June 3, 2009

Maryland Report

Ocean Side Fishing Report

Founder fishing continues to be a good bet in the back bay areas of Ocean City and Assateague Island. Flounder are being caught around the Route 90 Bridge south to the Thorofare area, the East Channel and behind Assateague Island. Natural baits of squid and minnows as well as white Gulp mullet baits are good choices this week.

At the inlet area tautog fishing remains good off the bulkhead areas, the jetties and the Oceanic Pier. Small 14” to 16” bluefish arrived in force last weekend and there were several times when the fishing was in blitz mode early in the weekend. The night crew has been catching striped in the inlet area on swim shads and bucktails, especially on a falling tide.

Surf fishermen are now seeing water temperatures around 62-degrees and new arrivals to the Ocean City/Assateague area. Fishermen have been catching some nice striped bass from the surf this week and bluefish are a big part of the catches now. There are a lot of skates and dogfish being caught and the first sting rays and sand tiger sharks were seen this week in the surf. The best striped bass fishing lately seems to be low tide.Snowy Grouper

The boats heading out to the wreck sites have been finding good numbers of sea bass on most of the wrecks and although the numbers are dwindling; tautog are still being caught. Bluefish are becoming more common in the area as are flounder and blue sharks and there have been rumors of thresher sharks lost and seen.

The offshore fishing fleet had its first taste of good fishing this week with boats bringing back dolphin from the Baltimore Canyon area and the season’s first mako shark and bluefin tuna. All were caught in the Baltimore Canyon where the water temperature has been about 64-degrees. Some fishermen have also been fishing deep in the area for tilefish and J D Eddy caught a whopping 47-pound snowy grouper this past weekend.

Upper Bay Region

As of May 16th striped bass are fair game above the Brewerton Channel line and fishermen took advantage of being able to add striped bass to their catches this past weekend while also fishing for white perchChannel Catfish and channel catfish. The fishing for channel catfish and white perch has been good in many areas of the upper bay; particularly around the mouth of the Susquehanna and the Elk River. The white perch are holding in the channels and deeper holes and are being caught on bottom rigs baited with bloodworms or by jigging with small jigs and spoons. The striped bass are being caught by casting soft plastic jigs around structure such as channel edges and old piers. Channel catfish can be found from the Baltimore Harbor area to the Susquehanna; including most all of the tidal rivers and creeks. Cut bait is a good choice, especially menhaden and fishermen can often catch striped bass at the same time while chunking or chumming.

There are a lot of options open this week for fishermen looking for striped bass in the upper bay region. Boats have been chumming at traditional locations such as Swan Point, Love Point and the channel edge from Baltimore Light to Sandy Point Light with good results. Boats continue to troll along channel edges and have been finding striped bass in the 18” to 23” size range. Casting crankbaits and soft plastic jigs along shoreline structure such as old piers and rocks has also been a good option in the early morning and evening hours. There has not been much talk of breaking fish in the upper bay region this week but that should change soon.

Shoreline fishermen have been catching good numbers of white perch and channel catfish along with a few striped bass from fishing piers and prominent points. Recreational crabbers are reporting sparse catches this week in the regions tidal rivers and creeks.

Middle Bay Region

There are a lot of exciting fishing options this week in the middle bay region. The large black drum arrived at the Stone Rock areas late last week and the fishing has been very good this week. Boats have been Black Drumgathering up on the site and probing the depths with their depth sounders looking for the tell tale signs of the drum. They tend to run in tightly packed schools and the basic idea is to drop a whole or ½ a soft crab in front of them with a sinker and circle hook. Some fishermen like to eat them and some don’t. The meat is very different in the large fish and is usually steaked out of the fillet portion above the ribs and can be grilled, baked or broiled. The scales on a big black drum are the size of silver dollars, tough and so large you can count the growth rings; one picked off before release can be a nice souvenir of your catch. The fillet section from the anus to the tail usually has the larval form of a parasitic tapeworm found in sharks. The sharks become the host of the adult tapeworm when they eat a drum infested with the larval stage of the worms. We are told that the larval worms are harmless to fishermen but I have never tried it personally. If you do decide to eat one; you might consider removing the pharyngeal plates that are located back in the throat, sort of where your tonsils would be. These enameled plates are a strange sight and make a great conversation piece and trophy. The drum use these plates to grind up crabs and clams and make their drumming sound.

There is plenty of striped bass action this week; both large and medium sized fish are being caught by boats trolling along the channel edges, near ballast stone piles and similar bottom structure. Striped BassMost fishermen are pulling a combination of large parachutes and medium sized bucktails or spoons at a variety of depths. Umbrella rigs continue to be popular in attracting fish and just about everyone has at least one in the spread. More fishermen began to chum this week at channel edges and points such as the outside edge of the Hill and below Thomas Point. Catches were reported to be from fair to good. Fishermen are reporting good signs of bait and striped bass along the western side of the shipping channel from Breezy Point to Cove Point in about 30” of water. Those that are lucky enough to encounter breaking fish are casting to striped bass in the 17” to 23” size range with soft plastic jigs and bucktails. Others are finding the striped bass deep either on bait or close to structure and are jigging with soft plastic jigs and bucktails. Lately there has not been much action reported near the Calvert Power Plant Rips; which makes sense now that bay water temperatures are creeping past the mid-60-degree mark.

The first croaker action of noteworthy attention occurred this past weekend as fishermen found them spread from the Choptank Fishing Pier and Eastern Bay area to the Hooper’s Island area. The catches in Eastern Bay and Choptank were sparse but croakers were caught. There were also croakers caught on the edge of Stone Rock and similar type shoals throughout the region. It will probably take a couple more weeks for the concentrations of croakers to amass in the middle bay region.

Blue CrabsRecreational crabbers did well this week finding medium sized crabs in many of the region’s tidal rivers and creeks. Most of the crabs being caught are measuring about 5-1/2” but are heavy. Many of the crabs this past weekend were close to shedding and showed signs of being green peelers. The larger crabs that are being caught tend to be light and most crabbers are throwing them back to fatten up. Collapsible traps are working well; especially in deeper waters and later on in the day. Razor clams have been a favorite but others are reporting cut fish and chicken necks are working just as well. Greg Falter and his wife Beckie spent a few hours running 24 collapsible traps baited with chicken necks in Thompson’s Creek to put together this ½ bushel of crabs recently.

Lower Bay/Tangier Sound Region

There is some good fishing to be had this week; whether one is chasing striped bass or croakers. Fishermen reported good fishing opportunities for school sized striped bass outside of the Gas Docks, the Buoy 72 area, the Middle Grounds area, Point No Point and Cedar Point. Many fishermen are still trolling for their striped bass with medium sized bucktails behind umbrella rigs or in tandem on flat lines. Others are finding plenty of action in the mornings with breaking fish outside the Gas Docks and other edges of the shipping channel in about 25’ to 35’ of water. Vertical jigging to deep fish hovering over structure or bait fish has also been a good option this week. Casting to shore line structure such as the rocks at Cedar Point with a variety of lures is providing good fishing for boat fishermen in the early morning or late evening hours. Most fishermen like to use single hooks on a soft plastic such as a BKD or Bass Assassin but surface poppers such as the Storm Chug a Bug can add the excitement of a surface strike.Croakers

The croaker fishing really began to shift into high gear this week in the Tangier Sound area and the tidal rivers of Dorchester and Somerset Counties. Fishermen reported good catches of croaker on peeler crab, squid and shrimp baits while bottom fishing. The mouth of the Honga, Nanticoke, Wicomico, Manokin, Big Annemessex and Pocomoke Rivers are all good places to fish as well as Tangier Sound. Along the hard bottom channel edges flounder are also being caught and speckled trout are being caught in the shallower areas near the marshes.

Recreational crabbers are catching crabs in the tidal rivers and creeks in the two regions of the lower bay with trotlines and collapsible crab traps. All of the tidal rivers and creeks in the Dorchester and Somerset Counties and the Patuxent on the western shore are good places to crab this week. Most of the crabs are what are normally called medium size at about 5-1/2” but this past holiday weekend as one would imagine they were labeled as Number 1’s on the commercial market.

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