Bayside Guide Service docked at Bahia Marina, 2107 Herring Way, Ocean City, MD 21842
Fish the bays and nearshore waters around Ocean City, MD for Flounder, Striped Bass, Bluefish, Spanish mackerel and more. Or just check out the sights and see Assateque Island's famous wild pony's, as well as Bald Eagles, nesting Ospreys, herons, pelicans and all sorts of other local wild life. Our Ocean City season is from mid April through about mid November.
Or you can charter us to fish the lovely lower Nanticoke and Tangier sound for Striped Bass and Speckled Trout from the 1st of October to the season's close. If your into wildlife there is plenty of it as we fish the creeks up in the marshes or go out into the sound.
Bring your kids as they are always welcome. We love taking families and letting them enjoy a part of Ocean City different then the boardwalk, miniature golf and water parks! Out of Ocean City we offer 3 and 4 hour fishing charters which are a perfect blend of time on the water to catch fish and time for newcomers and children to get acquainted to fishing. We also offer sunset trips into the night, fishing around the bridge for those who would like a different fishing experience.
You will be fishing aboard a 2021 custom C-Hawk 22 CC with a 175 Yamaha mounted on a jack plate which puts the motor behind the boat opening up space inside. That, combined with the shallow draft, makes it perfect for these bays as it is stable and can cross over the shallowest of bars to reach deep holes and channels but it's V hull makes it capable of cutting the chop in the more open waters. It is also equipped with a bow mounted Minn Kota electric trolling motor, GPS, fishfinder, livewell and all required safety equipment.
Supplied is all of the tackle necessary for anything you may encounter. All required licenses are supplied as well as a cooler stocked with water and assorted sodas. Capt. Wayne recommends bringing a light jacket, sunglasses, sunscreen and hat. Otherwise, all you have to do is arrive and be ready to go after a short briefing.
We try to have a mate on board who works for tips to help with everything so the captain can concentrate on keeping the boat positioned where it needs to be
Even though the boat and Capt. are licensed for up to six people, for comfort we like to keep it at a maximum of 4.
Give us a call at 443-944-5484 to set up a trip. Required is a 10% deposit which is fully refundable up to 3 days before the trip.
Starting October 1st we will again be offering some trips in the lower Nanticoke River and the Tangier Sound. When booked we will trailer the boat from Ocean City to the Nanticoke for the day where we will be going into the shallow creeks and coves of the lower Nanticoke and casting jigs and bucktails to Rockfish & speckled trout. When the water cools later in the season we will go into the sound and look for the schools of rockfish and cast/jig to those. We will run these trips until the season closes in December.
About The Captain
Wayne Blanks has been involved in fishing one way or another for most of his life. He started his fishing career in 1992 traveling as far away as Cabo San Lucas, Costa Rica, and Venezuela before he decided to get out of the offshore scene and settle down at home here in Ocean City, MD. Always loving the inshore fishing we have here on the Mid-Atlantic coast he set up Bayside Guide Service.
Our Schedule
In Ocean City we are docked at Bahia Marina, on 22nd street bayside. We'll start running fishing charters in Ocean City on April 10th.
The bluefish and flounder should start to appear in April. April through June is also an excellent time to catch striped bass around the bridge Most are throwbacks in the 20 - 24" range but there is the occasional keeper of 28".
Mid June through mid September has provided good action with Croakers, and spot if you have young kids.
The flounder fishing will steadily improve as the summer comes on, though most in the summer are throwbacks under MD's 16 1/2" size.. More keepers start showing up in September and peak in October. By mid-September the striped bass should start to pick up again with a few more keepers in the mix as well ass some bigger bluefish again.
Tog fishing would be starting up when the waters cool in October until our Ocean City season ends in mid-November.
Bring your kids
Bring your kids (minimum age of 4), and your family. We have several different trips available. The shorter 3 hour trips have been great for beginning anglers and young children as we typically stay in the bay and drift for flounder. Last year we had incredible fishing for spot and croakers through the summer which kept the smiles on the young kids. Whatever you feel would be best to keep them happy we'll do so they can take home lasting memories of their Ocean City vacation with a little fishing.
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what to expect
What to expect from your charter
Thank you for taking interest in Bayside Guide Service.
So you've decided to charter an inshore fishing trip for you and your friends or family. You may be an experienced angler or this may be your first time. It doesn't matter as we cater to both. It can be a totally "hands on" experience for those who are experienced or you will be coached through and helped with the whole process if you have never done this before.
Try to arrive about 10 minutes before departure so capt. Wayne can go over the safety equipment and where it is. He will also go over the type of fishing he recomends for the day as tide and weather conditions, as well as availability of live bait, can determine the recomended way of fishing. Now would be a good time as well to take care of any "business" you may need to do as there is no head on the boat. But we are always only a few minutes from a public rest area if needed while out there and Wayne will accomodate you the best he can.
The most common method of fishing is drifting the channels for flounder. There you will mainly be using gulp or fish bite tails, possibly tipped with minnows (depending on availability). We also do a lot of bridge fishing for Striped Bass and Bluefish, casting artificials or drifting live spot or bunker under the bridge when it is available.
The bay can be loaded with baby bunker later in the season so we'll try to have some in the live well when you arrive but we may need to net some in the beginning of the trip as they don't always cooperate when we want. We may also try to catch some spot in June and July. Again, we try to have that taken care of before but it's never a guarentee they will cooperate.
We also do combination evening/night trips to the bridge as well. These trips are mostly catch and release Striped Bass but these are the trips you'll have the better chance of keeping a keeper Striped Bass of 28" to 35". These trips will involve casting lures to the pilings or live lining bunker if available under the bridge. If weather permits, we will run these trips through November.
We do our best to supply live bait for our charters when available but sometimes wind and water conditions make it impossible to catch and sometimes the shops are out of minnows but artificials work just as well.
We will also be rigged with plenty of quality tackle so we'll be ready for anything we may encounter, as well as having a cooler stocked with plenty of waters and an assortment of sodas.
Our aim is to show you a good time by taking you fishing and pointing out the assorted wildlife you may encounter, from nesting ospreys to dolphins and eagles as well as Assateque's famous wild pony's. capt. Wayne will do his best to put you on fish. There are legal size limits as well as quantities which we must abide by so I like to let it be known that most flounder are going to be under the legal size of 16 1/2 inches, but we do get plenty of "keepers" throughout the season so there is the chance of catching dinner. Striped Bass must be between 28 and 35 inches and those we catch here are mostly 20 to 24 inchers. As of this writing bluefish are 5 per person charter boat limit.
Again, it is recommended to get up with capt. Wayne as the trip nears to go over any details, such as a specific type of fishing you may want to do. Also, if there are any young children let Wayne know so he'll have the right size coast guard aproved life jacket on board, (we currently have two 50 to 90lb and one 35 to 90lb rated on board + adult sizes).
If you have any questions at all, give capt Wayne a call and we hope to see you this summer.