UTERJanuary
Quiet inshore — tog on the wrecks, the last stripers offshore
Party boats run the ocean wrecks for tog and sea bass when seasons are open; stripers wintering off the coast are mostly outside three miles, where they're closed.
Delaware Bay to Virginia's Eastern Shore
Delaware Bay and Ocean City fishing
What's biting in Delaware Bay and Ocean City in October: redfish, spotted seatrout and bluefish at their peak, with striped bass, whiting and mahi-mahi around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 29 fish here month by month, from Lewes to Cape May.
Fall surf: blues, drum, specks and weakfish
Delaware Bay's big, shoaly estuary with the lumps and sloughs off Slaughter Beach and the Coral Beds; the Delaware, Maryland and Assateague surf; the inland bays and back bays behind them (Rehoboth, Indian River, Assawoman, Sinepuxent, Chincoteague); Virginia's wild seaside barrier islands; and the offshore lumps (Jackspot, Hambone) out to Baltimore, Poor Man's and Washington canyons.
LewesIndian River InletOcean CityChincoteagueWachapreagueCape May
Updated
Now · October
Fall surf: blues, drum, specks and weakfish
Cut bunker in the Assateague and Delaware surf for drum and blues; jigs at Indian River Inlet for specks and weakfish; the tog bite starts on the rocks.
BluefishRedfishSpotted seatroutWeakfish (gray trout)Striped bassLittle tunny (bonito)Tautog (blackfish)
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAround
Redfish
Fall drum in the Assateague and Virginia seaside surf.
Spotted seatrout
Best trout of the year in the inlets and inland bays.
Bluefish
Fall blues off the Delaware and Ocean City beaches.
Weakfish (gray trout)
Fall weakfish at the Indian River Inlet.
Black sea bass
Yellowfin tuna
Swordfish
Little tunny (bonito)
Tautog (blackfish)
Blueline tilefish
Golden tilefish
White perch
Striped bass
Whiting
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
Wahoo
White marlin
Summer flounder (fluke)
Spot
Scup (porgy)
Bigeye tuna
Blue shark
Shortfin mako
The water
The tide here
Semidiurnal, 3–6 ft
Two tides a day; three to four feet on the ocean beaches and the inlets, bigger up Delaware Bay. The inlets — Indian River, Ocean City, Chincoteague — rip on the change; fish the last of the outgoing and the first of the flood.
Structure that matters
Beach / surfPass / inletBridgeChannel edgeArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottomFishing pierGrass flat
After a cold front
The ocean side cools slower than the bay. After a front, fish leave the back-bay flats for the inlet channels and deeper sloughs; offshore, a hard northwest blow pushes the warm water away from the canyons for days.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
The coldest month: tog and the offshore wrecks on calm days
Crabs on the deep wrecks for tog; watch the weather windows.
March
Stripers head up Delaware Bay; perch in the creeks
Bloodworms in the back-bay creeks for the first stripers; white perch run up the Delaware Bay tributaries.
April
Tog on the inlet rocks; Delaware River striper spawn; first fluke
Tautog (blackfish)Striped bassSummer flounder (fluke)Black drumBluefishWeakfish (gray trout)White perch
Green crabs on the Indian River Inlet rocks; minnow-and-squid drifts in the back bays for early fluke; first drum and blues show in Delaware Bay late in the month.
May
The Delaware Bay black drum run — and tiderunner weakfish
Fresh surf clams off Slaughter Beach and the Broadkill Slough at dusk for drum; squid-and-Gulp at night for weakfish; post-spawn stripers and big blues in the surf; bull reds on Virginia's barrier islands.
June
Fluke in the back bays; school tuna and makos offshore
Summer flounder (fluke)Black drumAtlantic bluefin tunaYellowfin tunaShortfin makoBlack sea bassBluefishAtlantic croaker
Drift the Ocean City and Indian River channels for fluke; troll bars on the Jackspot and Hambone for school bluefin; chum the 20-fathom line for makos (release them).
July
Canyon season opens up: yellowfin, mahi, white marlin
White marlinYellowfin tunaMahi-mahi (dolphin)Summer flounder (fluke)Black sea bassAtlantic croakerSpotSpotted seatrout
Run to Poor Man's, Baltimore and Washington canyons for marlin and tuna; fluke move to the ocean wrecks; croaker and spot in the bay and inland bays.
August
The White Marlin Capital at its peak
White marlinYellowfin tunaMahi-mahi (dolphin)Bigeye tunaBlue marlinSummer flounder (fluke)Spotted seatroutSheepshead
August is the white marlin month off Ocean City — dredges and ballyhoo on the canyon edges; mahi under the pot floats; big fluke on the ocean wrecks; night stripers under the inlet bridges.
September
Mahi and marlin offshore; albies and trout inshore
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)White marlinYellowfin tunaLittle tunny (bonito)Spotted seatroutRedfishSummer flounder (fluke)Spot
Some of the best mahi of the year in the canyons; false albacore on the inshore lumps; specks in the inland bays and the inlets.
October · now
Fall surf: blues, drum, specks and weakfish
BluefishRedfishSpotted seatroutWeakfish (gray trout)Striped bassLittle tunny (bonito)Tautog (blackfish)
Cut bunker in the Assateague and Delaware surf for drum and blues; jigs at Indian River Inlet for specks and weakfish; the tog bite starts on the rocks.
November
The striper run reaches the Delaware and Maryland beaches
Bunker chunks and big plugs off the Delaware beaches and Assateague; green crabs on the inlet rocks and the ocean wrecks for tog.
December
Last of the migration on the beaches; tog on the wrecks
Big stripers running south along the beaches and the inlets at night; tog and sea bass on the deep wrecks.
Fish guides for Delaware Bay and Ocean City
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAtlantic bluefin tunaAtlantic croakerBigeye tunaBlack drumBlack sea bassBlue marlinBlue sharkBluefishBlueline tilefishGolden tilefishLittle tunny (bonito)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)RedfishScup (porgy)SheepsheadShortfin makoSpanish mackerelSpotSpotted seatroutStriped bassSummer flounder (fluke)SwordfishTautog (blackfish)WahooWeakfish (gray trout)White marlinWhite perchWhitingYellowfin tuna
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