Need to basics on Ocean City Inlet

[CHOC]

Will be going next weekend. Never fished it before and will be in a tournament (great combination, right?).

It’s for stripers, drum, mackerel, flounder, and sheeps, Cobia, and specks.

What’s running this time of year?

[Slobber Bob]

There are a million ways to fish the place and there's no way to really learn it other than just going out and doing it.

But as far as the species you asked about... you're going to have to go out of the inlet and into the ocean for mackerel and cobia. If you want cobia, your best bet is finding bunker off the beach. Flounder you can find basically everywhere from the inlet to far reaches of the backbays. Stripers around the jetties and bridge, but not many keepers (Atlantic size limit is 28" - 38" or 44"+). Blues in the same spots. You might luck into a black drum, but there aren't too many around and are mostly bycatch when trying for sheepshead. I haven't heard of any reds. Sheepshead can be found around any of the hard structures (docks, rocks, jetties, or bridge). Look up the Coastal Fisherman or Fishinoc websites for dya to day information on what's been caught. Although, they more focus on offshore stuff this time of year, but there is still plenty of inshore reports.

The biggest thing out there is safety if it's you're first time. Be visible, keep your head on a swivel, and expect a lot of boats and boat wake.

There is some useful information in this thread for fishing the inlet: http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...ighlight=inlet

Goodluck in the tournament!

[john from md]

The OC inlet can be a challenge for boaters let alone yaks. The current is pretty swift and boat traffic can make the water move in all sorts of directions. Be careful out there.

[M_Duong60]

Made the mistake of getting out too early one time and instead of low I got to the inlet during outgoing. Current was at the point where I had to paddle as hard and fast as possible to basically just stay in place/make any forward progress. For me the hardest part about fishing the area, especially during the weekends is just dealing with boat traffic and subsequent wakes. Those guys don't care about you at all.