Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report - 5/16/14

Don't forget to send your personal reports and pictures to dtmasportsman@yahoo.com to have them posted on the blog!

Offshore Ocean:

As predicted the first mako shark was caught and brought back to OCMD this past week by Restless Lady Sport Fishing. Captain Todd was fishing in the deep of the Poormans canyon. The crew also released 4 blue sharks. The mako and blue sharks all took mackerel fillets.

Tile fishing is still very good. Captain Phil Leo of Ductwork Sport Fishing had another great tile fish trip on Monday the 12th with a stud golden tilefish weighing in at 42.8 pounds! Congrats Captain Phil and crew!

No tuna were reported this past week in the region, however once the weather allows boats to venture out to the warm water pushing into the canyons we should see more tuna both bluefin and yellowfin being brought back to the dock.

The water temperatures inshore need to warm up a little before we start seeing makos and threshers being caught at the inshore lumps and ridges. Hopefully we will have some inshore sharking reports in the next couple of weeks. I did get a report from a friend that he saw a 6' + thresher shark chasing bait fish in Indian River Inlet this past week while he was striper fishing. This does not surprise me as threshers are known to come right to the beach.

Inshore Ocean:

Sea bass season will open on Monday throughout the region. Many anglers are already booked to go on local charter boats and headboats. Both Adam Bomb Charters and Ductwork Sport Fishing will be running for sea bass when the weather allows.

Striper fishing off the New Jersey coast has been good. Anglers fishing from Northern NJ to Cape May have been finding good action on nice fish. Trolling, chunking, and live lining are all producing their share of nice stripers.

Unfortunately tog season is closed in both Delaware and New Jersey. Maryland's tog season remains open and anglers fishing the local jetties and inshore wrecks are still connecting on a lot of nice tog.

Chesapeake Bay:

Stripers are still being caught by anglers trolling planer boards up and down the bay. Many anglers are reporting an increase in the number of short fish being caught.

Bottom fishing in the lower bay should be starting as anglers hang up their trolling gear for the spring. Croakers, spot, and white perch should all be caught by anglers fishing with bloodworms and squid.

Delaware Bay:

The upper bay is still produced some nice stripers this past week. As the fish continue to move down the bay we should see better reports from the mid and lower bay anglers.

Black drum are being caught by anglers fishing both the NJ and DE sides of the lower bay. With the full moon coming up next week drum action should continue to get better and better. Fresh clams and moving tide are the ticket to hooking into these big fish. Many anglers fish for these drum at night, but good drum fishing is also available during the day for these fish.

There are some nice weakfish being caught in the lower bay as well. Anglers fishing from Broadkill Beach in Delaware reported good action on big sea trout.

Keeper flounder are also being caught by Delaware anglers around Cape Henlopen state park and the Lewes canal. Jig heads tipped with gulp and cut bait have been good flounder producers. Squid and minnow rigs have also taken their fare share of flounder in the early season as well.

Freshwater:

Fresh water anglers are still reporting good success on crappies, bass and pickeral in all the local ponds and lakes.

Surface lures, and soft plastics are taking many of the bass and pickeral. Minnows and crappie jigs have been the ticket for anglers targeting crappies.

Summertime/hot weather fishing usually means early morning and evening are the best times to fish for bass and pickeral.


Tight Lines,

Dave