Article by Capt. BJ Pietryak
This week brought some welcome cooler weather and less humidity. The water while still slightly muddied due to the passing hurricane was actually very productive. On the nearshore reefs, flounder was the biggest catch with several true trophy fish coming on board many boats. Sea bass are still being caught despite the warm water and spadefish as well as triggerfish are on many wrecks.
Back Bays & Beaches
The back bays of Ocean City are alive with fish. Flounder are found in every cut and channel and croaker are throughout the bay.
Rockfish and blues are still being caught at the bridges and along the jetty rock walls. Craig “Big Bird” Cropper was at it again with double limits of stripers and blues while fishing his Roy Rig near the Rt. 50 Bridge. Craig and Shawn reported that the fish were boiling on the surface and just waiting to be caught. As the weather continues to cool many will turn toward rockfish as a main targeted fish. Swim baits as well as live spot should be your go to choices to fool the stripers, especially live spot on a long leader with a circle hook. Use a 3 way swivel with a light leader on one side leading to a weight to hold the rig near the bottom. The second swivel should have approximately 15-20 ft. of 20 lb. fluorocarbon line with a 5/0-8/0 circle hook. Attach the live spot and drift the bait along the bottom, bouncing the bait up and down to trigger strikes. As a reminder, when you feel a bite, drop your rod tip down to the fish to allow them to take the bait into their mouth. That rig will account for many rockfish catches this fall! “Beach to Bay Guide Service” also caught a few nice stripers this week. They targeted the back bay area along the docks and rip wrap area by casting swimbaits and jigs.
The back bays have also been producing some nice flounder this week. Barbara Dean was fishing on the “Get Sum” near Harbor Island with white Gulp when she caught a nice 18” flounder. Michael Skowronski was fishing on the “Tortuga” when he caught a nice 20½“ flounder along the Thorofare while using a minnow and squid combo. Dave Neumayer was fishing with his son Chase on board the “Double D’s” on an outgoing tide and ended up with a nice flounder along the south Jetty Wall. Joe Koziol also got in on the hot flounder bite in Ocean City by catching a nice 18” keeper flounder using white Gulp along the West Channel. The main areas to target are the Thorofare and Main Channel along the entrance to the bay.
Speaking of the entrance to the bay, spadefish and sheepshead are being caught in good numbers from the deep hole just outside the inlet. James and David Weller on the “Turn Me Loose” caught some nice size convicts from out front using sand fleas. Sand fleas are the favorite bait when targeting these picky fish.
Near Shore Wrecks & Reefs
The nearshore reefs are on fire this week with flounder and keeper sea bass being the most common catches. The African Queen as well as across the Bass Grounds have been closer in hot spots. For as warm as it's been it's surprising that keeper sea bass are still being caught in this shallow water. Further offshore at the Great Eastern Reef, keeper sea bass are much more prevalent.
Capt. Eric Shoaff on the headboat “Judith M” fished the Bass Grounds this week with several keepers, with many of those being true knotheads, which is a rare sight this time of year. Constantine George did not find the mahi when he went out, but did manage a few nice sea bass. Victor from the “Ocean Princess” shared that he found a better class of fish this week but wished they would have bitten a little better. Many anglers did manage a limit of flounder.
Overall the Great Eastern Reef was the hotspot of the week for sea bass and big flounder. Niko Papoutsis managed sea bass and flounder limits over a 3 hr period while he was fishing there this week. Kane Bounds took a charter out this week and reported the best fishing he has seen all year with big catches of flounder, sea bass and triggerfish. David Sliwinski was fishing on the “Ocean Princess” and was rewarded with a beautiful 24¼“ flounder. Similarly Bob Telford was fishing on the “Angler” and got his limit of flounder up to 5 lbs. This is some of the biggest flounder we have seen all year being caught on a regular basis.
If you're looking to catch a trophy flounder, now is the time. Over the next few weeks the water should begin to cool, sending the flounder off to deeper water. Squid and Gulp are the primary baits being used by most charters and headboats, however if you truly want a big fish try drifting a live spot along the bottom. You will not get the amount of bites you do if you use squid, but the bites you get will mostly be of a better quality.
Pompano are showing up in the surf at Assateague Island and many anglers are capitalizing on these tasty treats. Sand fleas or squid are your best baits and mid day seems to be the best time for catching them. A few black drum as well as some big redfish are also coming off the surf of late. These numbers should really increase as the water cools. The end of September into mid October is some of the best surf fishing that Assateague Island enjoys during the year.
The stripers will also begin to show up on our shores as the water cools.
Until next week...
Tight lines and fins up §
