Flounder Fishing

Despite last weekend's inclement weather, flounder fishing has remained good. Though Friday and Sunday were "wipeouts" due to the pouring rain, anglers caught flounder on Saturday, and then again on Monday, the day after the weather cleared, proving that the rain deterred the fishermen, but not the fish.Roy, Brian and Jeff Newman of Clarksville showed that the flounder were there last Saturday. They hugged the bulkhead at 33rd Street and came up with 21 keeper flounder up to 3 1/2 pounds.

There is free-flowing water where Simkins Dam once stood. But the Patapsco River dam lives on, in a way. The steel rebar that gave it backbone has been trucked to a recycling bin while the concrete awaits a new job as artificial reef material for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation oyster restoration project. Serena McClain , of the environmental group American Rivers, says most of the grading at the site is done and when it warms up, native grasses, trees and shrubs will be planted and the construction bridge will be removed.

The Atlantic croaker gives Ocean City anglers a great deal of action. Yes, this little fish that is related to a drum and which resembles a Norfolk spot, has been schooling in the Ocean City bays.From the Route 90 bridge to the Thorofare, anglers with boats are catching these hard-hitting, good-eating panfish with little strips of squid on size No. 6 or No. 4 hooks. The minimum size limit on croaker in Maryland is 9 inches and the creel limit is 20 per person.Be sure you can tell the difference between a croaker and a spot before heading out in your boat.

Bowing to public sentiment, state fisheries managers have agreed to give coastal anglers a longer summer flounder season this year in return for making the minimum size of a "keeper" fish slightly bigger. Under emergency regulations being proposed this week by the Department of Natural Resources, anglers on the coast and the Chesapeake Bay will be allowed to fish from April 17 to Nov. 22, keep three fish daily, with a minimum size of 19 inches. The proposal was unanimously endorsed Monday night by the Sport Fish Advisory Commission.

Jerry Sauter of Catonsville has done it again -- set another state fishing record.First, it was smallmouth bass for a short period in the 1960s and largemouth bass from the early 1970s into the 1980s. Then, it was freshwater striped bass last year, and now it's freshwater stripers again.Monday morning, while fishing Liberty Reservoir, Sauter caught a 37-pound, 8-ounce striper to surpass the state record he set last November. His catch measured 44 3/4 inches.Last Nov. 3, Sauter set the initial Maryland record for freshwater striped bass at 43 1/4 inches and 36 pounds, 4 ounces.

Offshore fishing action has begun in earnest, with the waters off Ocean City alive with mako sharks.Several were caught this past week, most over 100 pounds. The largest mako shark was taken by angler Curtis Carnell aboard the Jazzey Sazzey with Capt. Lee Fickinger. The mako, which weighed 263 pounds, was hooked northeast of the Jackspot.The party also released another mako shark as well as a dusky shark. Most of the sharks have been taken in this location or in the Fingers area. The best bait is mackerel or bluefish.

A world record was almost broken in Ocean City.Mark Aiello and his father, Joseph Aiello of Severna Park, were fishing in the Marlin Club's Light Tackle 20 Pound Test Release Tournament on the boat Reel'n and Deal'n on July 25 when Mark hung into a 298-pound big-eye tuna. Mark fought the fish for more than 4 1/2 hours. Finally, he could not move or even feel his hand anymore. He gave the rod to his father, who fought the huge fish for another half hour. Since two people handled the rod, it could not be considered as a world record for a big-eye tuna on 20-pound test.

Cloudy Ocean City afternoons have steered vacationers from the beach to crabbing piers. Fishing for the Maryland blue crab is a fun past-time when that sunny day turns into a drizzly mist.Vacationers can buy enough crabbing equipment and bait for a couple of hours for under $10. There is no license required for crabbing or fishing in Ocean City.Crabbers line the pier behind the Recreational Center on 125th Street on most days during the summer.Other public spots to crab in Ocean City are Ninth Street pier, the finger pier and bulkhead behind Convention Center and 41st Street, and the Isle of Wight, which is an island in the middle of the Route 90 bridge.

It was an excellent week for sea bass and offshore bluefishin in Ocean City.O.C. party boats had much success with large sea bass. R. W. Hess of McConnellstown, Pa., on the newest party boat, the O.C. Princess, hooked one weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces.Julie Bunting said, "Some anglers caught as many as 200 bass, (( though they released the smaller ones. It was a great catch."Offshore bluefishing also were biting. Gene Racz, owner of R and R Fishing Center in Rehoboth, Del, said, "It was a major mugging of bluefish at the Jackspot."

This time of year anglers can expect good catches of flounder, as the fish begin to migrate out of the bay. They will be leaving slowly, so there should be plenty of fish for the rest of the flounder season, which ends Oct. 10 on the Atlantic side of Maryland.The best tactic for anglers is to fish the high tide, starting in the east channel, using large, live minnows; strips of squid, bluefish or spot belly; live spot; or frozen shiners as bait.Fall's sometimes windy weather can put a damper on flounder fishing, but anglers find that the fish bite well before a weather front moves in and the barometer is falling.

OCEAN CITY - Maryland must slash its harvest of summer flounder nearly in half this year, and nowhere is that felt more acutely than here, where a large part of the tourist dollar is spent on fishing trips. More than 150 angry charter boat captains, tackle shop operators and recreational fishermen packed the city council chambers last night to complain bitterly about the cuts. Phil Jones, head of resource management for the fisheries division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, had hardly begun his explanation of the quotas when he was interrupted.

Jerry Sauter of Catonsville has done it again -- set another state fishing record.First, it was smallmouth bass for a short period in the 1960s and largemouth bass from the early 1970s into the 1980s. Then, it was freshwater striped bass last year, and now it's freshwater stripers again.Monday morning, while fishing Liberty Reservoir, Sauter caught a 37-pound, 8-ounce striper to surpass the state record he set last November. His catch measured 44 3/4 inches.Last Nov. 3, Sauter set the initial Maryland record for freshwater striped bass at 43 1/4 inches and 36 pounds, 4 ounces.

This weekend kicks off the summer season in Ocean City, where the back bays and the waters along the coast can provide excellent fishing and, perhaps, a welcome diversion from the boardwalk and beaches.Bluefish, flounder, rockfish, sea trout and kingfish are being found in good numbers from the inlet into the back bays. Chopper blues to 15 pounds are moving in dense schools between the Jackspot and the Fingers, and sea bass and tautog are being taken from the wrecks by headboat fishermen.

This is a huge month for Anne Arundel County anglers and hunters.Friday saw the beginning of fall striped bass (rockfish) season and the most popular split of the traditional three-way split mourning dove season.Then, we hardly get a breather before Tuesday's start of the only Canada goose season Maryland will see this year, followed Sept. 15 by the beginning of the bow hunting season.And, on top of all of this action, September just happens to be one of the best months for Chesapeake Bay flounder, trout, spot, Spanish mackerel and bluefish.

Assateague Island sees a school of red drum. Yes, last week, on Assateague Island's four-wheel drive area, a huge school of red drum apparently meandered close to shore.From last Tuesday to Saturday night anglers caught red drum up to 37 3/4 pounds. This largest drum was taken by Ted Burbage of Libertytown on mullet bait Bobby Quillin and Maggie Magee of Bishopville caught four drum.Calvin Smack, William Hern and Cathy Fitzsimmons of Berlin caught three drum. Another group fishing the area of the "Bull Penn" on Assateague caught 10 about midnight.

Cloudy Ocean City afternoons have steered vacationers from the beach to crabbing piers. Fishing for the Maryland blue crab is a fun past-time when that sunny day turns into a drizzly mist.Vacationers can buy enough crabbing equipment and bait for a couple of hours for under $10. There is no license required for crabbing or fishing in Ocean City.Crabbers line the pier behind the Recreational Center on 125th Street on most days during the summer.Other public spots to crab in Ocean City are Ninth Street pier, the finger pier and bulkhead behind Convention Center and 41st Street, and the Isle of Wight, which is an island in the middle of the Route 90 bridge.

One weekday last September, off the mouth of the Choptank River, the flounder fishing was only a little short of incredible. In fact, had Keith Walters and I wanted to fish out the balance of the rising tide, we could have caught keepers until we ran out of minnows.Instead, we kept perhaps a dozen flounder from 15 to 23 inches and headed in.This year, the Department of Natural Resources is proposing to change the regulations for the recreational summer flounder fishery to ensure that quality fishing continues.

Welcome to fall fishing. When the "R's" start sneaking into the months one thinks of brrrr and oysters, but before we get too deeply into either we have some excellent fishing to experience.Already, we have seen more breaking bluefish, rockfish and Spanish mackerel, often mixed, than anyone can remember. Recently we have seen school after school feeding on the surface from below the Bay Bridge to above Swan Point.The bluefish should stick around through much of October so that after you catch your daily limit of rockfish next month, you will be able to chase a few blues.

The Atlantic croaker gives Ocean City anglers a great deal of action. Yes, this little fish that is related to a drum and which resembles a Norfolk spot, has been schooling in the Ocean City bays.From the Route 90 bridge to the Thorofare, anglers with boats are catching these hard-hitting, good-eating panfish with little strips of squid on size No. 6 or No. 4 hooks. The minimum size limit on croaker in Maryland is 9 inches and the creel limit is 20 per person.Be sure you can tell the difference between a croaker and a spot before heading out in your boat.

This time of year anglers can expect good catches of flounder, as the fish begin to migrate out of the bay. They will be leaving slowly, so there should be plenty of fish for the rest of the flounder season, which ends Oct. 10 on the Atlantic side of Maryland.The best tactic for anglers is to fish the high tide, starting in the east channel, using large, live minnows; strips of squid, bluefish or spot belly; live spot; or frozen shiners as bait.Fall's sometimes windy weather can put a damper on flounder fishing, but anglers find that the fish bite well before a weather front moves in and the barometer is falling.