Drifting Easy by Sue Foster

“How late in the season do the fish bite?”

Every species of fish is different. Some fish stick around and tolerate 
colder water temperatures than others. Fish tend to leave the bay first and 
hang around the inlets and surf.  Also, the further offshore you go, the 
warmer the temperatures may be on the bottom.

“What leaves the bays first?”

Croaker, that were so plentiful in July and the beginning of August start 
leaving the bay in mid-August. It’s not that they are gone from our waters, 
just our bay waters. Anglers continue to catch them into November offshore 
on the shoals. Inshore shoals such as Little Gull Shoal, Big Gull Shoal, and 
the artificial reef offshore of 28th Street will continue to see croaker 
into November. They, along with small sea trout and flounder can be at any 
of these locations until around Thanksgiving. As the season gets colder, 
more and more horn dog sharks are mixed in with the “good” fish. (A horn dog 
shark is actually quite tasty to eat!)

Spot start leaving the bay in October. That’s not a big deal for anglers 
catching them for fun or to eat. But many anglers catch small spot to use 
for bait. Anglers will continue to catch some here and there in creek type 
environments but the days when you will be able to go out and catch 50 on 
hook and line will be over by November. Anglers with boats on the water buy 
a wire “pen” and catch spot and hold them for later. Big stripers will be 
eating spot long after they are gone. So save some now, for later, and you 
will be glad you did. Hide or lock up your cage, as “stolen spot” is 
something we hear about in the tackle stores all the time!

Grey Trout, that fish we didn’t hear a whole lot about this year usually 
leave the bay by Thanksgiving. The back-bay areas, such as the Thorofare, 
will generally “dry up” on trout by the end of October.  In years past, the 
Thorofare was an excellent late September early October location to catch 
some nice ones.

The area around the Route 50 Bridge, the inlet, the Oceanic Pier at night, 
and the surf will see a few trout until around Thanksgiving. The surf, right 
at dusk was always my favorite time to catch trout. Cast into clean clear 
water with a nice fresh strip of mullet or spot. Cast out and then drag the 
bait in slowly. Don’t worry about there not being as many trout as there 
used to. The same technique will also catch flounder, lingcod, kingfish, 
puppy drum, and stripers.

If you are offshore Ocean City in a boat, use squid strips and jig up and 
down for trout while letting out line. You can also catch flounder and 
croaker that way. When you keep your bait bouncing, you will catch less 
sharks and skates. That’s important in the fall!

Flounder! Now that’s an important fall fish. Generally, the flounder exodus 
begins mid to the end of September, peaks by mid-October, and stragglers are 
caught until around the first week to mid-November in the bay.  Flounder, 
offshore on the shoals, can be caught into the first week of December.

Flounder that have been hiding in the bay all season start migrating out of 
the bay. The very end of the incoming tide and the beginning of the outgoing 
tide is when you want to fish for them. Sometimes the last of the low 
outgoing will also work this time of year.  As the season progresses towards 
the end, places like the Thorofare are “done.” You need to get down there in 
the main east channel (from 14th Street to the draw of the bridge) on the 
incoming tide. On the outgoing tide you can fish from the draw of the bridge 
to the Oceanic Pier and through the inlet.

The Route 50 Bridge has rocks piled up around the pilings for stability. It 
is shallower underneath the Bridge than it is just offshore of it. The 
flounder come out of the back- bay, hit this wall of rocks, and sometimes 
don’t know what to do!  It takes them a little while to figure out how to 
get out the inlet so the fisherman on the Bridge and the boats fishing close 
to the Bridge have a good time catching these feeding flounder when the tide 
slacks up enough to work these waters!

These fish feed heavy for about an hour or so on the slacking tides. When 
the tide is running hard, you may just be picking up small ones here and 
there. If you have large live bait (live spot, live finger mullet, live 
peanut bunker, small live lizard fish, etc….) fish them when the tide is 
slacking and that’s when you’ll have the chance to catch a doormat!
Hint: Give the flounder a chance to swallow these larger baits.

Stripers! That’s what anglers wait for. The fall run of stripers. These fish 
will bite in earnest from October into December. Sometimes we have stripers 
up till Christmas. Stripers probably hang around longer than any of the 
other fish. Anglers fish live eels, live spot, live mullet, and live bunker 
in the main east channel, the inlet, and just outside the inlet. Stripers 
can also be on the “shoals” offshore, but anglers are not allowed to keep 
them unless they are fishing within 3-miles of the beach. (Federal law.)

At night, from the Route 50 Bridge, anglers use the live bait or lures such 
as swimming shad lures to catch the stripers. Striper tide?  Incoming (half 
way in) up to high tide and just starting out is the best striper tide.  One 
hour either side of low tide will also work in the inlet.

Stripers also hit the surf in October, November, and into the first week or 
two of December. Bunker, cut spot, cut mullet fished on rigs (WITHOUT) 
floats work best.
(This bait will also works for red drum that bite from mid-September until 
mid-October.) Anglers also use lures at dusk and dawn.  Sometimes, around 
Thanksgiving, we have stripers breaking close to shore. That’s when a metal 
spoon or plug will work.

Bluefish! In the bay and inlet, bluefish can be a nuisance, especially if 
you are fishing with expensive live spot. When you bring in your live bait 
and it is bit in half, it is a bluefish. (Flounder and stripers crush the 
bait but leave it intact- thus you can tell what kind of bite you had!)

Bluefish biting in the surf is welcome in the fall. Anglers catch them from 
September until the first week or so of December. Usually the first major 
storm after Thanksgiving sends them south.

The end of September into October sees smaller blues with a few big ones 
mixed in. They are plentiful when they are smaller and become more illusive 
as we come into November and the beginning of December. It’s then that we 
have a run of the larger blues with stripers mixed in. It’s more “hit or 
miss” but there’s the chance of getting into a school of 8 to 16 pound 
bluefish. The best baits for bluefish are whole finger mullet on a finger 
mullet rig.

Blues can also be taken at the inlets on bucktails and spoons. At the 
Oceanic Pier at night, Got-cha Plugs are good.

Tautog is a big fishery in Ocean City and Indian River from October through 
around Thanksgiving. A few are caught beyond that into December. When they 
first start biting, they will bite at any tide. When the water gets colder, 
around Thanksgiving, they will only bite on the change of tide. Any kind of 
crab will work- sections of hard crab, green crab, or fresh or frozen sand 
fleas. The inlets, the Rt. 50 Bridge around the draw, and the bulkhead along 
2nd through 4th Streets will see the tautog action.

Party boats?  September through November is a great time to catch some 
trophy sea bass and some nice tautog. You do have to pick your days and 
watch the weather this time of year. As the season progresses, more sharks 
are out there, and hey! A big slammer bluefish can come along and eat your 
sea bass right in half if you are not quick getting it in!

Good fishing….


 
 
Need rigs and sinkers? Visit our  Online Mall!



  Fill your Tackle Box Shop on Line