Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported better fishing for sea bass than usual toward the tail end of last week, with anglers catching double-digit numbers of knuckleheads and a handful of limits early on during last Thursday’s trip. They also had a nice mixed-bag of big scup (porgies) to complement the sea bass bite, with the high hook landing six scup in addition to the sea bass. The skipper anticipates that scup fishing should improve as early winter conditions set in. Friday’s trip was supposed to be met with windy conditions, but the wind all but died later in the day which lead to pleasantly sunny and comfortable fishing for the remainder of the day. The first two spots yielded only short fish but by spot number three, they started hooking into some nice keeper sea bass around the boat, with a few keeper fluke, including one angler who limited out. The Morning Star hit the grounds again on Sunday and while the fishing started off slower than anticipated, there were some keeper sea bass and fluke coming over the rails. As the wind picked up throughout the day, the bite continued to improve and a few anglers even caught some triggerfish in the mix with sea bass. It wasn’t lights out fishing, but there was enough action from a variety of species to send anglers home happy with plenty of meat for the dinner table. Give them a call to inquire about upcoming availability!
In Ocean City, Taylor Bakke from Always Bent Fishing OC reported: “Bluefin tuna continue to be what most anglers have been looking to target in the last week, with a ton of boats out trying Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Jeff and the crew on Bad Habit had a killer week catching a limit Tuesday, 1 under on Wednesday, 1 under and 1 67” stud over Thursday, and then was able to get back out Sunday and catch 2 more unders! The Shad Darts Crew was also able to keep their limit of 3 unders on Sunday on the charter boat Moon Dog out of DE. Then in the 47”-72” class anglers are still only able to keep one fish per boat per day, with a few of those being caught as well. Skirted ballyhoos are still the hot bait of choice, with trolling being the main method used to catch. Inshore we saw a nice mix of tautog, a few black drum, some lurking bluefish, as well as some nice striped bass! The tautog and striped bass fishing should continue to improve as we move into the prime of the fall run season. Sand fleas, green crabs and frozen shrimp have been working well for anglers fishing for tautog, sheepshead, and black drum, however the sheepshead bite will be slowing down as the water temps continue to drop.” Visit the Always Bent website for detailed fishing reports, videos and more.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Lower Bay
Fishing for striped bass offers better hope for anglers who are casting, jigging, and trolling the waters of the lower Bay and the tidal rivers. For light tackle anglers who enjoy casting lures in the waters of the tidal rivers and Bay shores there is a mix of striped bass and puppy drum to be found. The puppy drum are being described as just under the minimum 18 inches, with some fitting into the 18-27 inch slot to be a legal fish.
Jigging with soft plastic jigs or metal jigs along the deep edges of the channels is a popular way to fish for striped bass out in the bay. A close watch on a depth finder will help pinpoint suspended fish along channel edges, usually at a 30-foot depth. Anglers jigging with metal jigs can be surprised with a black sea bass or a large white perch at times when jigging near some of the artificial reefs.
Trolling umbrella rigs down deep along channel edges has become a very popular way to fish for striped bass this month. It requires heavy tackle onboard and equally heavy inline weights to get the umbrella rigs down to the depths where striped bass are holding. The best depth to find striped bass suspended close to the bottom is 30 feet. The most productive trailers are reported to be bucktails dressed with sassy shads or twistertails in white or chartreuse.
White perch are now holding in the deeper waters in the lower sections of the region’s tidal rivers and Tangier Sound. The white perch are following the warmer waters to be found deeper. The difference from surface water temperatures to depths of 25 feet or more can be as much as 10 degrees or more. Jigging with metal jigs is the most popular way to target the larger white perch. Bottom rigs can also be effective when baited with grass shrimp, small minnows, pieces of bloodworm or peeler crab. Oyster reefs and deep water bridge piers are all good places to look for schools of white perch.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Tautog have moved into the Ocean City Inlet and the surrounding jetties, bulkheads and piers. Flounder are moving out through the inlet headed for offshore wintering grounds. Anglers are enjoying good fishing for tautog this week and sand fleas and pieces of crab are the preferred baits. Casting Gulp baits, traditional baits of squid and drifting live baits are the best ways to target flounder moving through the inlet. Casting soft plastic jigs is accounting for good fishing for striped bass.
Surf anglers wait in anticipation of the southbound migration of striped bass to arrive along Maryland beaches. New Jersey surf anglers are enjoying epic fishing so hopefully the vanguard of the striped bass migration will arrive soon.
The boats headed out to the offshore wreck and reef sites are finding good catches of black sea bass and a mix of triggerfish, porgies, and flounder for their anglers. Those specifically targeting flounder are catching large ones.
The offshore sea conditions at the canyons has been rough at times recently but there could be a pot of gold out there for tuna anglers. Recent catches of yellowfin tuna at the Hudson Canyon were off the charts so perhaps some of those fish will be available to Maryland anglers as they pass by. Maryland anglers are enjoying the southerly migration of bluefin tuna this week and those catches are occurring within a few miles of the inlet.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.