Ocean City Maryland & Assateague Island - Delaware Beaches - Ocean n Bay Fishing Report
By Sue Foster, Oyster Bay Tackle Shop, Ocean City MD - Fenwick Island DE

Dec 5th, 2011

Water Temp: 55.4 degrees

Fishing Report by Sue Foster

(Note: Oyster Bay Tackle will be closing for the season Mid-December this
year so please get your Xmas Shopping done now! Online Mall deadline to
order- 12/14- we will temporarity close our mall this winter as well.)

Wish we had more to report! Fishing has been very slow. Anglers are picking
up a striper here and there. A couple bluefish have been reported from the
beaches in DEL. Tog season ended Nov 30th in MD but remains open in DEL.
Fishing for stripers in the Delaware Bay has been excellent, so if you have
your boat on a trailer.... It's been a whole lot more productive than MD.

Shop Online ! Please
let me know if anything is not working to your liking and e-mail Sue Foster
at: Oyster Bay Tackle.
(Buy what you want now! The mall will be on vacation mid-Dec thru
Feb!)


2011 White Marlin Open T's-- Blowing out for 9.99! Sorry all the XL
shirts are gone. We do have Med, Large, 2xl, and 3xl, all for 9.99! Kids
White Marlin T's- 1/2 price! (7.50) Buy one for Xmas.

Instore only: Rest of t-shirts/sweats instore are 20 percent off till we
close in mid-Dec. Also 10 per cent off any reel, tackle box, or crab trap.
20 per cent off T's, sunglasses, and hats.
Flounder and Surf Packages- 20 per cent off!

Tire
Buddy III Tire Deflators!


Surf Packages, complete with sinkers.

Gift Cards
Or give us a call and we'll ship you one. Remember, don't wait until the
last minute, because we are closing for the season mid-Dec!

(Oyster Bay Tackle - (410-524-3433) Oyster Bay 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. daily.
Saturday- 9-4. Sunday- 9-2 until we close in mid-Dec. (Re-open in March.)
Fenwick Tackle is closed for the season and will reopen in mid-March. If
you have questions email Sue at sue@oysterbaytackle.com.)



Instore Coupons!

(Weekly tides at bottom of report.)

Surf fishing continued to be slow in the Ocean City area and on Assateague.
I only heard of a couple fish.

"Fishizzle" posted on stripers online: "Fished OC beach Friday afternoon.
Tried to get out before high tide but was too busy. Wind was SSW when I got
out switching to S later in the day. Water clarity was pretty good. I set up
4 rods with bait and made about a dozen casts with lures. Caught about a
dozen of the big freakish skates (winter skate?). They fight like a tire,
just dead weight. Released 32" striper on bait and a short, about 13" on a
lure. After dark nothing but spiny dogs. Going to try to get out there again
today."


"66fisher" wrote on Saturday about Assateague on Friday: "10 hours on the
beach yesterday, 1 spiny dog and a bunch of skates for me. One 20' shorty
for my buddy Bruce. He has caught more shorts this fall than both of us have
caught in the last 3 years combined. There has got to be one keeper out
there. Well over a hundred hours on the beach for both of us in the last 3
weeks with nothing to show for it. Will be out all day today also."

Saw one post of an angler in DEL with a small flounder and dogfish. Some
caught zero. Saw on Old Inlet report that someone caught some big blues at
3R's on Wed.

I did just have a customer come in to say he caught 3 short stripers on
frozen bunker on Saturday at 3 R's. Another customer called who had called
every one he knew and heard of one keeper striper from 3 R's this week and
another big bluefish.

"Rocks&Red" posted he caught a 33" bluefish at 3 R's on Saturday and only
saw one other fish caught. "LuckyOC" fished Assateague on Saturday and
Sunday and came up with nada.





Many anglers ask about reading the beach when surf fishing. "Poppy" a very
good angler has posted another very good description with pictures on
Stripers Online. Check it out:
Reading the Beach He draws it out completely! If you're not catching
fish in the surf, you need to study this!


Need
surf
rigs? We have plenty in our shops or buy online! Shop Online

(On a very sad note, Capt. Bobby Gower of the Bay Bee passed away this
weekend. He had a heart attack while hunting. We will miss him! Our
thoughts and prayers go out to his family.)


On Thursday night, I attended the Tautog Meeting at the Ocean Pines Library
that was open to the Public to discuss options for achieving a 49%
reduction. Looks like we are looking at a 16-inch fish next year with a more
restricted season. I was the only tackle store represented. (sad). Most of
the party boat captains and Ocean Pines anglers and MSSA were represented.
Here are the
options.

There is an e-mail at the bottom of the pdf to make comment by Dec 12th. If
you have an opinion, you really should comment. The most popular option
(although none of them were popular!) was Option #2 at the meeting. Option
#2 would close the tautog season the last two weeks in November.


"Helbent Charters" is done for the season but is booking for next year. He
offers half to full day bay and coastal fishing trips. Specializing in
families. North Ocean City. Captain Jeffrey Grimes. 717-574-4010-
helbentcharters@hotmail.com


Larry Jock of the Coastal
Fisherman likes to fish offshore for stripers himself this time of year.
He's going nuts waiting for the action to begin! He writes on Sunday: "The
good news is that we saw more bait and more bird activity than we have seen
so far this year. Unfortunately, very few fish were caught. The bite was an
early morning bite with fish caught a mile off shore, straight out of the OC
Inlet. There were also fish caught a mile off the beach, north off the
high-rise condos. Water temperature hovered around 53-degrees.

On Saturday: "Another ugly day in the ocean. This time weather-wise. Small
craft warning in the AM and the rest of the day was no peach. Did hear today
that the 3 previous days for striper fisherman out of Lewes, DE were very
good. Those fish are just moving down and I know we say it every weekend,
but this next weekend should see some improved action out of Ocean City."


"On Friday, Larry says: "Drove down to the Inlet this morning. For the first
time in days, the ocean was flat as a lake. No wind. 9:00 AM - a lot of
birds diving over bait on the southern end of Great Gull Shoal. (BUT)
Another dismal day today. Water temp is still around 56-degrees. No fish
caught today. Anglers covered a lot of territory. No stripers were even
caught by commercial netters. Good news is that I heard the striper bite in
NJ is slowing down, meaning that they could be heading our way."


On Thursday: "The wind has really been blowing so nobody has really been
fishing. A few anglers did go down to the beach with their binoculars and
saw a good number of gannets diving on bait balls all the way up the beach,
a couple of miles out."


Last Monday, Nov 28th: "Birds were seen working along the 3-mile line today
from the OC Inlet up to Delaware. Nice balls of bait underneath with some
stripers in the mix. Tommy Fowler slayed the flounder on Isle of Wight Shoal
today on bucktails tipped with minnows."

Flounder season ended in MD on Nov 30th. Glad somebody caught some
somewhere. Haven't seen a flounder in the bay for weeks!

Old Inlet (302-227-7974) posted on Nov 30th : "News Flash: Big blues on the
beach at 3R's Road."

On November 29 Old Inlet reports:
"The striper run has picked up with a few more keepers in the mix but warm
temperatures are keeping the big fish from moving south for the winter.
Reports are that the Delaware Bay bite has picked up around the 8's and
Overfalls Shoals. Plenty of short fish in the Indian River Inlet. A couple
of keepers a day is all we are hearing about. Eels, swim shads, and
bucktails have all been effective. Sporadic striper bite on the beach. Big
blue fish reported on the Fenwick Shoals."


Bill Sports Center in Lewes, DEL (302-645-7654) reports stripers and tautog
in the Delaware Bay. The 8's, the Valley, and Overfall Shoals are all
producing Stripers. The Inner and Outer Wall and wrecks are producing
tautog.

(Md is closed for tautog but DEL remains open.)


Lewes Harbour Marina (302-645-6227) reports on Dec 1st:

"Bay water temps are finally starting to drop through the mid 50's. Tautog
action has been up and down with changing conditions, but there have been
some decent catches off the Star Reef and the Brown Shoal Reefs. ... The
Walls and Ice Breakers also gave up fish on days when the water was clean,
and the current wasn't smokin'. Chris Dawson happened to be at the Outer
Wall when things were right, and was rewarded with the tog of a lifetime. On
Sunday, Chris wrestled a 19.7 pounder, and won! The 30 incher ate a "white
legger" crab at the elbow, and was the heaviest blackfish we've had checked
in at Lewes Harbour Marina so far this year.

Striper fishermen were out en force over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend
because of the nice weather and reports of good catching. The Lewes launch
ramp was very busy. Trailers were parked out onto Pilottown Road, and
returning boats were lined up all the way to the inlet. It was reminiscent
of the good old days of sea trout fishing in the early 80's. The heavy boat
traffic seemed to put off the bite somewhat, but those who got on the
grounds early did ok. On Saturday, Captain Brent's bassers aboard Katy Did
had 10 quality keepers while drifting eels and spot on Overfalls. Most of
those fish were in the box before 8 am. Captain Carey's guys on Grizzly had
7 keeper stripers, including Ron Allen's 33 pounder....

Although live bait fishing has become more popular in past weeks, trollers
pulling Stretch and Bomber plugs continue to catch their share. Bucktailers
have been taking bass as well.....It sounds like there are still a lot of
stripers moving south along the Jersey beaches. The bulk of migratory bass
have yet to move into Delaware Bay, and hopefully conditions will be such
that they get pushed in for more great fishing though the next few weeks.
."


His full report is Lewes Harbour Fishing Delaware Bay here.


E-mail Sue Foster at: Oyster Bay
Tackle with your pictures and/or reports. Vacation Pictures are
welcome! (Please send me a real picture and not a link to a "Kodak moment"
or a Facebook page.") Phone pics are fine.
E-mail me your name and where you are from so we
can put you in our weekly fish reports and/or Gallery!


Anglers now need a DE Fishing License to fish, crab, and clam in DEL:
Individual Delaware Fishing Licenses are now available
online or



Capt. Monty on the "
Morning Star e-mails in on Nov 30th: "Hi All, Recent sea bass trips
varied from OK to unreal; From steady doubles on hammered jig/Clark Spoon
rigs, Lots of keeper doubles & Lots of limited clients.. to another day
"Blackjack" was the best we could do -- High man had 21 keeper cbass.

Very curiously, we also caught a black grouper (little fellow) and a huge
pinfish--southern reef species both: Same reef, same day, we tagged 2 cod
and had a 25 inch keeper..

Going cbassing again while its open in December. There are spots I need to
fish.

Finished tog season with decent fishing. Over Sunday & Monday we had fish to
about 10 pounds, lots of 4 fish limits. Wasn't stellar; Plenty OK though.
Tagged lots of keepers. Almost always do.
Saw more small tog than I've ever seen before too: Acorns before oaks..
Season reopens January 1st.



Will Absolutely Be Going Long For Cbass In December -- Trips Announced Via
Email

E-mail Capt Monty to get on his e-mail list: mhawkins@siteone.net. (If
you like to fish with Capt Monty in the winter, please get on his e-mail
list as I won't be posting fish reports after we close for the season!)

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

Watch the
weather.




The Angler Party Boat reports on
11/28: Hey Sue. We had decent sea bass fishing this weekend. Lots of weeding
through the smaller fish, but most people went home with 15-20 keepers. We
are also still seeing the occasional bluefish and cod. For reservations
please call 410-289-7424.Thanks and hope to see you soon!

Special Trips
18 hour Deep Drop
December 10th Tile/Seabass 20 person max

Check out the link on our web site to the local chapter of the MSSA. They are keeping us
abreast on all the Fishing Issues. From our Oyster Bay Website, go to "More
Fishing Info" on the left hand side, and click on "MSSA Atlantic Anglers".
Check the weather before driving hours to go offshore or fish the surf. Go
to
Coastal Marine Forecast to get an idea of the weather and height of the
waves.


Stop by to the Oyster Bay Tackle location and buy your 2011 Ocean City
Reef Foundation Charts. The donation fee for these charts are $25. $27 if
you use a credit card. These charts pin-point all the GPS numbers for all
the
Artificial Reef materials that have been scattered near offshore wrecks,
reefs, and
obstructions. The charts give you hundreds of numbers to find fish. All the
money collected goes back into the Artificial Reef Foundation. Come to
Oyster Bay Tackle or buy
online.


Capt. Rick Yakimowicz of the "Thelma Dale V" Reports from Fisherman's Wharf
on Dec 1st:

....Depending on which trip you were out on this past week you may have seen
anything from sheer boredom, to a cooler full, or even a super sized trophy
fish in your box. That's the way the fishing went for us here at the Wharf
over the last several trips.

Sea Bass fishing has been our most consistent fishery if you are looking for
that cooler full of fish for the freezer. Striper fishing while described by
some as phenomenal, (usually not the adjective used by the ones that didn't
catch any) has been holding up relatively well especially with the size of
the average fish being landed. And Tog fishing, even though I would prefer
not to print anything about it; with the exception of this past Monday,
pretty much sucked over the weekend with some very tough fishing three days
in a row.


....By Monday morning I was pretty much numb with the whole Tog not biting
thing yet here we were once again off with a small crowd trying to find some
biting fish. It's the funniest thing with these Tog you just never know.
While fishing over some of the same wrecks that I had fished just over the
past weekend, these finicky feeders finally decided to bite a little bit and
in a reassuring faith of my ability to find a few biting fish, we actually
put a decent catch together with fish up to about 7 lbs. and even a limit
catch of ten nice fish for one lucky angler.

.....`The outlook is very good to continue to see some mighty fine fishing
with all target species until the end of our 2011 fishing season. As a
reminder we are now just sailing on Fri. Sat. Sun. and Monday with both the
wreck trips for Tog and with the Striper Trips. Tog trips depart at 7:00
a.m. and the Striper trip leaves at 8:00. If you would any more information
about trips sailing out of the Wharf or you would like to book a private
charter or reserve space on a special trip please give us a call at (302)
645-TUNA.




If you would like any more information about trips sailing out of the Wharf
or you would like to book a private charter or reserve space on a special
trip please give us a call at (302) 645-TUNA.

His full report and boat info is
here.

Capt. Rick Yakimowicz
Thelma Dale V
catchfish@verizon.net"



Capt.Dan Stauffer (866-623-4746) of the Fin Chaser does wreck,
inlet and trolling trips.


VA
charters.
(Wilson Cropp Charters and Guide Service. Cape Charles, VA- 1-434-531-6376)
Stripers....Flounder....Drum... Speckled Trout....Tog... Eco tours as
well.





CHECK OUT the Fish Talk Forum - At
The Beach - Fishing Ocean City MD Assateague Island - Delaware Fishing
Beaches


(Just a note to say to my readers that many of my fishing reports are from
other anglers and party boats that come over my e-mail. When I "copy/paste"
their reports I try to leave them intact. It keeps the fishing reports
lively and interesting. But any comments/politics within the quotes are
their comments and views, and not necessarily mine.)

Need info on where, how, when to fish, crab, and clam? Go
to
Drifting Easy Archives and READ UP! It's all in there and it's
FREE!!!!!!

2011
tide tables now available in online. You'll find our tide chart and MD
regs under "More Fishing Info" on our website.

James A. Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing
Alliance
has been actively working on the fisheries crisis. The RFA believes the
future of our fisheries is dependent on fixing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act which has laid down strict time-frames that
do not take into account livelihoods and that a fishery is rebounding
steadily.


Need to tie a knot? Click
Here. This is really cool! You can also click Here!


Maryland Fishing License

Anglers fishing in Ocean City will need to purchase a saltwater fishing
license. This license will cover both the Chesapeake Bay and the coastal
waters and surf of Ocean City and Assateague Island. Yes, this includes surf
fishing. If you already have a Chesapeake Bay Saltwater license you are good
to go! Anglers will be able to purchase the license online. The
license you want to choose is "Bay and Coastal Sport" You can either choose
a year-round or 7-day. The online site will add on a small convenience fee.
The state has set the tackle stores up with paper licenses so we can do your
licenses in our stores.
If you know you are coming to Ocean City,and you want to get it done ahead
of time you can
also call a toll free number (1-800-918-2870)
or print and mail in an application. Boat
Licenses: $50 and everyone on your boat can go
fishing without a license. You will get a personal license along with your
boat license, so you can go shore fishing as well. They will send you your
sticker for your boat in the mail. If you come to our stores, we have the
stickers.

Mail the application to their main office:

Maryland Dept. of Natural resources
Annapolis Service Center
P.O. Box 1869
1804 West Street, Suite 300
Annapolis, MD 21401


If you are going to be fishing on a private boat with someone who has a Boat
License, you don't have to buy a license, but you do have to register online. This
is free but cannot be done over the phone. (The state says it has no money
for a phone line.) Print out your number and keep an id with
you when you go fishing. You can also download it to your smart phone and
show it to the DNR officer.
It only takes a couple minutes. If you have no printer or smart phone, write
down the authorization number.

Another interesting note about the license is that if you buy a VA license,
it is good in MD, and vice versa. If you are fishing in MD with a VA licence
you do need to register with MD online. Again, this is free. This is so each
state can "try" to figure out "how many" fish are being caught in their own
individual states. (VA Free
Registry)

If you want to go fishing in Ocean City without a license, your choices will
be the "Oceanic Pier" or to go fishing on a party or charter boat. You can
also go crabbing and clamming in Ocean City without a license. Or you can
fish off your own private dock.

Senior citizens 65 and older. Cost is $5 if you have a MD driver's license
and are a resident of MD,
but if you are a non-resident there is no break. No break for boat licenses
either. $50 resident or non-resident,
plus around $3 for the internet fees.

Contact Info
If you have any questions regarding Maryland's sport fishing license
requirements, you may contact Fisheries Service via e mail:
customerservice@dnr.state.md.us or by calling (410-656-9526).


Following is the fee schedule for 2011:

Senior License (year round) - $5.00
Resident License (year round) - $15.00
Resident License (7-day) - $6.00
Non-resident (year round) - $22.50
Non- resident (7-day) - $12.00
Pleasure Boat Decal (covers everyone on boat - year round) - $50.00
Commercial Fishing Pier License (year round) - $290.00

No license is required for:
Boat decal passengers
Those fishing in "free fishing" areas
Those fishing from their waterfront properties
Anglers under 16 years old
Anglers fishing on a licensed charter, party or guide boat
Anglers fishing commercially under a valid license

For more information, log onto www.dnr.state.md.us



Good fishing...

Tides: These are ocean tides, add 2 hours for the bay, approximately 1 hour
for Indian River:

High Tides: (Add approx 6 hours for low tide)

Monday, Dec 5th, 3:24 A.M. and 3:35 P.M.
Tuesday, Dec 6th 4:10 A.M. and 4:21 P.M.
Wednesday, Dec 7th , 4:54 A.M. and 5:05 P.M.
Thursday, Dec 8th , 5:36 A.M. and 5:48 P.M.
Friday, Dec 9th , 6:17 A.M. and 6:30 P.M.
Sat, Dec 10th , 6:59 A.M. and 7:12 P.M.
Sun, Dec 11th , 7:41 A.M. and 7:55 P.M.


Need a gift card? Give us a call at 410-524-3433 You can also buy
them
online.

2011 White Marlin Shirts. Shark Tournament Shirts ( a
few left) and popular Calcutta T's both short and long sleeve!
Order ONLINE.

Preview our selection of
hooks, sinkers, and swivels along with the ever popular sputnik sinkers.



We have Calcutta hats, visors, t's, long sleeve t-shirts, sweatshirts, tanks
and new
T-shirts on our online mall. We have the
Bloodworm scented
Fish Bites in stock. Also the very popular Gulp and Fin-Atics Fish Oil
in Shedder Crab and other flavors. You can buy these items
online.



Tire Buddy III deflators are great! Call Oyster Bay Tackle at 410-524-3433
or order on
line.


We also now carry the Oasis
Trailhead Tire Deflators. 59.99 for set of 4 in store.

To buy a dozen assorted flounder rigs for $24.99.
Order Online.

To buy a selection of a dozen of the most popular Got-cha Plugs in our area
for 49.99
Shop Online.

We have a great value on a stuffed surf box

Big surf box for 49.99- a $56 value- available on line, at both our
stores, or call 410-524-3433.

We offer a great value in our stores or on our web site of
a package of 12 assorted surf rigs for $23.99.
Surf rigs buy online.

To buy a big stuffed
Flounder box
for 49.99 stop in our stores, Shop Online, or call 410-524-3433.-

We have
6-packs of bucktails and we
have
fishing
books.


Visit our online mall year
round. Check it out and
e-mail me with any comments or suggestions.
-->
We have a
Australian Gold
Suntan Lotion web page that shows all the Australian Gold Suntan
Products available in both our retail stores. Oyster Bay Tackle~410-524-3433
and Fenwick Tackle~302-539-7766. E-mail
Sue for pricing and availability or call 410-524-3433.

Visit our Website.

Visit our
Drifting Easy Archives to learn where and how to crab, clam and fish in
our area.

Sale!

We have lots of rods and reels out for this season by
Daiwa, Tica, Sea Striker and Okuma.

If you have any fish reports please e-mail
Sue Foster at: Oyster Bay
Tackle. E-mail me your name and where you are from so we can put
you in our weekly fish reports!



Tire Deflators, Calcutta t-shirts, 2011 White Marlin Open Shirts,
Gift Cards, Got-cha Plugs, Ugly Sticks,
Tica rods, Okuma surf rods, Daiwa reels, Windcheaters, Mann's, Stretch
25 lures, Mullet Rigs,
Aqua-Clear Tangle free Rigs, Tsunami Shads, Tandem Rigs, Spec Rigs,
Beach Runner surf rods, Penn Reels, Okuma reels,
Collapsible Bridge and Pier Nets, Rat-L-Traps, Calcutta Hats, Stuffed Tackle
Boxes and more. Stop in to our shops or Order Online. -->

E-mail Sue Foster at: Oyster Bay
Tackle
if you have any questions about our inventory or if you want to place
an order for an item we do not have on-line.

Shop Online




Holiday Shopping

Coupons

2011
tide tables now available in online. You'll find our tide chart and MD
regs under "More Fishing Info" on our website.

Tides: These are ocean tides, add 2 hours for the bay, approximately 1 hour
for Indian River:

High Tides: (Add approx 6 hours for low tide)





Email Sue Foster, Oyster Bay Tackle

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Email Sue C. Foster, Oyster Bay Tackle

Are you visiting the beach - Check out our HOT SPECIALS on Fishing Tackle and Gear !

Visit my Web Site for MORE local fishing information

Oyster bay tackle
11615 Coastal Highway
Ocean City, Md
410-391-0222
http://www.oysterbaytackle.com/