Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report - 6/13/14

Offshore Ocean:

Yellowfins and bigeyes are being caught from the Hudson Canyon down to the Washington Canyon and at each Canyon in between. Dolphin have also showed up in the southern canyons. I did hear reports of the first white marlin being caught out of OCMD and IRI. Congrats to those crews who caught them. Whites should start showing up more frequently in the next few weeks.

Shark fishing for makos and threshers seemed to have slowed just a bit this past week. There were still some great fish caught including a couple of makos over 300 pounds. There have been more brown sharks, blue sharks, duskies and hammerheads caught which add action to the trips.

Anglers who are targeting tile fish are still catching nice tiles up and down the line in the canyons.


Inshore Ocean:

Sea bass fishing has been better this past week. Many anglers are finding keeper sea bass on inshore wrecks and reefs. The throwback to keeper ratio is still very high. Make sure you have a proper venting tool to release undersized fish.

North Jersey and New York anglers are still connecting on nice stripers by trolling, and live lining around the bunker pods.

Flounder are being caught at the inshore wrecks and reefs. Bucktails with strip baits are a good way to catch big flatties around structure. Be prepared to lose some tackle as the best fishing is right on the structure!


Chesapeake Bay:

Anglers fishing for stripers are connecting on fish throughout the bay by chumming, trolling and live lining spot (when able to find small enough spot). Anglers chumming are anchoring over structure and finding a good number of undersized fish with some keepers mixed in. Trollers have downsized their spring trolling arsenal to a mix of spoons, bucktails and smaller swim shad type lures.

Bottom fishing is still good in the lower bay area. White perch and croakers are being caught along with some spot.

Bluefish are starting to be caught up and down the bay. As the water warms more and more blues will be around all over the bay. Chumming, trolling and live lining will catch these bluefish.

I finally read a couple of decent (not great) crabbing reports from the mid-bay area. I am dying to get out and go crabbing but things are off to a slow start because of the colder than normal water temperatures. Hopefully crabbing picks up as the temperatures continue to rise.

Delaware Bay:

Drum fishing has slowed down over this past week. Anglers are marking a lot of fish on the depth finders and are still hearing the fish drum under the boat, but many crews have been skunked or caught only 1 fish this past week. Some say when the drum go into spawning mode the bite will shut down even though the fish will continue to be in the area. The good news if this is the case is the bite usually picks up in a week or so after they have spawned. Maybe we will get another good couple of weeks of fishing before they move out of the bay.

Croakers are being caught up and down the bay with some smaller sea trout mixed in. Squid, peeler crab and chicken are all good baits for both croakers and sea trout.

Flounder fishing is still tough in the Delaware Bay right now. Anglers are connecting with a good number of flatties in the back water and out in the ocean on deeper wrecks and reefs. Hopefully the action picks up in the next couple weeks for the DE Bay anglers.

Freshwater:

We have settled into the summer doldrums of freshwater fishing. Ponds are getting weeded up, so surface lures and weedless baits will work the best. Try to fish early in the day and right before dusk to have the best luck in the warmer temperatures. Bass, pickerel and crappie should continue to be caught throughout the summer.

Tight Lines,

Dave