Mike will start his big game fishing trips in early May out of Nags Head, NC. Anglers can expect good catches of tuna, marlin, dolphin, wahoo, king mackerel and albacore when trolling the Gulf Stream. There's no better way to stock that empty freezer than filling up your coolers with Gulf Stream blue water fish.

Vincent Sessoms had great catches last year on 24 hour Gulf Stream bottom fishing trips out of Morehead City, NC. Big 86 quart coolers were filled with grouper, red snapper, silver, porgy, grunt, amberjack, sea bass, dolphin, kings, triggerfish and a variety of other deep sea fish.

Inshore bottom fishing anglers can look for good black drum, trout, flounder and croaker to be taken in good numbers out of Cape Charles, VA. (No limit on the croaker in VA!).

In the fall, DelMarVa wrecks will hold tog, flounder and sea bass and big chopper blues. The club will sponsor spring and fall trips starting March through May and September through November.

These spring and fall trips are just what the doctor ordered for every fishing enthusiasts who has fishing buddies who have put their rods or boat away for the winter. You don't have to be content with waiting until spring to wet a line and fill you cooler for the winter.

 

Back to Top

OCEAN

Surf fishing from the beaches is going to be a good source of blues where they may be caught from May through December. Over the past 10 years or so, the big chopper bluefish have appear to have moved from an early spring run in the Chesapeake Bay to remaining out in the ocean. Landing choppers in the inlet, bays, beaches and offshore is more common now. Their numbers are reasonably stable so they should be back this year.

Rockfish populations are stable and if commercial pressure doesn't increase, sport anglers can depend on a steady fishery. Sea Bass 25 fish and 12 inch limits have provided a stable fishery for the past decade and should continue to be dependable. Tog are a slower growing species and have a much more chance of being threatened with over fishing.

Fish exclusion devices have helped croaker to rebound with the larger fish caught in the Bay. Spot grow rapidly and are rarely found over 3 years of age. Best bait is still bloodworms or any other local worm found in the muddy areas. Though their numbers are slowly declining in the coastal bays, spot are still available in good numbers but are harder to locate due to the increase of predators caused by a lack of menhaden. A major difference between the Chesapeake and Maryland's coastal bays is that on the bay, 79% of the crabs are sub legal while i the ocean 95% are sub legal.

Back to Top

BAY

Fishbusters Coordinator George Harvey reports that last year's afternoon and evening trips out of Point Lookout produced coolers full of big [15 to 20-inch] croaker with some doormat size flounder and big trout mixed in. Members often enjoyed big double-header croaker on every drop when the fishing turned on at sunset. These trips start out light spin tackle chumming for big rockfish. Once anglers catch their limit the club switches over to bottom fishing for trout, croaker and flounder.

Take advantage of afternoon and evening charters without the crowded conditions of the headboats. Fishbusters has small group make-up six pack charter trips in June and July leaving from Point Lookout, MD. Each summer these trips fill coolers with limits of 25 big hard head croker normally filling all coolers on deck.

The spring trophy rockfish season will see trollers score on trophy rock by when trolling eels, spoons and jigs at the Chesapeake Middlegrounds, just east of Point Lookout, MD and the mouth of the river at Solomons.

Cow size female striped bass will begin their annual migration up the Atlantic Coast to New England as they follow the alewife, herring, gizzard, winter and hickory shad out of the bay. The next three months will provide the best sports fishing for saltwater game fish until the fall bay migration and big game offshore southern run.

Scattered runs of big croaker will continue throughout the summer with the peak months for the big hardhead in late June through July. Night time is best and nice catches will also be made of Cobbs Island and Bushwood area along the Potomac. These fish will bite best in the afternoons with the larger fish taken mostly on a full moon at night on squid, shrimp, bloodworms and cut spot. Pier anglers can expect to see sporadic runs from dusk to dawn throughout the Chesapeake before the bigger fish stage in deeper waters of the Bay for summer.

Scientists believe there is a serious local area depletion of menhaden in MD and VA portions of the Bay. The numbers of menhaden have been at an all time low for several years, poor health of predator stocks has been linked to inadequate nutrition, and water quality is continuing to deteriorate at an alarming rate.