping the scales 4 lbs. and up. And the bay fishing is still good with lots of flounder action, with every trip producing several keepers. I’ll be booking the flounder fishing trips till September 15 when the season closes, and I’ll be doing the shark trips till the bite stops which should be into October. I’m starting to book my fall season striper trips now, with the best dates going quick. So if your interested please call me on my cell at 410-430-5436 for the best dates and tide s. I’m also booking all the fall striper tournaments here in O.C. and there are still a few left so give me a call.

If I had to choose only one word to describe Ocean City this past week, it would be “HOT!” Up until now, we have been lucky enough to have had cooler than normal temperatures, but that surly was not the case this week. The air conditioners were cranking around OC, and people were heading to the water to keep cool.

Fortunately for us, the air is not the only thing that has been smoldering; the fishing has been pretty darn hot as well. This past week concluded another “White Marlin Open” and the results were spectacular. An outstanding 93 pound white marlin took top prize, and a huge “grander” blue marlin took center stage and captured a new state record. The White Marlin Open always brings a lot of excitement to Ocean City, and this year was no different. In fact, with the extraordinary size of this year’s fish, the 2009 tournament has to go down as one of the best in the recent past.

Offshore fishing was not the only action going on around town this week, however. A lot of anglers reported good fishing inshore as well. Schools of croakers have been continuing to filter into the bay, along with spot, and some more decent-sized summer flounder. Striper fishing contin ues to be good around the Rt. 50 Bridge and the inlet. In addition to fishing in the bay and inlet, a lot of anglers like to fish from the surf this time of the year as well. Some very respectable sharks can be caught inshor e during the summer months, and a lot of anglers have been turning out to catch these toothy critters from boats as well as from the surf. An 80 lb. spinner shark can take drag like a tuna and will leap from the water like a marlin, an exciting experience for any angler for sure!

A lot of reports have filtered in from around Ocean City this past week. So, let’s take a look at them now. The first reports I’m going to write about are a few of my charters this past week. The first was a inshore shark fishing trip, which are very popular with children of all ages, and even adults. We travel anywhere from 4 miles to 10 miles off the beach, so you can still see land from the boat, which is good for first time anglers who aren’t sure how they will be fishing off the coast of Ocean City. It’s a good mix of sharks mostly small dusky and thrasher sharks in the 4 to 5 foot range on light tackle, which is a great fight for most anglers. What’s nice these size sharks are small enough that their easy to handle and everybody on the boat gets to see these toothy creatures up close and actually get to touch them before their released. I’ll be booking these trips for the rest of the summer and i nto the fall, so give me a call if your interested in some great light tackle action that’s sure to make that drag sing.

The other charter I want to talk about was another great family trip, my bay flounder and croaker charters. This trip was a great group from Chicago, IL. The Hoffman family, David and Lisa and their children Lindsey, Josh, and Ethan, and their Pop Pop Neal Hoffman who put the trip together for them. We started in the east channel with a lot of action with small flounder which the kids had a blast catching. By the way the hot bait was Berkly Gulp with shinners or smelt. After a couple of hours we made a move to the south bay by the airport. We had another good bite with the flounder being a little bit bigger with most being 16 to 17 ½” just shy of that 18” we were looking for. Pop Pop Neal ended up catching a 18 ½” flounder to put in the box, plus little Ethan landed a legal croaker that also went in the box. I’ll be booking these bay flounder and croaker trips for another month until the Flounder season closes on September 15th. Another great trip is offshore flounder wreck and reef fishing which is really starting to heat up quick and will only get better over the next few weeks. I will being doing some of these trips in the next few days, so hopefully I’ll have some great stories and pictures for my readers the next few weeks. Lets get to more reports from around Ocean City.

The first report comes from Tim, at John Henrys Bait & Tackle; The surf fishing has really slowed this week. There are a few kingfish being caught, mostly on bloodworms,=2 0some surf anglers are still catching sharks and rays. The coastal bays are still producing some nice flounder, croaker, blues, and stripers. The tog are still biting around the jetties, and Rt. 50 Bridge, with a occasional triggerfish mixed in.

At Buck’s Place, Shannon reports; Big sharks from the surf, a 8 ft. and 9 ft. sand tiger sharks were caught this week on cut baits. Flounder fishing was better towards the end of the week, but most anglers are still catching mostly shorts. Croaker fishing is really starting to take off, but most fish are on the smaller side, bloodworms and fish bites are the beast baits. Still some keeper stripers coming from the inlet and Rt. 50 Bridge.

At the Oceanic Pier, JJ reports; Good week for flounder, lots of numbers and lots of keepers. We’re seeing lots of croakers now, with most anglers using blood worms for baits. We are seeing lots of small spot and sea bass, great for the young kids to catch, non stop action, also blood worms are the best bait for them. Lots of stripers from the seawall and Rt. 50 Bridge, most anglers are fishing live eels. Here at the pier at night, their catching mostly blues, and a occasional shad, mostly on Got-cha Plugs and Spec Rigs.

Beverly at Harbor Tackle, reports; Nothing much has changed in the past few weeks. The surf fishing is producing more big sharks, croakers, blues, and kingfish, along with p lenty of rays and skates. Lots of flounder caught in the usual places, however, most are under the 18 inch minimum. The croaker catch is getting better. Some small tog are around. The Inlet and Rt. 50 Bridge are producing legal stripers, blues, and flounder.

Captain Victor on the Ocean Princess reports that fishing has been great! It is the best I’ve seen in a long time. We are catching croakers and plenty of them. They aren’t the biggest fish but there are some nice ones mixed in. Some trips we catch small ones with a few big ones and other trips we will catch all nice size croakers. If you want to catch fish, now is the time to come. There are a few flounder, sea bass or trigger fish mixed in with the croakers but don’t count on them, this is a croaker fest.

At AllTackle John reports; Bay fishermen are seeing lots of flounder and hard head. The surf fishing has definitely slowed down the last few weeks, but anglers are still catching some kingfish, croaker, and spot. Offshore fishing is hit or miss for most boats, but the marlin bite is better, with most boats catching them not far offshore.

Here at Talbot Street Bait and Tackle, the flounder fishing during the day is red hot off the Rt. 50 Bridge. Bridge spreader bars are the ticket, rigged with minnows and squid or shinners and squid. There s still a good night bite off the Bridge, with anglers scoring some keeper stripers and blues. Most are being caught on Gotcha Plugs , Rubber Shads and Buck Tails. The croaker bite in the bay has gotten red hot the last few days, with most fishermen using blood worms and Berkley Gulp. The tog bite is mostly in the inlet area with some anglers also catching triggerfish also.

Most days 5:00 AM comes pretty early, but today was different. My alarm went off, and I was up with a snap. This morning was the opening of Ocean City’s most prestigious fishing tournament—the “White Marlin Open.” Every year a huge crowd of onlookers gathers along the inlet sea wall in the predawn darkness. Fishing fans of all ages are present, with people watching, cheering, and sending best wishes to their favorite boats and crews as they pass through the inlet and head out to their chosen fishing grounds. For three days anglers will be competing for top honors, and a grand prize that could be worth well over a million dollars.

We are very lucky in Ocean City to have a thriving tournament schedule for anglers and captains to compete in each year. Starting in late May, our season begins with the “Mako Mania” shark tournament, and the competition continues all summer long with anglers targeting many different species of fish, until the season ending inshore rockfish tournaments in November. There is something special about tournament fishing—with the excitement the competition brings to our local fishing community—not to mention the prestige and sometimes hansom earnings that anglers and crews can win here in Ocean City.

People have been talking about the slow economy, and the smaller number of boats that are taking part in this year’s White Marlin Open. But I can say for certain that the town sure20was abuzz this morning. People were out and about, and the inlet crowd was packed tight against the railing. I enjoy tournament week every year, and I am looking forward (as always) to following the progression of this year’s tournament again this coming week.

Even with the great number of boats heading offshore this week. And with the overwhelming focus on the White Marlin Open, anglers should be sure to not forget about the good fishing that is going on locally here in Ocean City. You don’t need a million dollar yacht (and unfortunately there are no million dollars prizes), but there are still plenty of fish to catch around town. About this time every year, we see an influx of smaller pan fish into the local scene. Croakers and spot sometimes flood the bay. These fish are generally pretty easy to catch and this action can be a lot of fun for anglers of all ages. Summer flounder are also a lot of fun, and I know I have said it a before, but this year’s flounder fishing has been some of the best in the recent past. So if you are in Ocean City this week and you don’t have the means to get offshore and target million dollar sportfish, don’t fret. Hit the bay or beach front this week, and do some local inshore fishing… you will surely be rewarded. With that said, let’s take a look back what happened around town this past week.

Adam at Bahia Marina reports; Flounder fishing in the bay seems20to have slowed down somewhat in the past week. This can most likely be attributed to the water not being as clean as it has in the past few weeks. Though the numbers are not what they were, a few nice fish were weighed in this week. Jeff Foster of Newark DE caught a 22″ 3lb 8 oz flounder in the east channel off 2nd street. The east channel seems to be producing well on the incoming tide. Live minnows and shiners are catching most of the fish with larger fish being caught on live spot. The Judith M has been doing well since the croakers have showed off the beach. Offshore, some tuna are being caught along with plenty of dolphin. The marlin bite has been fair as well.

At Harbor Tackle, Bev reports; We have got the summer doldrums in the surf. Plenty of sharks, skates, rays along with a few croakers, blues, and kingfish. Lots of undersized flounder with a few legal flatties mixed in. The croakers are spreading out almost everywhere in the bay. The Rt. 50 Bridge and the Inlet fishermen are catching some legal stripers, blues, and flounder.

JJ at the Oceanic Pier reports; Tons of flounder being caught, with a decent amount of keepers. Lots of small sea bass and spot, mostly being caught on bloodworms and fish bites, its great action for the kids. At night the blues and shad are getting spotty, some nights there here, some nights there not, spec rigs and got-cha plugs are the ticket. The seawall and north jetty night fishing are still productive for s tripers, with live eels and rubber shads working the best. Tog fishing has slowed considerably, but the triggerfish bite still continues to be good.

At Sunset Marina Steve reports; A 93 ½ lb. white marlin was just weighed in to take the lead in the WMO tournament, It was caught by the boat “ Orion”. it’s the second heaviest white marlin weighed in the tournament history. So far its been a great tournament with lots of whites being caught, with lots of excitement at the scales.
Tim at John Henry’s Bait & Tackle reports; The coastal bays are still producing, monster rocks still being caught off the Rt. 50 Bridge at night. The day time fishing off the bridge is also best we’ve seen in years, with most anglers scoring keeper flatties everyday. In the bays plenty of flounder and croaker action, mostly in the east channel. In the surf kingfish, sharks, and rays.

At Ake’s Noah reports; At the twin wrecks the flounder fishing and sea bass fishing has been hot this week, with lots of action. Lots of dolphin action at Jack’s spot and the hambone. The tuna fishing has been hit or miss. In the bays the water has been very dirty with lots of seaweed, but anglers are still catching croakers and flounder.
At Captain Mack’s Captain Bruce reports; The bluefin bite has slowed down, but the dolphin and marlin bite is red hot with fish as close as the 20 line. Surf fishing has slowed, but some anglers are scoring big at night on the surf, with large sand tiger sharks. Some as big as 170 lb. and over 9 foot long. Day time fishing in the surf is all about kingfish and spot, fish bites are the hot bait. In the Fenwick Ditch the flounder and croaker bite is good.

Here at Talbot Street Bait & Tackle we’ve weighed in several nice flounder this week. The hot spot for day time flounder fishing is the Rt. 50, with bridge spreader bars working the best. In boats the hot spots for flounder are the east channel and near the airport in the south bay. The night time striper bite is the seawall and the bridge, with live eels, bucktails, and rubber shads working the best. If your targeting tog and triggerfish, the north and south jetties are the hot spots. I did want to write about one of my charters this week, It was the Forrer family from Duncannon Pa. which just happens to be where I grew up. This was the first time they had every fished in saltwater, so needless to say the kids were excited about catching their first flounder. We fished in the east channel with good results, both 8 year old twin boys, Dalton and Colton caught a flounder with in minutes of dropping their lines in. Their sister Ashleigh was also quite the fishermen landing several flounder during the trip. They ended landing over a dozen flatties during the trip, but just couldn’t catch that 18” one we needed to put in the box. By the end of the trip the20boys were talking about going again next summer.

I’ve had some great trips this week for stripers and flounder, the striper bite continues to be good around the south jetty. The bait of choice is live spot, you want to rig them with about 2 oz. of lead and always use fluorocarbon leader. Stop by the tackle shop and I’ll show you how to rig it up. I’ve also been doing very well fishing for flounder in the east channel and also in the south bay by the airport. I’ve been using Berkley Gulp and shinners, here at the tackle shop we’re stocked up with all the best colors of Gulp so stop by. I still have some charter dates open so give me a call at 410-430-5436.

Some years summertime fishing for rockfish can be very good in Delmarva, and other years it is just okay. Regardless, there are almost always some nice-sized resident fish that stay in our area for the entire summer. Usually you will see most of these fish (and anglers for that matter) sticking around the inlets—like the Ocean City Inlet and the Indian River Inlet to our north. Live or rigged eels are generally the choice baits; however you will occasionally see fish taken on rubber shads or plugs. Generally though, summertime fish prefer snakes in one form or another. I like to fish two hours on either end of slack tide. Most anglers prefer fishing around the high slack tide, but in my opinion (and based on certain spots) it doesn’t really matter—sometimes the hours surrounding low slack can be even better.

On a warm summer’s night I’d rather get out and take a chance at catching a nice striper, than sit at home and watch TV or go out drinking at bar. So when your wife and kids have gone to bed for the night or the next time you just need something to do—pick up a couple eels and head to one of the inlets this summer. You’ll be surprised at what you might catch.

Let’s take some time now to recap some of the fishing reports that have come in from around Ocean City this past week:

Josh A Bahia Marina reports; The flounder fishing still continues to be good, best we’ve seen in years, even though there is lots of throw backs. The croaker are starting to bite in the north and south bays, just have to find them and the bite is on. The Judith M is caching croaker, and trigger fish every day. The offshore charter boats are catching bluefin, marlin, and lots of dolphin. The surf fishing is producing kingfish, spot, and lots of small sharks, and finally, the Rt. 50 Bridge is still hot at night with anglers still catching stripers and bluefish.

At John Henry’s Bait & Tackle, Jim reports; Surf fishing is still some what slow, but they still are catching some kingfish, spot, and some smaller sharks on cut bait. The bay fishing continues to still red hot for flounder and croakers. The c roakers are biting on blood worms and fish bites.

Claire at the Ocean City Fishing Center reports; We had a new state record this week, caught on the charter boat “Fish Finder” with Captain Mark Sampson. It was a 72 lb. cobia. The bluefin tuna bite has slacked off, but the yellowfin is definitely picking up for most boats. The dolphin and marlin bite is red hot. Some anglers are still catching stripers at the jetties and around the bays, mostly on live spot. While flounder fishing is still getting better with more keepers being brought to the docks daily.

At the Oceanic Pier, JJ reports; Good week for flounder, lots of numbers and lots of keepers. We’re seeing lots of croakers now, with most anglers using blood worms for baits. We are seeing lots of small spot and sea bass, great for the young kids to catch, non stop action, also blood worms are the best bait for them. Lots of stripers from the seawall and Rt. 50 Bridge, most anglers are fishing live eels. Here at the pier at night, their catching mostly blues, and a occasional shad, mostly on Got-cha Plugs and Spec Rigs.

At AllTackle John reports; Bay fishermen are seeing lots of flounder and hard head. The surf fishing has definitely slowed down the last few weeks, but anglers are still catching some kingfish, croaker, and spot. Offshore fishing is hit or miss for most boats, but the marlin bite is better, with most boats catching them not far offshore.
Beverly at Harbor Tackle, reports; Nothing much has changed in the past few weeks. The surf fishing is producing more big sharks, croakers, blues, and kingfish, along with plenty of rays and skates. Lots of flounder caught in the usual places, however, most are under the 18 inch minimum. The croaker catch is getting better. Some small tog are around. The Inlet and Rt. 50 Bridge are producing legal stripers, blues, and flounder. And finally David Moore caught a 8 ½ foot shark at Assateague Island using fresh bunker as bait.

Here at Talbot Street Bait and Tackle, the flounder fishing during the day is red hot off the Rt. 50 Bridge. Bridge spreader bars are the ticket, rigged with minnows and squid or shinners and squid. There’s still a good night bite off the Bridge, with anglers scoring some keeper stripers and blues. Most are being caught on Gotcha Plugs , Rubber Shads and Buck Tails. The croaker bite in the bay has gotten red hot the last few days, with most fishermen using blood worms and Berkley Gulp. The tog bite is mostly in the inlet area with some anglers also catching triggerfish also.

The Bay Bee reports; Lots of action but only a few keepers. On Thursday we had 62 throw backs and only 3 keepers. On the Friday morning trip we had 50 throw backs and only 3 keepers. On the afternoon trip we had 96 throw backs and only 1 keeper. On the Saturday morning trip the boat had 50 throw backs and 1 keeper. On the afternoon trip it was 54 throw backs and 1 keeper. Captain Bobby says there’s lots of action but not much for the dinner table. Its still a lot of family fun for 4 hours with lots of rod bending action.

Captain Victor Bunting on the Ocean Princess reports that the croakers are finally here and the fishing has been pretty good! We just started catching croakers this past Tuesday afternoon and have had good luck fishing for them. Earlier in the week we were seeing mostly small fish come in but as the week went on the size of the fish has improved. Our night fishing has been consistently the best fishing trip this week. Our night trips are usually the best trip when we are fishing for croakers. We have not had to run very far from shore, usually just 3 to 5 miles up the beach so we have been getting plenty of extra fishing time. With any luck these fish will hang around here through August and into September. Don’t forget the Ocean Princess is the closest boat to the inlet, which means more fishing time than other ½ day boat. There is also no waiting for the Rt. 50 Bridge to open.

I’ve had some great trips this week for stripers and flounder, the striper bite continues to be good around the south jetty. The bait of choice is live spot, you want to rig them with about 2 oz. of lead and always use fluorocarbon leader. Stop by the tackle shop and I’ll show you how to rig it up. I’ve also been doing very well fishing fo r flounder in the east channel and also in the south bay by the airport. I’ve been using Berkley Gulp and shinners, here at the tackle shop we’re stock up with all the best colors of Gulp so stop by. I still have some charter dates open so give me a call at 410-430-5436.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the reports that have come in from around Ocean City this past week.
The first report comes from Tim, at John Henrys Bait & Tackle; The surf fishing has really slowed this week. There are a few kingfish being caught, mostly on bloodworms, some surf anglers are still catching sharks and rays. The coastal bays are still producing some nice flounder, croaker, blues, and stripers. The tog are still biting around the jetties, and Rt. 50 Bridge, with a occasional triggerfish mixed in.

At Sunset Marina, Butch reports; Still have a good bite of 140 lb. to 150 lb. class bluefin at the Hambone. Yellowfin are still few and far between, gaffer dolphin at first lump, 12 miles of the coast. Flounder fishing has slowed this week due to the dirty water this week. Most of the flounder being caught are undersized, and the croaker are finally showing up in the back bays.

At Buck’s Place, Shannon reports; Big sharks from the surf, a 8 ft. and 9 ft. sand tiger sharks were caught this week on cut baits. Flounder fishing was bet ter towards the end of the week, but most anglers are still catching mostly shorts. Croaker fishing is really starting to take off, but most fish are on the smaller side, bloodworms and fish bites are the beast baits. Still some keeper stripers coming from the inlet and Rt. 50 Bridge.

At the Ocean City Fishing Center, Katie reports; The best catch of the week was a bluefin tuna that tipped the scales at 163 lbs. We also had bluefin at 139, 141, and 150 lbs. All the bluefin are being caught at the Hambone, the yellowfin are all on the small side. Lots of gaffer dolphin hitting the docks with a few king mackerel mixed in. Some boats also caught and released several white marlin this week. We even saw several mako sharks this week, in the bay the croaker are really starting to bite, we had one boat return with 43 croakers in their cooler. We weighed-in several nice sized flounder this week, one 5 lb. and one 7 lb. And finally the bay bee reported they are catching over 100 flounder throws back a day.

Pete at AllTackle.Com reports; The Twin Wrecks and the 20 line are producing bluefin and a few yellowfin on the troll. Most anglers have to weed threw the smaller flounder to get a few keepers. The Rt. 50 Bridge is still producing keeper striper and nice blues at night.

At the Oceanic Pier, JJ reports; Still have a good Flounder bite going on during the day, the croaker bite continues to improve daily, bloodworms are the ticket. We still have a few anglers fishing for tog, but most are undersized. The bluefish bite is still good when the schools move through, Got-cha plugs work the best along with Spec-Rigs. We are seeing some striper action from the sea wall at night, most fisherman are using live eels.

Beverly at Harbor Tackle reports; Not much to tell, more sharks at the beach along with a few blues, kings, rays, and skates. The Rt. 50 Bridge is still producing legal stripers at night, plenty of flounder but not many keepers. We did weigh-in a nice keeper flounder this week, caught by Jere Putt, it was 25” and weighed 7.5 lbs. it was caught in the east channel on live spot.

Adam at Bahia Marina reports; The founder bite remained steady this past week with many throwbacks being caught and a few nice keepers mixed in. A few anglers have been able to find some croakers in the bay so it shouldn’t be too long until they are in here thick. The Judith M continues to catch Sea Bass and Triggerfish. A few trips produced large flounder as well. Some of the flounder tipped the scales in the 5 to 7 lb range. Offshore angler continue to pick at large bluefins. Most of the fish have been in the 120′s. The Ebb Tide returned to the dock with a 66 inch bluefin that weighed 154 lbs. There are also plenty of gaffer dolphin being caught and some yellowfins as well for those who venture further offshore, but the yellowfin bite has definitely slowed down compared to what it was a couple of weeks ago.

Capt. Steve on the Happy Hooker reports; Fishing in the bay this week slowed considerable do to strong south winds in the early part of the week. There were still fish to be found, it just took a little extra work moving from spot to spot to find them. Monday showed signs of the water cleaning up and a few more fish being caught, with your best bet being in the deeper water.

Capt. Mark Sampson of Fish Finder Charters reports; I’m doing near shore shark trips 10 miles from the coast. It’s a ½ day charter for spinner sharks, Atlantic sharp nose, and dusky sharks in the 40 to 60 lb. range. This week we also caught 3 tiger sharks 35 lbs. to 125 lbs. it’s very unusual for them to be this close to the shore line. We also caught our first black tip shark of the year, it was in the 50 lb. range. It was a good week with a nice mixture of shark species. You can call Capt. Mark at 410-726-7946 or visit his web site at www. big sharks.com it’s a great trip for the young ones.

Captain Victor Bunting on the Ocean Princess reports; Some ups and downs with the fishing this week. Early in the week things started off pretty good with a steady pick of sea bass and the occasional floun der and triggerfish. By mid-week fishing had slowed down and we had some pretty slow days of fishing. I just came back in from our Sunday morning trip and we had a good day. Lots of throwback sea bass and some flounders, but the catching was fairly good. If your planning on filling up a 100 quart cooler with fish right now, it ain’t gonna happen, but you might pick up a keeper or two. I have heard reports from boats in the bay and from surf fisherman that there are a few croakers around. Hopefully they will be showing up any day and we’ll be able to fill that 100 qt. cooler.

Here at Talbot Street Bait and Tackle we saw several nice flounder at the scales, but the biggest was caught by a local. Howard Agnew, from Salisbury he was fishing on the party boat the Angler, when he hooked into a 27 ½” 8.5 lb. flounder while jigging with a bucktail. This week it seems that some of the best flounder fishing is coming from the Rt. 50 Bridge, and the east channel. The hot baits are live spot, Berkley Gulp, shinners, and live minnows. If your looking for croakers try the south bay by the commercial harbor, definitely use bloodworms and fish bites. If your looking for tog the south and north jetties are the hot spots. The best bait are sand fleas or green crabs. And finally for stripers both jetties and the Rt. 50 Bridge are the hot spots. Use live eels, spot, got-cha plugs, and rubber shads.

Finally the last report comes from the charter boat restless lady, they report a great week of charters with the highlight of the week being a overnighter. We left Monday at noon returned noon Tuesday, caught 3 yellowfin, kept one, released 2. The big bluefin was a 150 pounder, also caught a 124 lb. mako, and a 65” white marlin. Not bad for a 24 hour trip.

Right now we are in a transitional phase here in Ocean City, and a mixed bag of fish is present. Some of the bigger flounder have finally arrived to the area, which has been a delight to many of our local bay and bridge anglers. Most of the migratory rockfish have moved through, and the summer residents have set up shop in the inlet and around the bridge. There are always some nice-sized resident fish that are pulled from the inlet during summer months, so anglers should look for patter ns to begin to develop for these fish. Blue fishing continues to be good. Rays and some nice “biter” sharks are being taken along the beach. Trigger fish are now being caught inshore in the bay and probably off the wrecks. I heard of a cobia that was taken last week. And speaking of a mixed bag, we caught a very pretty red drum on one of my charters just yesterday.

A lot has been going on around Ocean City this past week, and I have quite a few reports to share with you. So let’s get started, we’ll start out with a few of my charters this past week. During and right after the full moon things definitely slowed down out at the south jetty and in the bays. Actually, it was some of the slowest action I’ve experienced this summer. But we got through it and the last few days we have seen a big improvement with striper and flounder fishing. One of the trips this week we had a little excitement with a unusual catch for the south jetty. It was with a great group from Bradford County, Pa., Marilyn, Jacob, and Jordan Grover, plus Jordan’s girlfriend, Jessica Tunnicliff. I had taken Marilyn and Jacob fishing a few years back when they were on their honey moon, so they were experienced in fishing the south jetty. We made a few drifts over the tip with a few small stripers hooking up but nothing to get excited about. Then Jacob hooked up with a big fish that started to burn up some drag on the reel, at first I thought we h ooked up with that big striper that everyone is hoping for. Jacob did a excellent job fighting this fish, with it making several runs back towards the jetty, but he always seemed to get it slowed down before it reached the rocks and cut the line. After about a five minute fight he finally got it close enough for us to see the fish, it turns out to be a big red drum. It still made two more runs from the boat before it tired enough for us to get it in the net. After a quick measurement of 32”, we realized it was to big to keep and released it back into the water for another angler to hopefully enjoy some day. Its funny, with customers most of the time your telling them the fish is just short of the legal limit and you have to release it back into the water, but its very seldom you tell them the fish is to big and you have to release it. With red drum there is a slot limit of 18” to 27” so needless to say Jacob was a little disappointed, but he still had the thrill of the awesome fight the fish gave him.

The next charter was just yesterday with a great group from Rochester, NY. It was a mixed group of two families that vacation together every year in O.C., the Cardamore’s and the Schlegel’s and Jerry Pelano who put the trip together. It was one of the charters that we had action from the very first drift to the last which always makes for a great day on the water. We started out at the south jetty with plenty of striper action, but we just couldn’t seem to get that 28” we needed for a keeper fish. But finally after 2 hours of non-stop shorts, Brent Schegel hooked into that big one we had been waiting for. It gave Brent a awesome fight with several drag burning runs that he barely stopped. But after what seemed like ten minutes the beautiful stripper gave in and came to the boat and was netted, with lots of screams of excitement and high fives from everybody on the boat. After everybody calmed down we measured the fish at 38 ½” with a weight well over 20 lbs. Not bad for Brent’s first keeper striper. We fished the south jetty for a while longer with still plenty of action, but no keepers. Then we decided to head up the bay for some flounder fishing. Once we got there and got the lines in, it didn’t take long for the first flattie to hit. It was a good bite but most fish were on the small side, until Jerry hooked up and the way the rod was bending we knew he had a keeper on. The flounder was a nice fat 19 ½” which put a little excitement back into everybody. We fished about another hour or so with all the other fish coming in under the 18” minimum. Well I had a lot of other trips this week I would like to write about, but unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the room in this article if I’m putting in other reports from around O.C. But I would like to thank all my customers for fishing with me and hope they have lasting memories for years to come.

The first report comes from JJ at the Oceanic Pier; Lots of flounder this week, the best week of flounder fishing yet from the pier. Lots of spot and small sea bass all caught on bloodworms, great action for the kids. The tog are still biting, but all are undersized. The night fishing, lots of croaker, and still catching blues and shad some nights.

At the O.C. Fishing Center, Kathie reports; Lots of bluefin tuna hitting the docks, just a few yellowfin here and there. Lots of dolphin and also a few white marlin releases reported. Flounder fishing in the bays still is red hot, most fish are on the small size, with a few keepers mixed in.

Kathie at Buck’s Place reports; Tyler Dubois of Baltimore caught some nice fish from the Rt.50 Bridge, a bluefish that was 34 ½” plus a striper that measured 29”. we had lots of reports of good bluefish and striper bites from the bridge at night mostly on Got-cha Plugs. Surf fishing is slow, with most anglers catching, blues, sharks, skates, and rays. Flounder fishing is still good in the south and north bays, but most fish are throw backs.

At John Henry’s Bait & Tackle, Tim reports; Catching big blues and striper from the Rt. 50 Bridge. Coastal bays still producing good fl ounder bites. Surf fishing is slow but most fisherman are catching sharks and rays, but the kingfish are starting to show uo with the spot and croaker.

Here at Talbot Street Bait & Tackle, Rick reports; seeing some keeper flounder at the scales, most flatties are 18 to 22” range, most caught on Berkly Gulp, and shinners. Also weighed in some big blues from the Rt. 50 Bridge all caught on Got-Cha Plugs. Also reports of sand sharks from the surf.

Beverly at Harbor Tackle reports; Fishing with their dad’s at Fenwick Shoal, Rayn Starner caught a 46 ½” 27 lb. 5 oz. cobia, and Austin Bainbridge caught a 4ft. hammerhead shark. Bev also reports, more sharks in the surf, along with kingfish, bluyes, croakers, skates, and rays. Some trigger fish and spade fish at the inlet. A few more legal stripers from the Rt. 50 Bridge and finally, lots of flounder but most under 18”.

Capt. Victor Bunting on the Ocean Princess reports; Fishing has been good again over the past week. We still are seeing a good number of flounder and triggerfish coming in on most of our trips. Our biggest flounder this week was a 24” caught on a morning trip by Joe Smith along with some other throw backs and keepers. Went back down to the same area in the afternoon and didn’t see another flounder the rest of the day. We still are picking away at the sea bass, some trips better than others. The first signs of ocean front croakers have appeared and hopefully we’ll be having some good days fishing for them coming up.

Finally our offshore report comes from the boat the Restless Lady, they report; We went to the Hambone and caught 4 bluefins. We kept1 at 36” and 40 pounds. And 1 at 64” and 140 pounds. All caught on ballyhoo and spreader bars on the troll. We went out to the Baltimore Canyon and hooked a mako and a white marlin and both threw the hooks while making jumps. Them fishing seems to be improving as the water warms.

As a charter captain today, I am also very fortunate to take families out on the water here in Ocean City. I take great joy in being a part of the memories made between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and even mothers and daughters. One thing I know for sure is that if you put a rod in the hand of child, and a striped bass is thrashing on the other end, he or she will immediately forget about the TV shows or video games from the night before. Having said that, I’d like to encourage you to please make an effort to get the kids in your life involved in the outdoors—they (and maybe even you) will make memories that last a lifetime.

Moving on, this past week was the fourth of July, one of our busiest weeks here in Ocean City. I saw a lot of people out fishing this week and without a doubt there were a lot of memories made by anglers all around town. Let’s take some time to talk about some of them now.

It was another great week of charters, with lots of rod bending striper action on the south jetty and plenty of fast and furious flounder action in the upper bay. One trip I would like to talk about was a great group from Pa., the Cline Family, Shawn, Judy, Josh, MJ and their good friend “ Wild Bill”. We started the trip out at the south jetty, looking for striped bass, it didn’t take=2 0long. The very first drift we had a double hook up, but unfortunately both fish spit the baits. This went on for several drifts, with the guys just not being able to set the hooks when their baits got bit. Finally Judy told the guys to give her a chance, well she showed them that girls can out fish the guys. The very first drift with Judy on one of the rods, she hooked up and got the striper to the boat in just a few minutes. Unfortunately the striper wasn’t a keeper, just measuring a inch short of the minimum 28”, but Judy sure showed the guys how its done. Well we worked the tip of the south jetty for a few hours with lots of action, with between 25 to 30 stripers boated, but we just couldn’t get a keeper. So we finally decided to head up the bay for some flounder fishing. It didn’t take long before we had the first hook up, we didn’t even have all the lines in yet. This went on for at least 2 hours before the bite slowed down, but with all the flattie action, we still couldn’t manage to get a keeper in the box. The Cline’s still said it was the best fishing trip they ever experienced as a family, with non stop action from the time we started to the last few minutes of the trip. The next day Shawn emailed me; We had a great time that will have lasting memories for everyone. Already this morning I was asked when we are going back!

There’s one other trip this week I’d like to write about and that was a husband and wife duo, Suzanne and Dennis Benzi from Laflin, Pa. It turns out that Dennis is the fisherman in the family, and Suzanne came along just to enjoy the sun and scenery. Well, I talked her into fishing with Dennis just to see if see had the touch that most female anglers have. I was right, she had 5 stripers in the boat before Dennis even hooked his first one. We all had a lot of good laughs with every fish she boated, with Dennis just shaking his head in disbelief. We worked the tip of the jetty for well over three hours with lots of action, but no keepers. So we headed north to the east channel for some flounder fishing, it started out a little slow, but it wasn’t long before the switch turned on, and it was game on with the flatties. We ended up with 4 nice keepers with the largest being 20” all caught on Berkley Gulp and smelt. I must say it seems like the bigger flounder are starting to move into the bay the latter part of the week. The charter I had this morning one angler boated a nice, fat, 22” flounder, so things are looking up for keeper flounder compared to the last few weeks. Well, enough of my charters lets get to the rest of the reports coming in this week from tackle shops, and other charter boats.

The first report comes from the O.C Fishing Center, Katie reports; Capt. Luke Bloom on the “Press Time” boated a 135 lb. Bl uefin this week along with another charter boat “Moore Bills” who also landed a 135 lb. Bluefin. The marina also reports still lots of Yellowfin hitting the dock in the 35 lb. class. Katie also reports lots of flounder action on the incoming tide in the shallows.

The next report comes from Travis, at Buck’s Place; we weighed 3 nice rock from the Rt. 50 Bridge this week all in the 30” class, they were caught by locals Tyler Phillip, and Dylan Duboif, on buck tails. The surf fishing has slowed this week, but we have had reports of a few kingfish and croaker being caught on bloodworms. Flounder fishing still continues to be good.

At Alltackle.com, John reports; stripers at night from the Rt. 50 Bridge, most are being caught on salt & pepper plastics, and got-cha plugs. The surf fishing has been slow, with most anglers catching kingfish, hardhead, and spot. We also are starting to see more keeper flounder here at the tackle shop.

Beverly at Harbor Tackle reports; a 18 & 22 inch flounder were caught at the beach yesterday, other than that no other reports from the surf. Triggerfish and tog at the inlet, and a few stripers at the Rt. 50 Bridge. The bay is starting to produce more keeper flounder.

And finally at John Henry’s Bait & Tackle, Tim report; the coastal bays still has plenty of good fishing,=2 0with the flounder bite still strong. Most of the keepers are being caught on live spot. Blues & stripers off the Rt. 50 Bridge, and croaker at the inlet and in the south bay.

The next few reports are from local charter boats; Capt Victor Bunting on the Ocean Princess reports; that he had another good week of fishing. Every now and then we still have the occasional “slow” trip, but we have seen many more good trips than bad. Still picking away at the sea bass, mostly throwbacks, but we are also seeing some nice sized keepers come in. We are seeing more flounder showing up, with some well over the 20” size. Some trips we can get on them pretty good, other trips we don’t see any. The triggerfish have also still been hanging around and it seems we see keepers on every trip. Hopefully these fish will hang around until the croakers show up !

Capt. Steve on the Happy Hooker reports; The second half of this week brought the best number of keepers we’ve seen recently, in both the north and south bay. We saw a decrease in the number of smaller flounder, and 90% of the fish being caught were on shiners. Cow nose rays, love them or hate them, have also showed up increasing numbers and to the young fisherman’s delight, we also we also have seen a few smooth dogfish (small sharks). Scattered schools of 8 to 11 inch croakers have been caught in both the commercial harbor and20the north bay near green # 5. Once again not a bad week for inshore fishing in Ocean City.

The last report of the week is from the Restless Lady; The tuna bite has slowed down, we did manage to get some yellowfin, gaffer dolphin and one nice white marlin about 75 lbs. We fished the Baltimore, Washington, and the 30 f lumps inside the Washington. We’re fishing all week weather permitting and capping the week with the OC Tuna Tournament.