Coastal Fishing Report, October 28 Update:
October is leaving us with some good bites along the coast of the Atlantic. The offshore wreck and reef sites have been productive for sea bass, porgies, flounder, and triggerfish this week. Capt. Monty reports some awesome sea bassing has taken place recently, including limit catches plus flounder coming over the rail. We also want to note that the O.C. Reef Foundation annual raffle is taking place now and some of the prizes are spectacular — including a full day charter of the Morning Star! Check it out and get your raffle tickets here. We also had a reader check in after flounder fishing on the Fish Bound IV, with a beautiful haul of flatties.
The Oceans East swordfish tournament has been taking place this month and many quality fish have been checked in. Currently the leading fish is a 241-pound swordfish caught by the boat Relentless. Boats have been checking in swordfish most days so there seems to be a decent bite out deep at the canyons.
At the OC inlet, anglers fishing with sand fleas and are catching sheepshead and tautog. If you are going to target these fish, make sure to bring plenty of bait and rigs as they like to hold close to structure and will pick your bait easily. The Route 50 and Route 90 bridges are producing a good amount of rockfish, though most of the fish are falling short of the 28 inch minimum. Flounder are starting to exit the back bays so the channels leading to the inlet are the better locations to target them. Brian Esteppe from Y Knot Charters reports a decent bite in the back bays for flounder. They have been catching their fish on Gulp! baits and fresh minnows.
Surf fisherman are catching a mix of kingfish, spot and flounder this past week. The anglers choosing to throw out large chunks of menhaden are still catching some big drum with more rockfish making their way into the mix.
Coastal Fishing Report, October 20 Update:
Cooler fall air has settled into the region but there are still some hot bites off our coast. Captain Monty on the Morning Star says the sea bassing has been decent inshore, if not spectacular, with many of his clients hitting double digits and a few flounder still coming over the rail. Sea Hawk Sports Center also confirmed that the Atlantic has provided good seabass fishing on reefs in around 100 feet of water. This fishing should stay good even with cooler temperatures moving in, so if you get a chance to get offshore, take advantage of it because those fish are delicious. They also mentioned that tog have made an appearance out of Chincoteague though most fish have been undersized. Out at the canyons the action has still been about the daytime swordfish and blueline tilefish. Both fish are being caught by deep dropping. The blueline tilefish have provided steadier action than the swords but when a boat hooks up with a sword it is an extremely fun and rewarding fish to land.
Excellent fall action in the Eastern Shore surf has continued, with multiple bull redfish still attacking baits cast from the beach of Assateague. Dave from Shark Whisperers had them up to 52” last week with the best bite at night, although he did note that sand tigers and sandbar sharks have been tearing up the baits intended for reds. Kingfish and spot are also thick in the surf, and few things can beat fresh cut spot for tempting the big predators. Reports have been coming in from the Route 50 bridge the past few days with anglers catching plenty of rockfish and some tog. Many of the rocks have been keeper status and anglers are throwing out artificials such as bucktails and swimbaits for these hungry fish.
In Virginia Beach surf reports are similar, with anglers reporting success with the larger red drum. The best bait reported there has also been fresh cut spot, which has produced both slot and over-slot fish. Other catches from the surf there have include kingfish and croaker. Upcoming cooler temperatures should make for some great fishing at the beaches, inlets, and bridge so get out there and cast a line out!
Coastal Fishing Report, October 14 Update:
Since the poor weather from the beginning of the month has moved out, the fishing has picked back up. Some of the best action on the coast seems to be inshore right now. There has been some flounder action in the back bays but most of the flounder reports have been coming from the party boats headed to the inshore grounds. Captain Monty on the Morning Star says the water has settled out since the storm and the bite is back on at the wreck and reef sites. His clients enjoyed some solid flounder action this week with good sized fish and had some double-digit catches of sea bass as well. Captain Cook reports that in Delaware the inshore grounds produced a mix of flounder, sea bass, tog, and trigger fish this week.
Further offshore at the canyons, boats have had steady pickings of blueline tilefish with a few swordfish being reported. The Oceans East Swordfish Tournament has been taking place this month and many boats have brought in some great catches. The big fish right now is a 241-pound swordfish caught by the Relentless. The tournament will conclude on the 31st of this month and you can follow along with current standings here. We also had a report from a day-dropper out of OC who went two for two on keeper swords and also noted that there were still some mahi on the balls.
It seems that the storm didn’t chase those big reds away from the surf — Dave from Shark Whisperers made it out a few days after the blow and reeled up some nice bulls from the ESVA surf. He also noted that the tog bite in the bay at OC was good, more keeper fish are now showing up, and he had a couple hitting the 17-inch mark over the weekend. Other common catches in the surf right now have included kingfish, spot, and croaker which are showing favor to bloodworm. As the weather continues to cool, the striped bass will start to move south from their summer grounds along the coastlines north of us. It will take a few more cold fronts but be ready for some fun action when they arrive.
Coastal Fishing Report, October 6 Update:
The remnants of Hurricane Ian turned Nor’easter battered the coast with persistent wind and heavy rains for the majority of last weekend and this week leaving us with very few reports. Most of the offshore and nearshore fleet has been tied to the docks while waiting for the storm to pass but luckily the extended forecast is showing favorable conditions heading our way. The OC Fishing Center gave us the report on fishing prior to the storm. Offshore boats were catching bigeye tuna, longfin albacore, and white and blue marlin. Deep droppers were enjoying some great action with blueline tilefish and some swordfish. Inshore anglers reported good fishing at the reef sites for sea bass, flounder, and mahi. The mahi will likely head south and offshore soon as cooler temperatures set into the region.
October is a great month to fish at the inlets and bridges for a variety of fish. Prior to the storm tautog and sheepshead were being caught at the inlet on sand fleas. Make sure to have plenty of bait as those guys will pick your hooks clean in an instant. We did hear of some unverified reports of rockfish up to 40 inches being caught at the Route 50 Bridge this week. The rockfish should continue to provide good action through the end of the month. Sea hawk Sports Center reported that surf fishing was really heating up before the storm but that conditions were basically unfishable during the blow. Since the storm has cleared, anglers are getting back out and fishing is picking back up. Sea Hawk says that surf fishing from Assateague down to the Virginia barrier Islands has been producing good red drum fishing. Reds have been taking chucks of spot and mullet casted out on fish finder rigs. The drum have ranged from slot sized up to some bulls pushing the 50-inch mark.
The seaside bays have had some great spec fishing with a persistent puppy drum bite in the southern areas, but it will likely taker a few days for water quality to improve and fishing to get back to normal. Once it does, try targeting these fish on high tides by throwing Gulp! Shrimp baits on one quarter ounce jig heads bounced off the bottom or suspended under popping corks. Hopefully good reports come in over the weekend and early next week to get us back on schedule.