Ocean City is into its summer groove this week. Flounder have filled the back bays and the inlet, and the offshore wrecks are giving up sea bass and the first good runs of dolphin for boats making the run.
What’s Hitting
Flounder are the bread-and-butter, holding in the back-bay channels and around the inlet on the moving tide. Black sea bass are stacked on the offshore wrecks and reefs. Bluefish and a few striped bass are working the inlet, and offshore the canyon boats are finding tuna and dolphin.
Where to Find Them
Drift the back-bay channels and the inlet edges for flounder. Sea bass hold on the wrecks and reef sites in 60–120 feet. The inlet and the Route 50 bridge give up blues and stripers, and the canyons are the offshore play for tuna and mahi.
Tides & Conditions
Water has warmed into the low-to-mid 70s inshore. The moving tide — either direction — drifts your bait across the flounder; slack water shuts it down. Calm mornings give the best window for the offshore wreck and canyon runs before the afternoon sea builds. Bay anchovies, spearing, and small mullet are building through the back bays and around the inlet, and the flounder set up along the channel edges to ambush that bait as the tide moves it past. On the wrecks, the sea bass are feeding on crabs and small baitfish, so tipping your rig with squid and clam keeps them feeding steadily.
Tackle & Tactics
For flounder, drift a Gulp swimming mullet on a bucktail or a minnow-and-squid strip on a flounder rig. Sea bass eat squid and clam on a hi-lo rig over the wrecks. Blues hit metal and cut bait in the inlet, and the canyon crowd trolls ballyhoo spreads.
Local Intel This Week
The West Ocean City ramp on Harbor Road and the Gum Point Road ramp serve the back bays and inlet, with Homer Gudelsky Park covering the north end. Flounder are concentrating in the back-bay channels and the inlet, sea bass on the offshore wrecks. Always check current FWC/state and federal regulations and open seasons before keeping any fish — bag and size limits change through the summer.
This Week’s Tip
For inlet and channel flounder, keep your drift slow and your bait right on the bottom — add a bucktail or a heavier jighead if the tide is moving your bait too fast. Flounder ambush from the bottom, and a rig that ticks along the sand catches far more than one that swings up in the current.