Just got his new wrap on his boat.

Took my morning walk at 6:00am, lots of birds diving on the south side of the Rt. 50 bridge. That only means one thing…..BLUEFISH ! Was right, when the Tackle Shop opened anglers started coming in to buy spec rigs, all reported the bite was on with nice sized fish.

Tommy Fowler caught a couple of flatties in the Thorofare. Measured 20 & 21 inches 

John Foreman a local fisherman came by the tackle shop with 2 nice flatties and a keeper tog. He told me that he had 15 flounder hook ups with 2 nice keepers, all caught on cut bait. Will post the pictures soon.

There was a decent striper bite off the Rt. 50 Bridge last night.

Looks like the striper bite off Assateague Island is starting to hit mid-May form with several nice linesiders beached. This is the time of year when the big ones start rolling by, so stay tuned!

Capt. Skip with a 32" and a 35.5" caught on live bait

Not much going on today with the flounder fishing…..no reports. Did hear that anglers got into to some nice stripers in the 30′s around the rt. 50  bridge with live bait. The weather today was rainy most of the day, but the sun came out in the late afternoon. The temps cooled off with temps in the low 50′s. Will post more on Thursday…..weekend weather looking good.

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.