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“We’re coming to Ocean City for vacation and want to go fishing. What’s
biting in July? Where can we go?”
July is a month where almost everything and anything is biting. It might not
be huge, but if you give it a whirl, something ought to be tap, tap, tapping
on the end of your rod.
July is always a good time to try for flounder. From the shore, your best
bets are the Route 50 Bridge, the 9th Street Pier, the bulkhead from 2nd
through 4th Streets, or the Oceanic Pier. The size limit for the year 2008
is 17 ½ inches, so you will be working hard for a “keeper” but even if you
don’t catch dinner, there should be some action. Anglers use live minnows or
frozen shiners for bait on a simple top and bottom rig weighed with an
average of 2 ounces of weight. Size #1 or #1/0 wide gap type hooks are
best. You can also add a strip of squid to your shiner or minnow bait for
extra-added attraction.
If you didn’t drag a boat to Ocean City with you, there are plenty of bay
party boats that go out for either 2 to 4 hour trips.
o BAY PARTY BOATS -
Bay Bee Bay Party Boat
2 flounder trips daily
O.C. Fishing Center –410-213-1121
Pony Island Express
Flounder Bay trips- 3 times daily- (2 hour)
Old Town Marina, Ocean City Maryland Marina and Fishing Center 2 Blocks
South Of The Rt 50 Bridge- 410-289-2565- or 410-289-6720
Tortuga
3 flounder trips daily in season
Bahia Marina-410-289-7438
Happy Hooker Flounder/croaker/striper Bay trips (2 hour)
Capt Steve Whitelock
located Talbot St. and the Bay
410.289.9125 or 410.289.3500
“What else do they catch on the bay party boat?”
Sometimes the boats get into snapper bluefish, little sea bass, and towards
the end of the month of July, we generally see croaker. But the
predominant fish the boats go for are flounder unless the croakers show up
in quantity near the end of the month.
“I just want to take the kids fishing for anything! And maybe do a little
crabbing.”
July is a good month to do that! The Northside Park at 127th Street, the
Isle of Wight in the center of Route 90 Bridge off of 62nd Street, and the
bulkhead and pier behind the Convention Hall at 40th Street are all good
places to take the little guys to catch pan fish such as spot, sand perch,
and small croaker. Your best bet is to use top and bottom type rigs with
size #8 or #6 hooks baited with bloodworm, artificial Fishbite bloodworm, or
night crawlers. If you are staying in the lower end of Ocean City you can
travel to Assateague and fish on the pier that is located right next to the
Verrazano Bridge. There’s a fee to go on this pier. If you are staying at
Frontier Town, you can fish and crab off their private pier to catch these
same fish. All these places are also good places to catch crabs with chicken
necks and bunker fish.
The bulkhead from 2nd through 4th Street is a good place to take the
slightly older kids to catch little sea bass, spot, tautog, and possibly
croaker towards the end of the month. This area is snaggy, so it is
important to fish straight down when the tide is running hard. Fish with
sand crabs, bloodworms or Artificial Bloodworms, little pieces of squid, or
frozen shiners. If you want to avoid the snags, stick to the 9th Street
Pier, Route 50 Bridge, or the Oceanic Pier. These three areas are good for
flounder, but also have snapper blues, little sea bass, spot, croaker,
tautog, blowfish and sea robins. Little strips of squid, bloodworm, or
Fishbite bloodworm on size #6 or #4 hooks will catch all kinds of pan fish.
Homer Gudelsky Park is a free public area. Traveling west over the Rt. 50
Bridge, make a left at Golf Course Road (next to Royal Farm Store) and make
the next immediate left (Old Bridge Rd.) There’s a nice beach there with
rocks along the shore. Cast shiners and squid combinations for bait or live
minnows for flounder- Use worms for bait on small hooks for sea bass,
croaker and spot.- Use fishing lures early in the morning or after dark for
blues and stripers. One needs fishing tackle that will cast into the main
channel. A 7 to 8 foot rod and reel or even a surf rod and reel will work at
this park. There’s not a lot of parking here, but it’s a nice place to “get
away” for a while.
Night fishing! July is a good time to fish under the lights from the Route
50 Bridge and the Oceanic Pier. Bright lights shine down on the water and
attract baitfish that in turn attracts bluefish, shad, sea trout, and
striped bass. Jig Gotcha Plugs, spec rigs, lead heads with curltail grubs or
the ever-popular Berkley Gulp, bucktails with plastic worms, or Swim Shads.
Incoming tides are usually best, with stripers and trout biting on the very
beginning of the outgoing tides. The Inlet will also catch you some fish at
night and first thing in the morning before the boat traffic gets up.
Surf fishing! Surf fishing in July can be good. Anglers are allowed to fish
in Ocean City before 10 A.M. and after 5:30 P.M. when the lifeguards are
off. Fish the smaller size bluefish rigs (Sea Striker DT34 or DT34S) for
sand sharks, croaker, snapper blues, and small sea trout with cut bait such
as mullet, spot, or bunker. OR, fish a kingfish surf rig made with size #6
hooks with bloodworm, little strips of Calamari squid, or Fishbite Bloodworm
Alternative. You can add little strips of fresh cut fish such as spot,
mullet or bunker along with the Fishbites or bloodworm for a really good
surf bait for kingfish, Norfolk spot, sand perch, blowfish, and croaker.
Use a pyramid sinker so your bait doesn’t roll back in. At night or early
in the morning, you can use a larger bait and go for sharks, stripers, and
larger bluefish. You can also catch croaker at night with size #4 hooks.
Ocean Pier! The Ocean Pier runs parallel to the Ocean City Jetty. Go to the
Inlet Parking lot and pay to go on the pier. You can catch anything on the
pier that you can on the surf. High tide is the best time to go fishing.
Lots of sand sharks are usually there for the kids to catch, and when the
water gets warm in summer, anglers catch some flounder out there as well.
Party Boat Fishing! July is always a good time to take a boat ride and
catch some sea bass, tautog, and maybe flounder and croaker. The days of
limits on sea bass seem to be over, but it’s always nice to get offshore and
catch some fish. Full days will catch a larger amount of “keeper” fish as
the boats can go our further and stay longer, but the half day boats are
good for the novices that want to give it a whirl without committing to a
whole day of fishing.
OFFSHORE PARTY BOATS -
Morning Star
Party boat (410) 520-2076 Sunday-Friday (7am-3pm) $110.00 per angler
Saturdays (6:30am-3:30pm) $125- Book Today--The Morning Star "Sells Out" at
25 Anglers! Each ticket includes an exclusive rail assignment
The Ocean Princess
Party boat- 1/2 day fishing
Ocean City's Largest and Fastest Head Boat
For reservations and information, call (410) 289-6226. Happy fishing!
The Angler
Party boat
OC’s newest party boat with the oldest tradition
Full day- Leaves at 7:30A.M.
Talbot St. & Bay 410-289-7424
Judith M
Party boat- 1/2 day fishing
Bahia Marina at 21st Street and the bay- 410-289-743810-289-7438 /
888-575-DOCK (3625) 410-289-7438 / 888-575-DOCK (3625)
410-289-7438 / 888-575-DOCK (3625) 410-289-7438 / 888-575-DOCK (3625)
Need bait and tackle? Come see us at Oyster Bay Tackle, Ocean City, Maryland (410-524-3433) or Fenwick Tackle, Fenwick Island, Delaware (302-539-7766), OR Shop Online!
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