"What's fishing like here in September and October?"

Many vacationers call or e-mail us to ask if fishing is still going to be
good in September and October. These two months are actually a couple of
the best fishing months we have in Ocean City. The weather is still decent,
the crowds have thinned out, and water temperatures start to cool. Fish
begin to move out of the bays; other fish are moving just off the coast.
There's a bountiful supply of fresh bait swimming around the area such as
finger mullet, alewives, and shiners. The fish are feeding. Yes, September
and October are great months to fish!

"Where should I fish? What should I do?"

Just like fishing in the summer months, tides still rule. Especially if
you are fishing in the bay, you want to fish three hours before high tide
and two hours after high tide to get those optimal fishing hours. The water
is clearest during this time frame and it is important for trout and
flounder to be able to see your baits.

"I want to catch flounder."

If you have a boat, these months are when you want to fish the deepest
holes. Work the main East Channel near the draw of the Rt. 50 Bridge for
some excellent flounder fishing. Use the largest baits you can find. Use
large live minnows baited with a strip of squid on the same hook or use a
frozen shiner or two hooked through the eyes with a strip of squid on the
same hook. Use these baits on a flounder rig with a bucktailed skirt to
give the bait a larger appearance. Don't be afraid to experiment with your
baits. Any filleted strip of fresh baitfish is good for flounder. You can
use this with your minnow or shiner bait instead of squid. These strip
baits would include a strip of filleted spot, mullet, bluefish, croaker,
etc. (If you use a strip of bait from a fish with a size and creel limit,
keep the carcass with you in the cooler to prove it is a legal fish.) Be
sure to scale the fish before filleting it.

Many anglers use finger mullet for flounder this time of year, either dead
or live. Use them on a single long-leadered hook. Hook mullet through the
eyes or lips and fish them alone with no strip of squid or cut bait.

Some anglers like to cast a net for alewives and use them live for flounder
and trout baits. Others spend hours catching live spot in the canals and
use them for bait for flounder, trout, and stripers. You need some kind of
aerator to keep mullet, spot, and alewives alive.

"How about the Thorofare?"

The Thorofare is good during the month of September, but slows up in the
month of October. Fish the deep holes near the banks of the green island
and the green marshes. Some of these holes are over 20 foot and hold some
really nice fish.

The Ocean City Inlet is also a good place to fish in the months of
September and October for flounder, trout, blues, and stripers. Many
anglers drift live eels and fish for stripers in the inlet itself, around
the point of the South Jetty where the white water is, and the main east
channel from the Coast Guard Station to approximately 6th Street. A few
stripers are also caught in the West Channel near the Rt. 50 Bridge.

"I don't have a boat!"

Without a boat, your best bet in September and October is to fish the Rt.
50 Bridge, Oceanic Pier, Ocean Pier, Shantytown Pier, 2nd through 4th Street
Bulkhead, 9th Street, the Inlets, or the surf. If you fish too far up into
the bay you will only catch small fish such as spot.

During the day, use the above bottom baits for flounder. At night you can
fish the Bridge, Piers, or Inlet with lures or live eels or spot for some
excellent catches of stripers and trout. Keep in mind, that areas with
bright lights shining down will bring in more fish than areas that are dark.
That's why the Rt. 50 Bridge is better than areas such as 2nd through 4th
Streets at night. Some people want to fish behind where they are staying
and cast lures into the bay, but this time of year, you are really better
off going to the Bridge, pay piers, or Inlet.

"What kind of lures should I use at night? Can't I just use shiners and
squid?"

You can use dead bait, but you will do much better with lures or live baits
such as eels or spot. Besides, if you go to a pier and everyone else is
tossing lures, you will not be popular if you pluck down a sinker and a
bottom rig baited with squid! Some of the best lures to use at night in
this area are Got-cha Plugs, Fin-S Fish soft bodies attached to a lead head,
Sea Striker brand Trout Killers attached to a lead head, bucktails with a 6-
inch curltail grub attached, a 2-ounce lead head with an 8-inch curltail
grub attached (for stripers) and lead heads with Sassy Shads attached.

"Do stripers bite during the day?"

In the summer they tend to bite more at night, but in the fall they can
bite anytime. Inlets are the best places to fish for stripers during the
day. Stripers will also hit on the Rt. 50 Bridge, or the bulkhead running
along 2nd through 4th Street during the day. They seem to bite best in the
bay areas if the day is overcast or rainy. They will also take baits such
as live sand fleas during the day. (Put 3 or 4 on a hook.)

September and October are the months that the tautog start biting around
the inlet areas and along the bulkhead at 2nd through 4th Streets. They
also hit around the draw of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Anglers use clam, sand
fleas, and green crab for the tautog.

Of course, there is no doubt, that September and October are some of the
best months in the Ocean City area to surf fish! Once the Labor Day
Week-end is over, some of the beach restrictions are lifted during the week,
and anglers are allowed to surf fish during the mid-day hours. Snapper
blues, trout, kingfish, blowfish,
Flounder, lingcod, red drum, and stripers can be caught from Cape Henelopen
to Assateague Island. After a slow summer surf season of scrappy little
catches, locals and vacationers alike are happy to have their rods bent over
with bigger game. Assateague Island and the Delaware Seashore State Park can
be especially good this time of year. We usually see a decent run of red
drum and big stripers on Assateague. Towards the end of October we start
seeing more and more of those larger bluefish as well.

"What bait do anglers use in the surf?"

Any kind of cut bait, but the most popular bait in our area in the fall is
the "finger mullet." Anglers buy them fresh or frozen and use them on surf
rigs either cut up or whole. Anglers using whole finger mullet buy special
rigs called "mullet rigs" and fish the finger mullet whole.

September and October are great months to fish. Try it! You'll like it..