Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 12/28/2018 Update:
Hey there FishTalkers, and welcome to the final fishing report of 2018! Don't worry - despite the chilly weather and difficult conditions the next few months will bring, we'll keep bringing you current reports right through the winter. They may be shorter at times and the options may be a bit more limited, but we know there are plenty of die-hard anglers out there who will want to wet a line whenever the opportunity presents itself. Come rain, sleet, or snow, let's keep on casting!
As 2018 comes into its final fishing days, unfortunately for anglers still holding out for those last-minute stripers, it looks like they still haven’t made their way down here in massive numbers just yet. At least, not within the three mile limit for the most part. All of the beaches have grown quiet and the effort is now limited mainly to trollers and a (very) few hard-cores casting from the inlet rocks. During the past few days Delaware waters have yielded just a few fish, but in decent size ranges for the most part. Anglers were reporting some 30 to 33 inch fish up off the coast of Fenwick Island. White and chartreuse Mojos were the ticket. Nearly all of the boats that went south had caught nothing, which aligns with the birds’ intuition to search northward. A handful of throwbacks have also been caught at Indian River Inlet, and inside Ocean City at the bridges. Luckily, it seems that the water temps have stayed around 43 degrees, so no worries there. But… it seems like the real commotion is still happening above DelMarVa’s borders. It’s been slow out of OC and the Cape Charles bite, which has been just good enough (with mediocre numbers but very good sizes including fish up into the 40s) to tempt hearty anglers to hit the water, has also slowed a bit. If we have any luck, they may decide to swing by us once we ring in the new year.
We had some tautog news that you might remember, a 16-pound class line record may have been set by existing IGFA record holder Ken Westerfeld on Fish Bound out of Ocean City with his 17.4 pounder, the week before last. If this isn’t an indication on how the fishing has been then I’m not sure what else to tell you, and the good bite continues. Wreck fishing has been phenomenal, with several bluebird days out there now that Christmas is over. The sea bass bite has been wonderful as well, with most headboats like the Morning Star satisfying their clients with fat catches ‘round the rail. Sea bass close down in a matter of days up and down the coast, of course, but thanks to the tog it doesn’t look like the bite is going to drop off out on the wrecks any time soon. Stick with green crab and white leggers fished on snafu rigs and dropped right into the snarles, for the tog.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 12/21/2018 Update:
Merry Fishmas, coastal anglers! As the year comes to a close we’re seeing less and less hope of striper action for the dedicated surf fishermen that have been patiently casting and waiting. The suspects were last seen off of Wildwood, New Jersey, and are still at large. Even for boat anglers it’s been tough as it seems most of the fish have shifted outside of the three-mile line, which is a result of the water temperatures dropping quickly into the lower 40’s. There’s still a chance that they’ll decide to cruise by the beaches for a shot at some surf action, but for right now Delaware striper hunters are best served by running north; Ocean City anglers have found a few fish in the 30-inch class at Little Gull and the Banana Lump off Sea Colony, towing chartreuse umbrellas. It seems like some big stripers made a bypass of the coast then circled back inshore off Cape Charles and the mouth of the Chesapeake, because anglers in that vicinity have reeled up a few big cows. It’s not exactly a hot bite, but boats working it hard with umbrellas and Mojos in chartreuse and white have been getting a fish or three.
Meanwhile, the tog bite has shot up tremendously. Any anglers venturing off to the deep wrecks will be happy to find some nice tautog, including many over 10 pounds in the past week. Sand fleas and green crab baits fished tight to structure are doing the trick. Up in Delaware Captain Cook on the First Light reports excellent tog action in 90 feet of water when the weather allows for a trip. And recently the all-tackle world record holder Ken Westerfield might have broken a current line-class record, by hooking 17-pound, four-ounce tog on 15-pound test while aboard the Fish Bound out of Ocean City. Capt. Monty on the Morning Star is also reporting a solid tog bite with some bass still mixed in, though that species is moving out and winding down for the season.
Much of the inlet fishing has died down significantly, weather hasn’t helped on that count, and all we heard of from the rocks the past week was a few short tog at Indian River and Ocean City. We also heard virtually nothing from the deep – virtually. At least a couple boats heading out of Virginia Beach returned with a swordfish or two.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 12/14/2018 Update:
Well, the wait continues to continue. Stripers coming south from Jersey have been moving slowly. Tough weather didn’t allow for much fishing this week and we heard nothing of trophy fish from Delaware and Maryland waters inside the three mile limit, although a few anglers are scratching out a steady trickle of big fish at the mouth of the Bay. But overall it’s still slow down there as well – a trickle, not a flood, with most boats reporting zero to three fish. Captain Cook of First Light Charters out of Delaware did mention that with the conditions this week it was best to switch things up and there was some opportunity to be found by fishing at night, when it was quite cold but schoolie stripers up to 24 inches were hitting dark Clousers and speck rigs. Schoolies are also around inside Ocean City near the Rt. 50 and 90 bridges, for anglers casting bucktails, swimbaits, and bright-colored soft plastics.
Moving over to the inlets, tautog are still on everyone’s mind, but as the temperature has dropped this bite has slowed a bit, too. Frozen sand fleas and green crab have been their favorite baits. It’s been pretty quiet in Indian River (which may be due to a lack of effort as much as anything) with more (mostly throwback) fish reported from Ocean City around the Rt. 50 Bridge, piers, and bulkheads around the bridge. Same goes for togging at the CBBT, where the islands provide most of the action.
Black sea bass fishing is still taking place on a few party boats but that bite’s drawing to an abrupt end as that species shifts to deeper waters. Tog will bite better out on the wrecks and reefs and are beginning to become the prime target for the party boats. Dropping green crab is the best bet.
Offshore, things are pretty much done for the year. A handful of swords came into Virginia Beach over the week but the significant temp breaks are all now well offshore or farther south and for the immediate future, runs to the deep are likely to be an experiment in burning fuel.
Coastal Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, 12/7/2018
Well, the wait continues… Stripers moving south from Jersey have been slowing their roll, it seems. They do this every year, leaving us waiting in eagerness to hopefully find huge fish that decided to migrate closer to shore. It looks like we still have a ways to go, since the bulk of the fish haven’t even made their way through New Jersey. That said, a few “early” big fish have popped up in Indian River (though the vast majority of the stripers being caught there are throw-backs) and also down at the CBBT and along Virginia’s coastline. One monster 52-pounder was caught in Virginian waters last weekend and has been lighting up Facebook, a few other big fish were hauled in by trollers pulling Mojos and tandems, and they have some fish on the board at the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout right now. But the big numbers of fish just aren’t around yet.
The larger stripers seem to have skipped past Ocean City at the moment, where school-sized fish and a very occasional barely-legal is being caught on a variety of jigs and light tackle around the Rt. 50 and 90 bridges and also in the inlet. Picking these guys off with just about any bright soft plastic paired with a 1.5-ounce jighead, or using bucktails and swimbaits, have been some popular choices. If fishing around the bridge pilings, be sure to try out vertical jigging if it seems to slow down. The temps and clarity conditions have pushed the fished towards the lower sections of the water column, and hitting them with a Blue Blue or other vertical jig may be the only way to their hearts (mouths). Moving over to the inlet, tautog are something on everyone’s mind. Frozen sand fleas and green crab have been their favorite baits around the jetties, the Rt. 50 Bridge, and the bulkheads around the bridge. Some small tog are also being caught at the Ice Breakers in the Delaware, in Indian River around the rocks, and all along the CBBT. The bulk of them in all these places, however, have been under legal size and the keeper-to-throwback ratio is something like one to 10 or 20 depending on the location.
A much better tog bite is happening off the coast, at wrecks and reefs. Captain Cook on the First Light mentioned that tog have been hitting green crab and there’s also still a good sea bass bite when putting clam baits on the hook. Capt. Monty on the Morning Star, in Ocean City, is also still catching sea bass but beginning to add some tautog trips. The same mix is present off the Virginia coast, although there have also been triggerfish still in that region being reported in the catch. The only downside to fishing the wrecks right now is an increase in dogfish numbers, and that can make it tough to score the target species. If you get swarmed with them, a move is in order. There’s been a mix of red hake and bluefish showing up out there as well, so cater your bait to whatever you’d like to bring home with you.
Offshore, it seems that there’s been a slower flow of reports for the swordfish and tuna bite as winter closes in and weather windows become rarer. However, we do know that the yellowfin have definitely moved further south along the coast. Boats heading out of Wachapreague and south still have a chance to find them.