“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….
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