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.