“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…