Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report! - 5-22-13 (DE, NJ, MD, PA)

Chesapeake Bay:

The slot limit opened up this past week in the Chesapeake. Fishing reports from up and down the bay showed good fishing for both "under" and "over" sized fish. Trolling is still the biggest producer of stripers, but the tackle is starting to be scaled down to target smaller fish.

Chumming and light tackle jigging should get better and better as more anglers switch over to these types of fishing.

As the water temperatures continue to rise more and more crabbers will be on the water. The lower bay crabbers are reporting decent success, while upper bay crabbers are reporting slow crabbing right now. That should pick up soon.

Delaware Bay:

Striper fishing in the upper bay is still very good. A good number of smaller fish have moved in though so weeding through shorts to find an occasional keeper will be the normal for the rest of the summer.

Drum fishing took off in a big way the past week. Many anglers are scoring on these big brutes. The wind and weather have made it difficult for smaller boats to get out drum fishing, but the fishing should be good for the next few weeks.

Flounder, weakfish, kingfish and croakers are also starting to be caught in the lower and mid bay areas. Squid, cut bait, peelers and clams are the best bait for those bottom fishing for these species.

Inshore Ocean:

Striper fishing off the coast of NJ, DE and MD has been very good over the past week. Anglers trolling, chunking, and live lining are all reporting success.

The local inlets are also seeing increased action on bigger stripers. Casting metals, bucktails and swim shads is the best way to target stripers from the inlets.

Surf fisherman are also reporting decent success on stripers, bluefish, drum, and flounder. Skates and sandsharks are also prevalent in the surf.


Offshore Ocean:

Captains Joe Riley and Ryan Knapp brought back the first bluefin and yellowfin to OCMD this past weekend. While the troll bite was slow, Captain Ryan reported good shark fishing at night and is planning a couple trips for this Thursday and Friday (click here for more info - Muff Diver Charters - Shark Fishing Trips ).

More and more boats should start taking shots at the warm water if this wind ever calms down. Bluefins, yellowfins, makos and threshers should all be caught this week if the weather allows.

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Freshwater:

Pond anglers are still reporting good success on crappies, bass, and pickeral.

Trout fishing should still remain good for the next couple of weeks until the water gets too warm.



Tight Lines,

Dave