Well, this was a relatively quiet week. Back bay stripers and bluefish ruled the roost for the most part, a couple more red drum were caught, and a nice-sized wahoo plus a boatload of mahi-mahi made it onto the same charter. If the weather goes south as the storm comes north, we may have another quiet week coming up. Hopefully, as predicted right now, it won’t be visiting us and we can thankfully sneak by unscathed. Either way, by the time this comes out we will be less than two weeks from sea bass season. Let’s go.
Matt reporting from Jim’s Bait and Tackle gets us going with word of a “pretty dismal week weather-wise” but tempers that by saying that “we still had some action.”
Some of that action was offshore where there was good tuna bite early in the week in the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons. He reported that “quite a few boats” were planning on heading out Sunday, so we will hope they get out and have productive trips.
The four-hour party boats are still heading to the Rips and the bay for small blues and weakfish. He reported they were “doing pretty well” especially on the “nicer days.” It’s nice to hear that they are bringing in fish and giving local anglers another option to get the line wet.
The best area in the past week that Matt mentioned was probably the beach and surf. Small bass and blues were inhabiting this area. Mullet that were thick around the rock piles at Cape May Point and the beachfront were a big draw for these predators. Early in the week some weakfish and croakers were also found in the area. Jim’s also saw their first red drum of the season, as one was “caught and released” at the Point, while another was caught at North Wildwood.
From Utsch’s Marina comes word of a good weekend trip for Captain Tom and the Fishin’ Fever. They returned with a 64 pound wahoo, and 60 mahi-mahi. They were also looking for some tuna, but they proved “elusive.” Still though, that’s making good use of your time on the water.
Captain Skip on the Stalker is hitting the back bay hard and having success. He has been running his morning and afternoon “skiff” trips and bringing stripers, some of the keeper variety, over the rail. The rain, wind and high water conditions created by the recent nor’easter didn’t slow down the catch rate. The weekend was very productive as the pictures he posted can attest. Right now this seems to be one of the hotter fisheries going on.
Another boat triumphantly fishing the back water is Sailor’s Delight Back Bay Fishing. Captain Andrew has been putting his fares on bluefish, plus short stripers, pufferfish, sharks and the occasional weakfish. They have even caught some out-of-season flounder. These two boats have shown that you don’t have to let Mother Nature ruin your fishing chances. With the way the weather has been lately, the back has been a nice, productive area to go. With this action, I have been longing to get the kayak out, but have been fighting the clock and the day planner, and losing. I’ve hooked up with stripers from the ‘yak before, and I’ve also been towed by a few big bluefish, so I’m eager to get out and hook up. If I can, I’ll obviously let you know how it goes.
Cameron at Boulevard Bait and Tackle had some regulars that put bluefish and striped bass on the beach early on and at the end of the recent stretch of bad weather. That’s not really surprising since many nice striper have been landed during nasty conditions. I’ve also noticed that cloudy, gloomy weather is a good time for landing linesiders. We’ve had plenty of those conditions in the past four or five days as you all know.
An end-of-season thank you goes out to the Royal Flush, which sailed its final trip of 2016 on Sunday, October 2. Thank you to Susie Q and crew for keeping us up to date on their catches and adventures as they sailed out front daily. Also, thanks for the pictures and descriptions. Enjoy the time off and the approaching holidays, and we look forward to hearing from you next spring.
I received word of an upcoming tournament that I’ll pass on. It’s the best time of the year to head to the beach and toss out some bait, so get out and enjoy the season.
The Ocean City Fishing Club (OCFC) is preparing for its upcoming tournament. On October 22 the club will hold its 49th Annual Surf Fishing Tournament. It is for teams or individual anglers, and draws from throughout the tri-state region.
Registration will take place from 5:30 to 7 a.m. at the Ocean City Intermediate School at 1801 Bay Ave. With the “aegis” of the Association of Surf Angling Clubs (ASAC), the tournament will have two sessions of fishing. They will run from 7 to 9:30 a.m., then from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Between sessions, there is a 30 minute break.
OCFC members will be stationed along the beaches to measure and record your catch.
After the second session, anglers will return to the Intermediate School for lunch, door prizes and the presentation of awards to the first, second and third place finishers.
The entry fee for a team of six is $60, while individuals have a fee of $15 a person.
For additional information, call Augie Conte III at (609) 320-6784 or email augustine.conteiii@gmail.com.
Be careful with the approaching storm if it does make it this far north, but if it does stay away, get out and enjoy some early fall fishing. I’m going to try to follow my own advice based around the long-weekend schedule, and if I succeed, I’ll let you know. If you do well, please do the same.
Submit your fishing news and photos to mrobbins@cmcherald.com.
