This week in Ocean City, the summer season is at full boil — the back bays are producing flounder on every moving tide, the canyon fleet is finding mahi and the first real push of white marlin, and the inshore wrecks are covering the middle ground.
What’s Hitting
Flounder are the everyday fish, with keepers coming from the channels behind Assateague and the East Channel on the clean water. Offshore, the canyons are producing mahi in good numbers, scattered yellowfin, and white marlin showing in the warm eddies — July is when the billfish summer starts here. Sea bass are steady on the ocean structure, kingfish and spot are on the surf bars, and bluefish are cruising the inlet on the tide changes.
Where to Find Them
Drift the Thorofare and the channels off the Route 50 bridge for flounder on moving water. The canyon action has been from the Baltimore down through the Washington, with the better mahi on the lobster-pot balls and the temperature breaks. Sea bass want the wrecks and reef sites in 60 to 100 feet.
Tides & Conditions
Water clarity in the back bays has been good on the incoming tide, which is when the flounder feed best. Offshore, the eddy that pushed in this week has the canyon water in the mid-70s and blue — prime conditions for the mahi and marlin.
Tackle & Tactics
For flounder, a live minnow-and-Gulp combo on a bucktail drifted with the tide remains the standard. Canyon mahi want small ballyhoo or chunk baits around any floating structure. If you’re targeting white marlin, a spread of naked and skirted ballyhoo with dredges pulled at 6 knots is the summer program.
Local Intel This Week
The public ramp at the West Ocean City commercial harbor, Gum Point Road ramp on the bayside, and the South Point ramp near Assateague are the main public launches this week. Fish are concentrating in the channels on the incoming tide and offshore along the temperature breaks. Flounder size and creel rules get adjusted year to year — check current Maryland DNR regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Summer flounder in the back bays follow the clean water, not the spot. If your favorite drift is dirty from boat traffic or wind, don’t grind it out — slide toward the inlet until you find the clear incoming water, and the fish will be in it.