Drifting Easy by Sue Foster

“How do you fish that bulkhead downtown?”

There is a public fishing area along the bayside that runs officially from 
2nd through 4th Streets behind the ball park.  There is a wood railing that 
makes it a safe place for kids. Metered parking is available a few feet from 
the bulkhead, making it a great place for handicapped anglers. There’s even 
port-a-potties nearby.

That’s the upside. The downside to the bulk headed area is that it is very 
snaggy and the tide runs hard through the main channel. Anglers that learn 
to fish the bulkhead correctly can catch a lot of fish. Vacationers that 
just go down to the bulkhead and throw out a couple rigs and bait can become 
frustrated quickly.

“How do you fish it? What do you fish for?”

The bulkhead sits right in front of the main east channel. If you drop 
straight down, you will be fishing in fairly deep water. It’s 8 to 15 foot 
straight down.  If you cast out 10 yards, you can be in 25 foot of water or 
even deeper.  The water in this deep channel can be very swift. If you try 
to cast out into the channel when the tide is running full speed in or out, 
your sinker will drift right into the underwater ledge where the bottom juts 
up from 25 to 15 feet.  There are rocks, mussels, debris, and other angler’s 
tangled lines and hooks on this ledge.  In other words, there are terrible 
snags there!

So, what you want to do is this. When the tide is running really hard, don’t 
cast past the ledge. In fact, it is best to merely drop straight down. If 
the tide is going out hard, flip your rig out just a little tiny bit so it 
doesn’t get snagged on the pilings that are straight down. Yes, it’s a fine 
line. Don’t cast out too far. And don’t drop too close to a piling. Pilings 
are always bigger at the bottom than they are on the top. So remember, when 
you look at a piling, think about all the little mussels and bottom 
vegetation growing at its bottom ready to snag your hook. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

Tide is a crucial issue when fishing the bulkhead. The tide runs 6 hours one 
way, then turns and runs 6 hours the other way. When the tide is half way in 
or half way out the water will be moving very fast and the angler can have a 
hard time holding bottom without getting snagged. When the tide is one to 
two hours on either side of a slack tide, either low or high, anglers catch 
most of the fish.  When the tide is not moving much at all, the angler can 
even cast out into the main channel and keep his or her rig planted on the 
bottom.  It’s hard to find places to fish close to shore where the water is 
deep. This is one of those places!

“What can you catch there?”

One of the most popular fish to catch at the bulkhead during the spring and 
fall seasons is the tautog. Tautog, or blackfish as they are called up 
north, are caught between the pilings and the ledge. There’s no sense 
casting out past the ledge for tautog, as these bottom dwellers feed on the 
mussels, crabs, and little clams in the rocks, debris, and rip rap close to 
the bulkhead

Patient anglers fishing the bulkhead learn that the more they move their 
rigs around in the snaggy areas, the quicker they will get snagged!  The 
best technique is to flip your rig where you want it to go, and LEAVE IT 
ALONE!  I like to cast out just a little, move it back towards me until I 
feel it fall into a deeper hole. Then just wait. Don’t move it again until 
you get a bite or you want to reel it up and check your bait.

Anglers fishing for tautog use a very simple one-hook rig. I use some 
40-pound test monofilament leader and tie a two to three inch double 
overhand loop knot for the sinker. I go up about six inches and tie another 
double overhand loop knot for the hook.   Use loose hooks and simply feed 
them through the loop. A short-shanked black hook seems to work best. The 
Mustad #2/0 #92553BL Octopus Beak hook is very popular. One good tautog 
angler I know likes the Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L319LG-2/0 Live Bait hook. 
He tells me went the snags get really bad, he goes to a smaller 1/0 hook and 
it helps cut down on the snags.  Tie a small black barrel swivel to the end 
of the leader to tie to the end of your line.

Sinkers!  Bank sinkers work OK. Flat, cushion, or torpedo shaped sinkers 
work best. Round bass cast type sinker tend to roll you right into a snag. 
Pyramid sinkers will definitely hang you up quickly if you are fishing in 
close. Use just enough sinker weight to hold bottom. Good anglers carry an 
array of sinkers from one to three ounces. I use the rubber band trick to 
help with snags. On the loop where you insert the sinker, insert a rubber 
band instead. Then loop the sinker onto the rubber band. If the sinker 
becomes hopelessly snagged, you can pull and break the rubber band and keep 
the rest of your rig.
This works out great when you have a nice fish on the hook but can’t bring 
it in because your sinker is snagged! (Some anglers use light-weight 
monofilament instead of a rubber band.)

The bait! For tautog, green crabs or sand crabs are the most popular baits. 
To use a green crab, pull off the shell, cut it in half, and then shove the 
hook in the leg socket. Some anglers cut the legs off while some leave them 
on. I always cut my off.  As for sand crabs, insert the hook through the 
apron and let the hook protrude out the outer shell about an eighth of an 
inch.

“There are a lot of boats fishing close to the bulkhead at slack tide. What 
are they fishing for?”

From the draw of the bridge to around Third street is good flounder fishing 
in boats. The boats try to get close to the bulkhead at the slacking tide to 
catch flounder feeding up on the ledge. So, needless to say, if you fish for 
flounder from the bulkhead at the slacking tide you can catch them too.

Since the area has snags it’s best to use very simple rigs. A 30-inch 
leadered hook with a three-way swivel and snap for the sinker will work. Or 
skip the snap and tie a short piece of lighter weight monofilament to the 
3-way and tie on your sinker, so you can break this leader if the sinker 
gets snagged. (Or use the rubber band trick!)  You can also simply use a 
leadered hook and an inexpensive fish finder rig. The plastic of the fish 
finder rig will break when you get your sinker snagged. The boaters drifting 
by use these a lot.  When the tide becomes slack, the angler can try casting 
out into the channel. If it starts drifting back in, keep your rod tip up 
when reeling in your line. Don’t let it get snagged on the ledge when 
retrieving it in.

Bait for flounder?  Live minnows or shiners tipped with a strip of squid.

“What else can we catch there?”

There’s always little sea bass for the kids to catch. They bite anything. 
Sand crabs, worms, Fish bites, squid and shiners


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Sue Foster ~ Oyster Bay Tackle~
11615 Coastal Hwy. Ocean City, MD 21842
(next to the Green Turtle- bayside)
phone- 410-524-3433 / fax-410-213-7642
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Fenwick Tackle~ Rt.1 and MD Ave.
Fenwick Island, DE, 19940
(next to the Atlantic Book Store- Ocean Side)
Phone- 302-539-7766
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web address~ www.oysterbaytackle.com
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online shopping~ http://shop.oysterbaytackle.com
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Email:  mailto:sue@oysterbaytackle.com
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