OC Report

[Slobber Bob]

Friday evening I decided to go out in OC to follow-up on a suspicious bite I had the other week and missed hooking up with. The wind was cranking good out of the south, and there was a really big swell coming in from the ocean. The jetty was taking a beating, fishing near the tip or ocean side was nowhere near feasible, but the jetty also blocked the wind and swells allowing me to sidle up along the backside and sit in (relative) comfort.



First bite I missed. It was that exact same suspicious feeling bite I was looking for too. Dang! Drop back down but nothing after a few minutes. So I decided to drop off the other side of the kayak and get a short tog. I knew that couldn't have been what I had just missed, so I dropped back to the spot I missed the bite. Ahhhh, there it is; a subtle crunch, crunch that I could just barely feel. Set the hook and it's heavy fish. A couple minutes later and first of the year was on deck and destine for the dinner table



Drop back down and plunk another on the head.



Two toads after that. Then a friend paddles out and just as he gets to me I pull in a third, albeit smaller, one.

That would be it for me for the evening. I ended up with a couple more small toads and a short striper. He ended up getting a sheep also, biggest of them all too, and a handful of short stripers.

Hardly a boat on the water too because of the wind and swells

[J.A. Veil]

Nice report. In my initial reply, I mis-identified the species you showed above.

Good catching.

[Seasalt]

Nice sheepheads!

Great report. You are very brave to go out on the OC inlet I'm assuming...

[M_Duong60]

Great job man, glad to see they are biting in the inlet again. I need to try and get out at least one more time this summer.

[Shady]

Nice!

[Slobber Bob]

Great job man, glad to see they are biting in the inlet again. I need to try and get out at least one more time this summer.

Yea, give me a heads up beforehand. And double check those knots this time

[Slobber Bob]

I went back out this past Friday evening to fish the lat couple hours of light for sheepshead. Conditions seemed good, but the bite just wasn't happening. I ended up with 4 toads and 2 small tog. Had one hit that may have been a sheep, but I didn't set the hook, so it robbed me and never bit again when I dropped back down. After dark I threw a pink zoom fluke as I drifted back towards the launch. I was hoping for weakfish and sure enough hooked a decent 18 - 20"er that I promptly lost kayak side as soon as I saw it. Dought! I worked that area for a lttle while longer but didn't have any luck.

Saturday morning a buddy texts me to check out the Coastal Fisherman reports. Apparently there have been some spear fisherman decimating the sheepshead in the inlet lately (see Saturday 7/8 & Sunday 7/9). That kinda puts a damper on things and might explain why it was so dead the evening before....

[daolai]

Nice job slobber.. how's the flounder bite in ocmd?

[Slobber Bob]

I haven't flounder fished in a long time but I'd assume its probably the same as usual for this time of year - mixed bag of shorts and keepers; find clean water. Some of the local OC tackle shops and magazines would be a good source of info.

[jmsstix]

What species of fish are you referring to as "toad"?

[Slobber Bob]

oyster toad, toad fish, shell cracker, whatever the local slang is. Toad for short.

[Slobber Bob]

Late report and my first time out to the inlet in a good while this summer....

Fished fleas for sheepshead last weekend on the incoming tide. There has a been a decent bite lately and the size of the fish being report has been excellent. I only managed two that day at 15" and 22" and they were probably two of the smaller ones I saw caught that day. I saw some true bruisers come up near me! A handful of short tog mixed in to keep it interesting along with an occasional striper and many, many toads.

Water was still really warm to the touch so they should be around a little while longer.

IMG_13170.jpg

[yakscientist]

You're still on to do the November meet and greet right? Really looking forward to it.

[Slobber Bob]

Yes, I am still planning on it. I'll post up some info after the October one has passed.

[Shady]

I was off last friday and was super tempted to make the drive to OC for Sheeps. Opted for MD ES specks instead and had a great day. Think sheeps will still be around in a month?