Stripers, Flounder, Big Sea Bass and Some of the First Tuna of the Season
By Scott Lenox
Posted on May 26th, 2025
Happy Memorial Day!! Remember what it’s about!
I got a text first thing this morning from Captain Austin Ensor of the Primary Search with the below photo of Faith Engh who caught one of the first tunas of the season. There should be more to come in the near future. Congratulations to Faith and the crew of Primary Search.
Landon Derbyshire caught this 21″ stud sea bass on a calm ocean today.
Brian Mills jigged up this very nice 22.5″ flounder in the West Channel this morning.
Jeff and Sarah from the Frederick Saltwater Anglers club had three keeper flounder outside of the south jetty.
Ryan Cowder, Ethan Cowder, Wayne Grossman, Jason Pylypczuk and daughters Eva and Adley had a great day of sea bass fishing at Eastern Shore Joey’s secret spot.
Rich Daiker and his son Baron had a great day of casting today catching and releasing rockfish as big as 38″. Will Shindler joined in on the fun this evening with a fat 26″ fish.
Matt Brown and his crew picked up a three man limit of sea bass and a couple of flounder today.
Caleb Powell, Jenna Carpenter and Kellan McAleer had four keeper flounder from the “Fish Bowl” this morning.
Jason Horst had some fun catch and release rockfish action from the north jetty wall this morning.
Dave and Chase Neumayer had some flounder action today with several throwbacks and this one keeper of 16.5″. All fish were caught on Deadly Doubles with Gulp tipped with minnows.
Captain Marc Spagnola of Dusk to Dawn Bowfishing is back to burning the candle at both ends. Last night it was gar, catfish and snakehead on the river, today it was big rays in the south bay, followed by some keeper flounder with the family.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star had a nice day today with some big sea bass coming aboard.
Upon clearing the inlet & seeing newly-forming white caps signaling 12 knots or so of NE wind I thought: “Please don’t be wrong today weatherman.”
Every site was calling for NE winds at 5 to 10 – a beautiful day at sea. And, though a bit more fresh in the morning? That is how it played.
NE winds are the worst off here. They build broad shouldered seas quickly & with no back. Although 10 to 15 knots can sometimes be a nice day; if pushing 15 to 20 we’ll soon wish we were somewhere else.
Ah well, perhaps two days of good forecasts out of 7 isn’t all bad..
In today’s FB post I’ve included a sidescan image of the seafloor at Capt Bob Gowar’s Memorial Reef Group. At the bottom of the pic is a rectangular structure – it is the barge on the east side of Capt. Bob’s Reef — the barge I’ve been writing about of late. The next large structure above the barge & right is a tug newly named: “The Nichols Family Reef” (Charles Nichols and his father founded the Reef Foundation in 1997 {TYVM!!!} Capt Bobby was the Nichols family’s skipper on the Liquidator for many-many years & as if a wonderful Uncle to all the Nichols men) I digress! ..then above the Nichols tug and left is the tug “Steve’s Way.”
Peppering the area between those larger structures are block units we’ve deployed. The unit Holly & Sharon sent by the stern rail today is closest to starboard stern corner of the Nichols tug.
Not as easily discerned, there are many more blocks & block units among the 2015 Iron Lady concrete deployments at the top of the picture seen as ‘smudged’ areas. (Believe me – that concrete is great reef! Pic of two fluke taken there a couple years ago..)
Blocks at Capt Bob’s Reef so far? 5,162 and counting..
Oyyyyy…
I was hard pressed to find sea bass that would keep biting today. On almost every spot I fished we’d have a few good drops and then they’d quit chewing..
Fishing her new ‘Holly Lift’ one of my clients sure didn’t seem to mind the bite one bit. For the rest of us? A pain in the neck..
But, in keeping up our efforts we made a day of it – Don even attained DD status.
Cannot swear to it, but I heard tell, & owing reef builders karma no doubt, there was a seriously imbalanced catch in one cooler — 8 to 1? 9 to 2? And almost the pool?!?
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