Drifting Easy by Sue Foster

“We’re coming to Ocean City on vacation in July and want to go fishing!” 
What can we expect to catch? Where can we go from the shore?”

July is the month for flounder, trout, kingfish, the first croaker run and 
the first of the Norfolk spot.  Most anglers fishing in the bay during the 
day are pretty much fishing for flounder.  July is usually a good month for 
these flat fish though the ratio of keepers to throwbacks is much smaller 
than June. Generally the anglers in July catch a lot of flounder and get to 
keep two or three per trip. But the action is there and lucky anglers 
fishing the tides and the right holes may catch more!

“We don’t have a boat. Where should we go to catch flounder?”

Without a boat, your best bets are the Route 50 Bridge (The Harry Kelly 
Memorial Bridge), the Oceanic Pier (at the southern most end of Philadelphia 
Ave.), or the 9th Street Pier, (a small public pier on the bay side at 9th 
Street.)  Other places you can go that are a little harder to fish are the 
Ocean City Inlet and the bulkhead along Second through Forth Streets. The 
water rushes through here, so you need to fish within two hours each side of 
the slacking tides in these two places or you will catch a lot of snags!

Some anglers also go to the West side of the Route 50 Bridge to the Homer 
Gudelsky Park and cast from the shore. A lot of this area is shallow, so you 
need to walk to the northern most end of the park or walk out in the water 
and cast into the deeper water.

You can also fish the Ocean Pier that runs parallel to the Ocean City Inlet 
at high tide for flounder. August is the better month for flounder here, but 
there are also sharks, skates, kingfish, croaker, and snapper blues caught 
from that pier to keep your interest.

If you want to go on an excursion up Route 1 into Delaware, you can drive to 
the Cape Henlopen Pier in Lewes. This pier is part of the Cape Henlopen 
State Park. Once you pay to get in the park you can fish on the long pier 
for free. It is very nice and a great place for flounder, croaker, spot, 
trout, and stripers.

“I see there are piers at 127th Street behind the Recreational Center and at 
41st Street behind the Convention Center on the bayside and also at the Isle 
of Wight in the middle of the Route 90 Bridge I can take a left and there’s 
a pier!  Can’t I catch flounder at these places?”

The waters around these observation piers are shallow and the chance of 
catching keeper flounder is slim, but occasionally anglers catch a keeper. 
These three locations are actually best for crabbing and for catching pan 
fish such as spot, croaker, sand perch, eels, sea robins and snapper 
bluefish. These are good places to take the little ones and just “play 
around.”  One can also wade out and go clamming at 41st Street on low tide. 
If you want to go fishing or crabbing be sure to go in the hours either side 
of high tide. At low tide, the water gets even shallower and fishing and 
crabbing can be extremely slow.
“What about that pier by the Verrazano Bridge right before you cross over it 
to go to the Assateague State and National Parks? Can I catch flounder 
there?”

Again, the water here is not extremely deep but it’s not terribly shallow 
either. At high tide, you have the best chance to catch a flounder. I wouldn’t 
specifically go here for flounder, but it’s a nice place to go to crab and 
catch croaker, spot, bluefish, sand perch, and small trout. It is a pay area 
now but a nice place to go if you are staying nearby.    (If you are 
planning to go to Assateague you travel west on Route 611.)

“What should I use for bait for the flounder?  What should I use for the 
croaker, spot, or other little fish?”

If you are fishing solely for flounder, use a combination bait of live 
minnow with a strip of squid on the same hook, or use a combination bait of 
a frozen shiner with a strip of squid. Put them on the same hook, not on 
separately!  Hook the minnows through the lips and hook the shiners through 
the eyes. Hook the squid only once and let it dangle on the hook. Don’t 
bunch it up! Use a double or single rig with a size #1 or #1/0 wide gap type 
hook.

If you are fishing for spot, croaker, or “any ol’ thing” use a top and 
bottom rig with two size #6 hooks baited with bloodworm and a little strip 
of squid or use the artificial bloodworm Fish Bites. They look like strips 
of pink bubble gum and contain enzymes that attract fish just like 
bloodworms. They’re nice to keep around in your tackle box and REALLY nice 
for the wife and kids that hate using real bloodworms!  They’re a little 
less expensive as well!

“I want to go fishing at night. Where should I go?”

When you fish at night in July, you want to fish where there are lights 
shining on the water to attract fish. The Ocean City Inlet, the Indian River 
Inlet, the Route 50 Bridge, the Oceanic Pier, and the Cape Henlopen Pier are 
the best places to go. Second best places would be the Ocean Pier and the 
bulkhead along Second through Forth Streets.

Use Gotcha Plugs, spec rigs, swimming shad lures (4 to 5 inches), plugs such 
as MirrOlures, Bombers, or Windcheaters, lead heads with a 4-inch curltail 
grub attached, Zoom, Fin-S Fish, or Sea Striker Trout Killer soft bodies on 
a lead head. Many anglers take these soft bodies and tie them in tandem.

 “What can you expect to catch in the summer month of July?”

Snapper blues, shad, trout, and stripers all bite the lures. Anglers also 
pick up flounder and croaker with the lures at night. The majority of the 
stripers are not “keepers” in July but anglers do catch some occasionally, 
especially the anglers fishing the inlets and Route 50 Bridge.

“Can we use bait at night?”

Live bait such as live eels, live spot, and live bunker will catch you some 
fish. Dead cut bait is more likely to catch skates and sharks, but if the 
croaker or flounder are running dead cut bait will work.

“When can I go surf fishing?”

In Ocean City you can go before 10 A.M. and after 5:30 P.M. when the 
lifeguards are off-duty. If you want to go surf fishing during the day you 
have to “pay to play.”  The Assateague State or National Park offers fishing 
areas. So does the Delaware Seashore State Park. There are parking areas for 
fishing from just north of Fenwick Island to the Cape Henlopen Park.

In July, the only big fish caught are sharks and rays. Occasionally an 
angler will get into a nice striper or possibly a cobia. The rest of the 
time, small fish are the fair. The good eating kingfish, Norfolk spot, 
blowfish, snapper blues, small trout, “short” stripers, sand perch, and 
flounder.  The best bet in the summer months is to go “small.” A kingfish 
rig baited with bloodworm, squid, and artificial bloodworm Fish Bites, 
little strips of bunker, mullet, or spot all work well.  If in doubt, grab a 
pack of bloodworm Fish Bites or real bloodworms and a pound box of squid. If 
you are making your own rigs, use Size #6 or #4 hooks.

Offshore sea bass fishing is pretty good in July as well. Hop on a party 
boat and give it a shot. You’re more likely to catch sea bass on a full day 
trip than a half-day. The half-day boats might get into croaker or flounder.

Good fishing…



 
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