Assateague and Chincoteague exposed by Slava Olchevski Part 1. Preparations Part 2. Lodging Part 3. Items you will need Part 4. National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System. Part 5. Crabbing Part 6. Clamming Part 7. Fishing Part 8. On the beach Part 9. Wild Ponies Part 10. Other places of interest Discussion Forum

I didn't have any success in surf and bay fishing, even though I had a rubber boat. Here are some facts that I absorbed from local sources: BAY fishing. SURF fishing OFFSHORE fishing The following article was taken from volume 4 issue 2 of "Chincoteague Hunting & Fishing": BAY fishing All early indications point to another good year of fishing. Although the early flounder season was extremely windy, there were some fine catches at Queensound and Fourmouths. With the warming weather, the flatties are moving up onto the flats. Some of the flounder hot spots this time of the year include the Queensound, Fingers, the Tower, Tom's Cove and Gun Boat Slew. Flounder can be taken along any of the channels throughout the bay. The most productive area is right at the drop off from the flats to the channel. Unfortunately, fishing these drop offs can involve a lot of running around. You need a shallow draft boat and make sure the wind and/or tide are pushing you away from the shallows. The commerical crabbers usually set their crab pots along these edges so it often gives you a reference point on where to start your drift. The besft drift for flounder usually occurs about one hour before andone hour after the slack tide. You can extend the window by moving further in or out of the bay. Wind is also a majot factor in achieving the correct drift for flounder. A light breeze is often helpful, but when it gets over 10 to 15 knots, it makes it difficult to impossible to get a good drift. On those calm days at slack tide, especiallyin the back bays where the current is not as great, trolling can be a very effective method for flounder. A typical flounder trolling rig consists of a 2oz to 4oz trolling sinker, 36" mono leader, a spinner and/or bucktail and a non-offset 1/0 hook. More information on BAY, SURF fishing The species of fish available in the Assateague surf include stripped bass, drumfish, trout, bluefish, flounder, croaker, spot, kingfish, perch, shark and rays. The stripped bass, bluefish, trout, red drum and flounder will take artificials. The blues and bass are the most aggressive and will both take metal and surface plugs. For the trout, flounder and drum you will need to slow down the retrieve and use bucktails, soft plastics or swimming plugs. These fish are all predators so if you decide to use bait, squid, peeler crab or cut bait such as bunker, mullet or spot all work well. A surf float to keep your bait off the bottom will often help get their attention and also help keep the crabs from eating your bait. Spot, croaker, kingfish, blowfish, perch and rays are bottom feeders. With the exception of rays they all have relatively small mouths, so #4 or #6 hooks work well. If you are using a surf float keep it small and your leaders short so as not to float your bait too far off the bottom. Bloodworms, peeler crab, clam, shrimp, sandfleas or small pieces of squid all work well. Most anglers over cast these fish. The drum, spot, croaker and perch are most often just behind the shore break, feeding on the crustations dislodged by the surf breaking on the beach. The blues, rockfish and trout patrol the slew between the bar and the beach feeding on the spot and perch. Blowfish are not strong swimmers so they also feed in the slew or other calm waters. Kingfish can be taken in the same areas but very often prefer feeding on the sandbar itself. This can be a fairly long cast, especially at high tide. OFFSHORE fishing will follow....