# New to the area (Andrews AFB). Where to fish and gear tips.



## Andr3w (May 17, 2008)

I've been in Md for about a month now and am finally getting settled in. I used to live in San Diego, CA and have done a lot of pier fishing off the Oceanside pier and go surf fishing in between carlsbad and oceanside.

Anyway its been about a year since I last went fishing due to technical school in texas. I am excited to get back into the fishing routine. I haven't had a chance to see the waters yet though. Are there any piers in Md? I think I heard there is one in Ocean city or something. I would also like to do surf fishing as well. If I can get some addresses to local areas that would be great so I can just plug them into my gps. Hopefully this summer I will be able to go on some charters as well. 

Also what kind of gear is needed in these areas? I normally use an 8'6 rod, casting reel, and 3" big hammer swimbait when I walk the shores in cali. Pier fishing is about the same, but I use a larger conventional reel for heavier weights. 

What kind of fish swim in close to the beaches? Also information on fishing licenses and required stamps if necessary.

Looking forward to seeing you guys along the shores and piers,
Andrew


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## Andr3w (May 17, 2008)

Damn, realized that i posted in the reports forum


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## Wannafishallday (Aug 13, 2007)

You need to check out the hot spots link above. 

In summary there are several options: Ocean city, De CHSP, PLO, Solomons

Tight Lines.


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

Welcome aboard. There's a Coastal Explorer if you click on the Hot Spots tab at the top of the page. It'll take you to here and shows the bulk of the fishable spots around the mid-Atlantic coast. I don't know if this gets you any GPS coordinates, but should put you in the right area (and a quick check with google maps on satellite should do it)

Most of the pier and surf fishing around the DC area is mostly soaking bait at fairly long distances (75 yards plus) due to the shallow nature of the waters around here. In the Chesapeake, the water's less than 12' over 200 yards from shore in most spots. Not that there's anything wrong with a Big Hammer swimbait (I love them as well ), lure fishing in this area is much more productive from a boat or a yak. 

You'd need a Bay Sport license to fish the Chesapeake Bay, a MD freshwater license to fish freshwater, but (for now) the Atlantic coast and coastal bays are free, but you have to get a NOAA number. 

Nowadays, most of my shore fishing is done in Southern Maryland, at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The areas there that face the Chesapeake Bay can be productive at many times of the year. My usual surf gear are 10-12' rods that cast 3-6oz weights with a conventional reel loaded with 14-17lb test and 40-60lb shock leaders. Good baits are bloodworms, squid, shrimp, cut menhaden or spot, and Fishbites.


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## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

I'm on a bus and bored, so here is the long version. The fishing in San Diego is much better than here. Here you have rivers, the bay, and the ocean.
In the bay you can catch big stripers from shore in March and April. Croaker tend to show up around late april to early may. Then yoo get spot and later blues. You can fish piers with a 8.5' rod and catch any of those. Water is shallow in the bay though and distance tends to help. Most seem to use 10 - 12' rods on the bay surf fishing and 8-12' rods on piers. Hot spots is good place to start. If you are military, I suggest you fish PAX naval base or the base near Solomons Island. For piers, you have Romancoke, Metapkeake, Solomons, Point Lookout, and North Beach. For surf fishing, Sandy Pt State Park, Pax.
For the ocean, you also have pier and surf options as well as jetty fishing. You have jetty fishing around ocean city inlet. For pier, you have an option or two in ocean city. There is a bridge in ocean citry that is good fishing for throwing lures to striped bass Taka rocksfish). For the surf, I recommend a 12' rod that will throw 4 to 8 ounces and bottom fishing. You could catch striped bass, blues, drum, and even flounder on cut bait.
If your goal is to use the existing 8.5 ft rod, I recommend either bay piers, cape henlopen state park (delaware) pier, tog fishing the bulkhead in ocean city, the oc bridge, or fishing one of the two military bases previoualy mentioned.


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## Andr3w (May 17, 2008)

Great information. Wish I had seen the hotspots before. I used to have a 12' rod and would love to use one again. Are there any restrictions as to casting on piers? In california they only allowed underhand casting. Wish I hadn't given away my daiwa sealine reel. Really enjoyed using that for the longer and heavier casts. 

Hopefully i'll be able to make it out to somewhere this weekend. Also gonna check out the local bass pro shop as well as other local bait shops.


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## BAYFISHER (Jul 6, 2001)

*30 years ago, i lived in forestville, looking distance from andrews AFB*

:fishing:My suggestion: dont take rods larger than 10 ft to any piers because limited real estate, and numerous people put a constraint on larger rods, and enjoyment in the fullest. If you get a larger rod, SPSP, AI,PLO, and the like would best suit that size rod. As for reels: Baitrunner,Okuma, Shimano (no need to spend 200.00 on unnecessary expenditures because the fish dont care how much you spent.Line: use between 30 lb and 50 lb powerpro to keep fish on when its on, and use circle hooks that are about 5 odd or 5/0 which insures hookup without lunging for rod to set, and makes it easier to release fish (and cow nose rays). Bait: stay with bloodworms! once in a while, use alewives (cut bait) for when striper fishing, and when using bloods, get spot to get blues when runnin. The guys here could further guide you RIGHT. USE THE DROP DOWN HOT SPOTS AND CLICK COASTAL EXPLORER AND/OR USE THIS LINK TO DNR FOR MARYLAND http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/recreational/index.asp

THE LAST LINK WOULD KEEP YOU INFORMED FOR HOURS.


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## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

No, there are no size restrictions on the piers. It's so shallow, you really have to get it out there at many of these piers. I prefer 9 and 10 ft rods on the piers, but at many of them you really need to get the extra distance an 11 or 12 ft rod gets you. It's true, there will be a lot of people fishing. That's why I pointed you towards the military bases in case you are military. They are not crowded at all. I used to work at the census bureau in Suitland just down the road from Andrews.


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## MetroMan (Mar 7, 2009)

Welcome to the area. One of my best friends lives in San Marcos!


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Welcome to the family.


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## Andr3w (May 17, 2008)

Thank you everyone. Looks like I won't have my gear ready to go for this weekend. Although may just go and look around, but next weekend is a 3 day weekend so hopefully everything will be set by then. What time do you guys normally make it out to the beach? Before sunrise? I plan to go the Sandy Point State Park or Breezy Point. Do these places have limited parking?


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## MSC (May 8, 2010)

The pond at the south end of the runway on base has bass, bluegills and chain pickerel in it. Some nice ones. You can just walk around shore and fish for them with light tackle.


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