Ocean City is hitting its summer stride. The flounder bite is building in the back bays and the inlet, sea bass are stacked on the offshore wrecks, and the first of the summer pelagics are showing along the offshore canyons.
What’s Hitting
Flounder are the inshore headline, moving through the inlet and the back-bay channels. Sea bass are thick on the wrecks and reefs offshore. Bluefish and the occasional striper are working the inlet, and the canyons are starting to give up early tuna and mahi for the offshore crowd.
Where to Find Them
Drift the Ocean City Inlet and the back-bay channels — the Thorofare and East Channel — for flounder. Sea bass are on the wrecks and reef sites in 60 to 110 feet. The inlet holds blues and short stripers, and the canyons are the long offshore run for tuna. The Route 50 bridge and the back-bay bulkheads hold flounder and short stripers for shore-bound and small-boat anglers staying inside.
Tides & Conditions
Summer water has warmed nicely. The flounder bite is best on the moving tide through the inlet and channels. Offshore seas have offered fishable morning windows. Watch the afternoon sea breeze and pop-up thunderstorms, especially on the longer canyon runs.
Tackle & Tactics
Drift Gulp or live minnow-and-squid combos on a flounder rig through the inlet and channels. For sea bass, drop clam or squid on a high-low rig over the wrecks. Tip jigs with bait for added scent. Canyon trollers should pull spreads of ballyhoo and spreader bars at the temperature breaks. Bucktails tipped with Gulp outfish plain rigs for the bigger flounder; offshore, a stout conventional setup with a high-low rig is the call for sea bass over the wrecks.
Local Intel This Week
Launch from the Ocean City municipal ramps or the West Ocean City (Harbor Road) ramp for inlet and bay access. Flounder are concentrating in the inlet and the back-bay channels. Flounder and sea bass both have size and season limits that change — check current Maryland DNR and federal regulations before keeping fish. The Ocean City Inlet jetty and the OC fishing piers give shore anglers a shot at flounder, blues, and short stripers.
This Week’s Tip
For inlet flounder, slow your drift with a drift sock if the tide is ripping. Keeping the bait near the bottom and moving naturally with the current — not racing across it — is the difference between scratching for shorts and putting keepers in the box.