6/30/2017 Update:
Offshore action has taken fire, according to our Coastal Correspondent John Unkart. He reports that Capt. Josh Ruskey on the Boss Hogg has been pounding yellowfin at the Washington and earlier in the week between the Baltimore and the Poorman. Most trips are producing a half-dozen or so yellowfin in the 40 to 60 pound range. Spreader bars, Green Machines, and rigged ballyhoo are doing best. In the past few days several boats have also reported doing well at the Hot Dog, trolling the same baits.
Ocean City has been a bright spot for inshore fishing for flounder, with some good catches in the Inlet and around the Route 50 Bridge. These areas are also holding (snapper) bluefish and an occasional puppy drum, with some anglers casting from shore catching them in similar numbers. The puppy drum are mostly showing up for those fishing with shrimp. On the wrecks sea bass have been abundant, and a few flounder are showing up as well. Clam bits are working best for the bass and the flounder respond to GULP twisters rigged on top-and-bottom fluke killer rigs.
Unfortunately, up the coast in Delaware the flounder bite is off. Other than a few stripers caught at night from the inlet rocks the fishing in Indian River has been slow. Boats heading out for the wreck and reef sites have returned with a few sea bass, but mostly from the sites 15 miles or farther from shore. Clam has been the best bait.
In the surf some panfish are nibbling: kingfish, croaker, and spot, mostly on bloodworms fished on Doodlebugs. Some skates take the bait now and again, as well.
6/23/2017 Update:
A great offshore bite has developed for yellowfin tunas in the deep. Boats running to the area between Poorman's and Baltimore reported good catches, we heard of a few running into the double-digits, and coastal Correspondent John Unkart let us know that ballyhoo and spreader bars trolled between 70 and 100 fathoms did the trick. Boss Hogg had an amazing 16 yellowfin one day - plus a white release.
Speaking of whites: congratulations go out to Dave Taylor of West Ocean City, who caught the first white marlin on a boat fishing from Ocean City of the year. You may remember that Ocean City pulled the usual $5K reward for the first white of the season, then reinstated it after local business objected and compiled an award of their own. Net result? That white, which ate a ballyhoo rigged with a pink skirt in Poorman's, ended up being worth twice as much. Had he caught it a day earlier, the prize would have grown by another $5,000. But Ian Schwing, fishing out of Indian River, took the Marlin Club's prize money by landing a white the day before.
On the inshore front, anglers drifting the East Channel and Thoroughfare behind Ocean City were rewarded with some good flounder catches. A few of the flounder fishermen were surprised with catches of puppy drum, as well. Flounder are also starting to appear on the inshore wrecks, though still not in good numbers.
Flounder fishing has been tougher to the north, with catches in Indian River remaining rather sparse. Some have been caught out of Lewes, too, but again the numbers have not been impressive. A few keeper stripers have made their presence known in Indian River, mostly being caught at night. Sea bass fishing on the wreck and reef sites out of Indian River has been a better bet for Delaware anglers, with some flatfish also popping up in the catch.
In the surf much of the week was difficult thanks to the wind, but there are kingfish and skates being caught. Bloodworm bits fished on small doodlebug rigs are best for the kingfish.
6/17/2017 Update:
Two pretty crazy events have happened this weekend on our waterways: We received a phone call from one excited angler to let us know that a cobia was caught behind Ocean City, just off MR Ducks, by an angler drifting the channel for flounder. Meanwhile, in the middle Chesapeake Bay, a dolphin was sighted just a mile or so south of the Bay Bridge. While dolphin sightings are not terribly uncommon farther south, this far north is pretty unusual.
6/16/2017 Update:
Offshore fishing has really cranked up, with good tuna fishing for anglers headed out the canyons, who have often come home with boxes full of large bluefin and yellowfin after trolling ballyhoo and Green Machines. Bluefin have been the prevailing catch but the long run is still necessary at this point as they haven't moved inshore to the lumps and set up shop just yet. Anglers who have been targeting mako have been catching them around the 30 fathom line, and a few threshers are still showing up too. Sharking farther out at the canyons has also produced some mako. Offshore dolphin fishing has also been good, with many gaffer size dolphin being caught. Most are found around the lobster pots and other floating structure.
Sea bass fishing on wrecks has been steady; clam has been the most common bait being used this season and is producing the most fish. Anglers drifting minnow and/or GULP! next to the wrecks are starting to pick up some flounder, too. The inlets at Ocean City and Indian River are also holding some flounder, although not many. The water has cleared up from its roiled state of last week but the fishing hasn't improved quite as much as expected and the same goes for anglers casting for stripers and blues in the surf. Coastal Correspondent John Unkart spent the past week at Cherrystone, where most of the fish were small (kingfish, perch, and spot) and crabbing proved to be the more productive activity.
6/9/2017 Update:
Fishing has slowed down in inshore waters, with the primary catch being smaller fish. Flounder fishing has dropped off both bayside and oceanside, and the big bluefish that made for such an entertaining spring have thinned out both in the bays and in the surf. However, Captain Brian Esteppe of Y Knot Charters told us that catfish, perch, small rockfish, and puppy drum are all being caught here and there bayside. Perch are hitting bloodworms and shad darts, and the catfish are hitting cut bait. Warm weather and lighter winds should allow for better fishing in upcoming weeks, as many boats have had trouble even leaving the dock since late May. Our Coastal Correspondent John Unkart let us know that Tuesday several boats brought home yellowfin tuna from deep water beyond Poormans Canyon, between 600 and 800 fathoms. Further inshore, mako and thresher sharks are being caught. Read How to Fish For Sharks at the 20 Fathom Fingers and John's Mako Madness feature (on pages 36 - 37 in the June edition of FishTalk) to learn more about targeting these amazing predators. Logan Unkart caught a nice flounder in the Assateague surf on a piece of cut mullet this week, but such catches have been the exception, not the rule. A few kingfish and bluefish have also popped up in the surf.
Steady sea bass fishing on wrecks is the best bet for near-shore anglers, with the sea bass biting sea clam and peeler crabs. Flounder are around here and there but haven't really kicked in just yet on the reef and wreck sites, though that should begin to change shortly.
Reports from Delaware mirror those from VA and MD, but in many areas those big bluefish have been replaced to some degree with snappers, including some in the surf. A few scattered kingfish (sea mullet) are around, as well. Flounder have been few and far between.
6/2/2017 Update:
Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em reports that water temps and clarity have been hurting the flounder fishing in the Indian River area, but that should turn around in the next week (as long as it doesn’t continue this seemingly non-stop pattern of rainfall). The anglers who have had some success found the best baits were bucktails with five to six inch white GULP tails bounced off the bottom, or live minnow.
In the Delaware surf many decent-sized Bluefish are still being caught with cut bunker or occasionally on surface plugs. Black Sea Bass are starting to come in on the wrecks, though weather has been the biggest impediment as far as getting out onto the ocean goes.
Coastal Correspondent John Unkart let us know that while weather was definitely an impediment, the few boats that made it to areas like the 20 fathom line, the Parking Lot, the Fingers, and Massey’s Canyon tied into some nice sharks this week. Blues proved most plentiful but a few mako were taken (from the 20 line and out) and a good number of threshers showed up inshore. Inshore wreck sites were also productive this past week, as the sea bass bite proved solid—Fishbound ran to the Old Grounds, and limited out. On the other hand, boats that made the long run to the canyons were a bit disappointed in some cases, as tuna proved few in numbers.
Back on the beach, stripers and blues are still being caught, though in fewer numbers. Kingfish (sea mullet) have begun appearing, however, to fill in the gap. Bloodworms fished close to the breakers are best for the kingfish, while cut bait cast out far is more effective for the stripers and blues.