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| Fishing In Sept.... |
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“Where did the summer go? It’s September already!” September is a wonderful month to go fishing! The crowds are gone but the fish are still here. The weather is just slightly cooler bringing the water temperatures down just enough to make the fish bite better than they did in August when it was really too hot. This makes daytime fishing good again. The air temperature is usually just perfect for going outside and fish. Not too hot and not too cold! Flounder fishing can be outstanding in September. We see larger fish and fewer throwbacks. Flounder in the bay sense the shortening days and start to move out into the ocean, so the first of the outgoing tide is usually best. Anglers fishing larger baits such as live spot, finger mullet, or peanut bunker have the edge on anglers fishing the traditional shiners and minnow baits. These baits are readily available to anglers using a cast net or “hook and lining” for bait spot. In September we usually see striper fishing pick up. Sometimes it takes an extra month, depending upon the weather, but for anglers fishing at night, there’s usually always action. Anglers drifting live spot or live eels in the inlet and deep holes in the bay close to the Route 50 Bridge catch nice ones, especially if the tide change is early in the morning. It’s boat traffic that messes up daytime striper fishing, so during the week fishing at the inlet is usually always better by day than on the weekends when there’s more boat traffic. Striper fishing from the Rt. 50 Bridge at night, along with the Inlet and Sea Wall in Ocean City and the Indian River Inlet is usually good in September. It will get even better in October but who wants to wait? Throw out a live eel, live spot, or a string of live sand fleas just when the tide is slacking at the Inlets. Cast swimming shad lures, bucktails and other plugs when the tide is running. The Rt. 50 Bridge sees action for anglers using live eels, live spot, live bunker, swimming shad lures, bucktails with plastic worms, and soft bodies attached to lead heads and tied in tandem. Buy yourself a bridge net if you plan to do much striper fishing at night from the Bridge. Trout? Some years we have some trout in September and some years we do not. It’s worth trying for them with live spot or peeler crab in the Thorofare or Inlet. Do not use any metal leaders for sea trout as it can spook the trout. Use a simple monofilament leadered rig with no extra hardware. Sometimes we have small trout up by Route 90 Bridge for anglers using a combination bait of bloodworm and squid strips. In the bay behind Assateague we also sometimes get some sea trout with the same bait or peelers. Again, do not use metal top and bottom rigs—use monofilament rigs. Just offshore on the shoals such as Little Gull Shoal and Big Gull Shoal croaker and sea trout can be caught with squid strips dangled on monofilament top and bottom rigs. Flounder are also in the mix, along with kingfish, sea robins, small red hake, and sand sharks. Sometimes these fish are a mile to three miles off the coast. The Artificial Reef site offshore of 22nd Street is a good spot to try. Further offshore at the Bass Grounds and Artificial reef sites such as the African Queen and Great Eastern Reef we see some really good flounder fishing for anglers using any kind of flounder bait including live minnows, shiners, smelts, finger mullet and live spot. I like to use a strip of fresh bluefish, spot, or mullet for the flounder offshore. I like to use Aqua-clear rigs offshore in the deeper water because they do not tangle when you drop them down into the depths. Along with the flounder, there is usually a decent bite of sea bass in September. In the heat of the summer, sea bass fishing falls off, but in September the fish sense the coming of fall and start to move over open bottom again. Anglers anchoring over wrecks will also pick up some tautog with sand fleas or green crabs. Obviously, September is a good month to venture out on one of the areas party boats. From Ocean City to the Delaware Bay there’s action to be had. The crowds have thinned out, so aside from Labor Day Weekend, you should not find any of the boats too crowded. Call in advance though. Sometimes “less people” backfires and the boats don’t have enough people to go out! Inshore tautog fishing also picks up in September, though it gets much better in October and into November. Anglers fish from the Rt. 50 Bridge, the bulkhead from 2nd through 4th Street, and the Ocean City Inlet with sand fleas or green crabs and pick up tautog. There’s still plenty of flounder in these locations, so it’s a toss-up of whether to go tautog fishing or flounder fishing! The only problem with tautog fishing in September is that there’s still tons of small sea bass nibbling at your baits. It’s hard to keep the tautog bait on when fishing the bayside. The inlet rocks is usually your best bet in September for tautog. (Delaware closes their tautog season most of September, so stick to Ocean City where the season is open.) Bluefish! We’ve had them all summer and we’ll have them in abundance again in September. Sorry, they still won’t be large, mostly snapper blues, but they are in the bay and surf in numbers. They are fun to catch and the small ones are not bad to eat. Fishing the 9th Street Pier, Rt. 50 Bridge, Oceanic Pier, Ocean Pier, Ocean City and Indian River Inlets and the surf will give you plenty of action with bluefish. Anglers use lures such as bucktails with a plastic worm, Got-cha Plugs, Spec rigs, and spoons from the Inlets or piers and bridge at night. By day, anglers catch them bottom fishing with shiners or finger mullet. In the surf, you definitely will get into the bluefish action using a whole finger mullet on a mullet rig. “What else is in the surf in September?” Assateague usually sees a good run of red drum in September. Anglers fish for them just like they would for stripers. A single or double rig made out of heavy monofilament, usually with a fish finder rig, and a pretty good-sized circle hook. Baits of choice are a spot head, bunker, clam or any kind of cut bait. Peelers are also good. Ocean City beaches see puppy drum (smaller drum), kingfish, some sea trout, flounder, and short stripers with a few keepers mixed in. The water is still warm in September so we usually don’t see anything really big in Ocean City unless it’s a shark or ray. Assateague beaches have a quicker drop-off and anglers are more likely to catch larger fish such as drum, stripers, and big sharks. The Delaware State Park also sees its share of keeper stripers and a few red drum on some of the better beaches such as 3 R’s Road. The smaller fish in the surf such as kingfish, Norfolk spot or trout can be caught on kingfish rigs with a strip of cut bait such as mullet, spot or bunker. Combo this with a piece of bloodworm or Artificial Bloodworm and you will catch some of these good eating fish. Always try to use what is fresh or freshly frozen this time of year. There’s lots of natural bait in the ocean and that’s what the fish are feeding on. Offshore fishing for marlin, tuna, Wahoo, and dolphin is also still very good in September. Crabbing? Crabbing usually falls off in August and picks back up in September. Clamming is also good and the water is warm enough to enjoy the hunt! September is one of my favorite months of the year to go fishing! |
