Ocean City Md Striped Bass Fishing

The striped bass, also known as striper, or rockfish is one of the most popular saltwater fish caught at Ocean City, Md. Unlike most saltwater fish species, striped bass are caught during all four seasons; spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Productive areas for catching stripers around Ocean City include the north jetty, south jetty, Rt 50 bridge, Rt. 90 bridge, Verrazano Bridge, coastal bays, and beaches along Ocean City and Assateague Island.

Casting lures is a popular technique for catching striped bass. Popular lures for catching stripers include bucktail jigs, jigs with soft plastic bodies, metal jigs, crankbaits, topwater plugs, gotcha style plugs, spoons, and others.

Striped bass are also caught using a variety of live and cut baits. Around bridges and jetties, live eels and spot are popular. For surf fishing, anglers employ cut baits including bloodworms, menhaden, mullet, spot, soft crab, sea clams, and other baits.

Although fishing for these heavyweight gamefish can be very specialized, anglers occasionally catch striped bass while flounder fishing.

Striped bass make excellent table fare. Fish kept for the table should be kept cold.

Stripers can be cleaned using either of three techniques;

scale first and fillet, leaving skin on;
remove the skin first by peeling off, then fillet;
or fillet first and then cut skin from fillet.

Ocean City Striped Bass Fishing Violations

In December, Maryland Natural Resource Police charged several anglers with striped bass violations in Ocean City, MD.

A number of incidents involved citations for possessing and transporting striped bass from the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The EEZ waters are defined as federal waters extending form 3-200 miles offshore.

OC Pier in Ocean City Maryland Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

In Ocean City Maryland, Hurricane Sandy damaged the OC Fishing Pier. The storm surge from Hurricane Sandy tore off the T section of the pier and damaged much of the remaining pilings.

 The storm also caused extensive beach and dune erosion to the beach at Ocean City and Assateague Island.

OC Fishing Pier before the storm

OC Fishing Pier after Hurricane Sandy

equipment lined up to move sand

 

 

 

 

 

Ocean City inlet parking lot after Hurricane Sandy

Ocean City Maryland Free Fishing Areas

In 2012, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) designated two popular Ocean City saltwater fishing spots as license-free fishing areas.

Northside Park is located where 125th Street meets Assawoman Bay, and features a fishing pier, concessions, playgrounds, a picnic area, walking paths, playing fields and a sports center.

The Chicago Avenue Boardwalk (2nd Street Bulkhead) has metered parking, wheelchair access, and a fish cleaning station.

Anglers ages 16 and older, who would like to utilize free fishing areas without a license, must register with the State (at no cost) by calling 855-855-3906 or online at https://compass.dnr.maryland.gov/dnrcompassportal.

The registration enters anglers into a national database, which is used to help assess recreational fishing activity in tidal waters.

source: MD DNR

Things to Do in Maryland USA

With an abundance of natural resources, diverse geography, historical landmarks, and thriving tourism industry, Maryland is one of the best vacation spots in the USA.

Several Maryland cities are famous for their culture. Baltimore is a historic city and bustling industrial port with an incredible number of weekly events and other things to do.

Annapolis, Maryland's capital, is home to the Naval Academy, numerous historical buildings, and one of the nation's most famous sailing ports. In the western part of the state, cities like Frederick, Hagerstown, and Cumberland have plenty of history and culture.

One of the state's most important attractions is the Chesapeake Bay. While the upper bay is famous for its cities, the middle and lower bay is mainly occupied by small to mid-sized communities. On the western shore in southern Maryland are the fishing communities of Deale and Solomon's Island.

On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Chestertown, Easton, Saint Michaels, Cambridge, and Crisfield all have rich histories that are closely tied to the bay. In Tangier Sound, three small communities on Smith Island have been occupied by watermen for hundreds of years.

With scores of ports, Maryland is an excellent state for boating. Sailboat enthusiasts find the Chesapeake Bay to be an excellent body of water to explore. Cruisers, water skiers, and powerboaters also enjoy the bay and its many rivers.

In some areas, canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, and other paddlecraft are popular. These small but useful boats allow enthusiasts to explore areas where larger boats cannot travel. 

For anglers, the list of things to do in Maryland is incredible. The state has outstanding opportunities for fishermen, including freshwater as well as saltwater fishing. Freshwater anglers will find trout streams, rivers, lakes, farm ponds, and other fishing areas.

For those that prefer saltwater fishing, there are fishing piers, beaches for surf fishing, fishing aboard private boats, guided fishing trips, and deep sea fishing charters.

Nature lovers will also find plenty of activities in Maryland. Birdwatchers will find hundreds of species of birds, including songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, birds of prey, and other bird life.

The state also has plenty of mammals such as whitetail deer, sika deer, black bear, coyote, red foxes, gray foxes, skunks, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, and others. For herp enthusiasts, there are hundreds of species of turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, and other creatures.

For many visitors, Maryland beaches are a major attraction. On the Eastern Shore, Ocean City and Assateague Island attract visitors from across the nation. Just minutes apart, the two destinations offer totally different experiences.

Ocean City is a bustling beach resort that receives millions of visitors annually. This nationally recognized vacation destination features lifeguards, well maintained beaches, a historic boardwalk, amusements, restaurants, museums, and other attractions.

Just to the South, Assateague Island lies in stark contrast to Ocean City. This barrier island is occupied by Assateague Island State Park as well as Assateague Island National Seashore.

Its undeveloped beaches are occupied by wild ponies, deer, sea birds, and other wildlife. Visitors can swim, explore the island, collect shells, enjoy surf fishing, or simply enjoy the view.

Related Information

Things To Do on the Eastern Shore

Things To Do in Ocean City MD

Places To Visit in Baltimore Maryland

Things to Do in Ocean City Maryland

Ocean City Maryland is one of the top beach resorts in the Mid Atlantic region of the USA. This family-oriented beach town is located within a few hours of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and other Atlantic cities.

For visitors, the list of things to do in Ocean City is endless. Although much of the activity revolves around the summer season, there are events during every season.

The following list includes a few of the most popular types of recreation in Ocean City:

 - go swimming, sunbathing, boogie boarding, or surfing
 - walk along the historic boardwalk
 - go to an amusement park, water park, or go-kart racing
 - fly a kite
 - hunt for sea shells
 - take a beachfront rocket boat tour
 - eat local seafood including crabs, scallops, clams, oysters, and fish
 - attend a festival such as Springfest, SunFest, Harbor Days, or others
 - visit for Bike Week or car shows
 - try saltwater fishing on the Oceanic Fishing Pier, OC Fishing Pier, or Ocean City Jetty.
 - go deep sea fishing
 - attend the White Marlin Open or other major deep sea fishing tournaments
 - visit nearby Assateague Island, including Assateague State Park and Assateague National Seashore
 - check out local museums
 - visit expos or shows on waterfowl, art, boats, fishing, etc.
 - tour the Festival of Lights during the winter season

Related Information

Things To Do In Maryland

2011 Ocean City MD Sunfest

Sunfest is coming up in Ocean City MD on Sep 22nd, 2011. The event includes music, food, arts and crafts, hayrides, children's activities and more.

This popular Maryland festival celebrates summer's end and the start of the fall season at the beach. Sunfest is held at the Ocean City Inlet and along the beach. Admission to the festival is free.


For 2011, Sunfest has once again been rated by Sunshine Artist, “America’s Premier Show and Festival Magazine,” the number one traditional art and craft show in the nation. This is the second year in a row Sunfest was ranked as number 1. The rankings are based on audit reports, reader surveys and anecdotal reports from participating exhibitors.

Several concerts will be held during the festival. Linwood Peel’s Drifters, Cornell Gunter’s Coasters and the Del Vikings are scheduled to play on Thursday, September 22. Country star Jamey Johnson takes the stage on Friday, September 23. Country and pop legend Kenny Rogers is to appear on Saturday, September 24.

Tickets for all three shows are on sale at the Ocean City Convention Center Box Office on 40th St. in Ocean City. Box office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-551-7328.

For more information about Sunfest, visit www.ococean.com, call 410-250-0125 or toll-free at 1-800-626-2326.

Ocean City - Skimmer Island

Near Ocean City Maryland, a sand dredging and replenishment project at Skimmer Island is restoring the Island’s size and safeguarding habitat for endangered wildlife.

During late March and early April, Skimmer Island was nourished with 675 cubic yards of clean sand as part of a public-private partnership between DNR and Sunset Marina in West Ocean City.

The project seeks to restore important nesting habitat for wildlife, including the State-endangered black skimmer and royal tern. The island has seen a significant decline in size from 7 acres in 1998 to just over 2 acres last winter.

Skimmer Island provides nesting habitat and shelter for a variety of birds and mammals. During the 2011 breeding season, black skimmers and royal terns returned to nest on Skimmer Island. The island also contains the most important nesting beach for horseshoe crabs in Maryland.

“Skimmer Island is the single most important and valuable piece of barren sand nesting habitat for colonial nesting waterbirds such as the Black Skimmer and Royal Tern in Maryland,” said DNR ecologist David Brinker.

Coastal Stewards will assist with monitoring nesting activity of herons, egrets and ibis on the Island this summer. The Coastal Stewards program is designed to increase environmental literacy, provide hands-on experience in environmental education and outreach and teach green job skills.

The island is one of two large heron nesting and breeding habitats in Worcester County, serving as a valuable eco-tourism site that attracts many bird watchers to Ocean City throughout the year.

The nourishment project is set to continue over the next several years.

source: Maryland DNR

Eastern Section of the Ocean City South Jetty Closed

The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) announced the closure of the eastern part of the Ocean City South Jetty. The eastern third of the jetty will be closed to foot traffic; the western portion of the jetty will remain open to the public and anglers may still fish the area by boat.

There were several incidents last year, in which people were swept off the jetty into the water. Those individuals were able to climb back onto the jetty without assistance, but this event along with steadily increasing activity in this dangerous area prompted a meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, Coast Guard and the Natural Resources Police. It was decided at the meeting to close the eastern part of the south jetty.

The area was closed on January 1, 2010 and signs will be posted as soon as the weather permits. The closed area will be marked in English, Spanish and Korean.

Ocean City Maryland Deep Sea Fishing

Ocean City Maryland is famous for deep sea fishing. Private anglers and fishing charters target a variety of tuna, dolphin(mahi mahi), billfish, and other species.

In the summer months, fishing can be excellent. Inshore fishing spots include the Jackspot, Hot Dog, Parking Lot and other hot spots as well as deep sea structure including the Wilmington, Baltimore, Poor Man's, Washington and Norfolk Canyons. These hotspots vary from 25 - 100 nautical miles from port.