Mid-Atlantic Saltwater Fishing

The Mid-Atlantic region offers some of the best saltwater fishing on North America's Atlantic coast.

New York and New Jersey both offer a variety of saltwater fishing opportunities. Inshore fishing is the popular, with anglers catching scup (porgy) black sea bass, tautog, weakfish, fluke (summer flounder), winter flounder, and other species.

Anglers that venture into the open sea catch tuna, billfish, sharks, and other pelagic species. Groundfish are also caught off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, including cod, haddock, pollock, hake, and whiting. Along the edges of the canyons, bottom fishermen catch tilefish and other deepwater species.

Striped Bass

Separating New Jersey from Delaware is the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. From Philadelphia to Cape May New Jersey, this estuary is home to striped bass, weakfish, flounder, tautog, and other species. A few miles south is Indian River Inlet, which provides access for deep sea fishing.

In Maryland, an incredible variety of saltwater fishing occurs in Chesapeake Bay and its rivers. Popular fishing ports include Baltimore, Annapolis, Deale, Solomons Island, Cambridge, Tilghman Island, and Crisfield.

Along the Atlantic Coast, anglers fish out of Ocean City, Md. This famous resort town offers inshore fishing for flounder and other species as well as deep sea fishing charters for sharks, tuna, billfish, and other species.

Virginia offers some of the top saltwater fishing opportunities in the Mid Atlantic region. Along with Maryland, Virginia has scores of ports that provide access to the Chesapeake Bay. To the south, the Hampton Roads - Tidewater area is nationally recognized for its winter striped bass fishery, outstanding cobia fishing, and other local fisheries.

In North Carolina's Outer Banks region, inshore fishing occurs in the Pamlico Sound and other local estuaries. The area is also known for its surf fishing with its fall runs of red drum and monster bluefish.

Despite frequent hold ups due to horrific weather, offshore fishing off the North Carolina coast can be incredible.

In summer, offshore fishing often includes fishing for mahi mahi, wahoo, and billfish.

During the winter season, deep sea anglers catch yellowfin tuna and occasionally, giant bluefins. Closer to shore, anglers catch king mackerel, cobia, and bottom fish including snapper and grouper.

Mid Atlantic Beaches and Coastal Travel Destinations

The Mid Atlantic coast has a wide range of beaches, resort towns, and waterfront experiences, with most destinations offering year round activities.

Recreation along the Mid Atlantic coast includes swimming, surfing, walking, running, hiking, sea shell collecting, sports, flying kites, fishing, birdwatching, photography, painting, and other pastimes.

New Jersey

Waterfront experiences can be found all along the New Jersey coast. Public access to beaches is good in the state.

A few of the most popular beachfront destinations include Sandy Hook (Gateway National Recreation Area), Asbury Park Beach, Ocean Grove, Belmar, Manasaquan, Seaside Heights, Island Beach State Park, Atlantic City, Ocean City, 

On the southern tip of New Jersey, Cape May is a popular travel destination. The area is popular with birdwatchers, especially Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape May Point State Park.

Delaware

Delaware's Atlantic Coast extends from Lewes down to the Maryland state line. The area includes a mix of beaches and coastal communities.

Maryland

Ocean City, Maryland is primarily a tourist resort, with a population that swells from less than 10,000 winter residents to over 2 million in the summer months.

The Ocean City Inlet did not exist until 1933, when the Chesapeake Potomac Hurricane tore thru the narrow island, separating Ocean City from Assateague Island.

The inlet was eventually stabilized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, enabling the town to become a popular fishing port.

The access to productive fishing grounds brought not only commercial fishing but recreational fishing, mostly boats that fish offshore for tuna, sharks, billfish, and bottom fish.

Assateague Island is a pristine coastal island located south of Ocean City, Maryland. At Assateague National Sea Shore, visitors will find drive on access for oversand vehicles, beautiful sand, and shallow water suitable for swimming, surfing, skin boarding, and wading. Right behind the beach is a sheltered bay where visitors can explore, wade, fish, enjoy watersports, or go birdwatching.

Virginia

The coast of Virginia includes all the state's barrier islands as well as the shoreline from Virginia Beach to the North Carolina border. Assateague Island is known for its lighthouse, wild ponies, waterfowl, deer, sandy beaches, fishing, and hiking trails.

The Virginia portion of Assateague Island is occupied by Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague National Seashore. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge covers over 14,000 acres of beach, dunes, marsh, and forest habitat. Explorers can tour the visitors center, then make the short drive to the seashore and hike the many trails.

The refuge and beaches of Assateague Island are very important the economy of Chincoteague Island and Virginia overall. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most popular national wildlife refuges, according to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Farther south, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, are the seven cities of Hampton Roads Virginia. Beach access is plentiful along Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

North Carolina

From the Outer Banks to the Crystal Coast, North Carolina has some of the nations most popular beaches.

Along the coast are some of the Mid Atlantic's most important estuaries, including Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound, fed by the Roanoke, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers.

Delaware River Restoration Fund Grants

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) recently announced 13 grant awards totaling $2.28 million for water quality restoration and habitat conservation in targeted regions throughout the Delaware River watershed.

Grantee organizations have committed $4.19 million in match, generating a total conservation impact of more than $6.47 million.

The grants were awarded through the Delaware River Restoration Fund, a partnership between NFWF and the William Penn Foundation.

This is the fourth year the fund has administered grant awards; this year, additional support was provided by the U.S. Forest Service.

“The 2017 grants from the Delaware River Restoration Fund represent a continued commitment to restoring water quality and habitats in this iconic watershed,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO at NFWF. “The William Penn Foundation’s unparalleled investment in the Delaware River watershed and the important work of these grantees will benefit a range of native species, from eastern brook trout to golden-winged warblers.”

The Delaware River Watershed covers 13,539 square miles of land and water, running from the Catskills in New York through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, ultimately emptying into the Delaware Bay.

Grant projects take place in a variety of landscapes across the watershed and ultimately benefit water quality locally and for those downstream.

From 2013 through 2017, the William Penn Foundation has provided $8 million in grant funding for NFWF to administer competitively through its Delaware River Restoration Fund.

source: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation