Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• It was beautiful weather for the Marlin Club Canyon Kickoff and good fishing too. Top tuna was a 51.4 lb. yellowfin from the “Grande Pez” and the Billfish Release Category was a tie with 8 a piece on the “Buckshot” and “First Light”.
• White marlin fishing was very strong, seemingly across the central canyons. Skirted ballyhoo and spreader bars were doing the trick.
• Bigeye tunas were being caught from the Baltimore to the Poor Man’s Canyons, averaging in the mid 100’s in weight.
• 3 swordfish were reported with a big 281 lb. beauty landed by “Real Chaos”. The other two were from “Bar South” and “Blue Eyes” being caught between the Baltimore and Washington Canyons.
It was tough out there over the past week. After seeing the yellowfin tuna bite explode in late June, mother nature pumped the breaks early last week and reminded us why it is called fishing! Crews had to worked harder and move around but were able to get on some nice fish, so let’s review!
Tournament Roundup
Last weekend saw the 39th Annual Canyon Kick Off hosted by the Ocean City Marlin Club. Often seen as the informal start of the tournament season, this year’s event was hampered by weather, reducing the registration to 23 boats. Actually, it feels like the wind has been a ‘weekend warrior’ this year showing up to party offshore every weekend like the kids in Dewey Beach! The Kick Off is a fish 2 of 3 day tourney, but this year the weather effectively canceled Friday with no boats fishing, and with Saturday’s forecast in question, only 17 boats headed out.
It was a tough day fishing on Saturday with only 3 boats coming to the scales with qualifying fish. Angler Todd Willard on the “Fish On” released a big blue marlin while in between the Washington and Norfolk Canyons and held onto 2nd Place. The last day of the event, Sunday, saw most of the action with all the boats fishing and 10 of them hitting the scales. “Gret’s Three J’s” was second to the scale and reported enjoying a fun and beautiful day. Weighing 3 yellowfin tuna, including a 45 pounder they found in the Baltimore Canyon, slid them into 1st Place at the time. This held for almost an hour until the “Loose Knot” rolled up and put a 51.6 lb. tuna on the scale, also from the Baltimore Canyon! This one held onto 1st Place in the Tuna Division and earned $5,886 for the boat in prize money. Despite moving to 2nd Place for the Sunday fish, the “Gret’s Three J’s” actually took both 2nd and 3rd places in the Tuna Division for the Sunday fish and a 43.6 lb. tuna they boated on Saturday earning a combined $1,665 in awards. No bluefin tuna were brought to the scales.
The Billfish Division saw limited competition that was initially defined by single catches, starting with the “Fish On” release of a blue marlin on Saturday and a point score of 150. On Sunday the “Brenda Lou” came in to report a white marlin release that put them in 2nd place at the time with 100 points. All of that changed however when the ‘Trappe Queens’ on the “Big Stick” hit the dock! Bringing chaos and custom pink release flags to the scales, these girls set the tone, reporting a white marlin and 2 blue marlin releases slamming them into a solid 1st Place with 400 points! They remained unchallenged and took home $5,886 in award money.
The sleeper division however was for dolphin. The tournament had a 10 lb. minimum for mahi and we have only seen a handful reported this year over that level, so this division was wide open. It was the “Kilo Charlie” that won big, bringing the only boat to present a qualifying mahi to the scales. Capt. Howard Lynch had his anglers in the Baltimore Canyon trolling with ballyhoo when they connected with a 14.6 lb. fish that remained unchallenged winning all of the $8,280 in the Dolphin Division and earning the largest payout of the event.
Outside of the tournament fishing was spotty, but good catches were reported.
Tuna & Mahi
All the tuna action last week was yellowfin with the majority coming from the Washington Canyon earlier in the week and the bite moving north to the Poor Man’s mid week and through the weekend. Captains had to work hard to get catches that were mostly in the low single digits until the weekend when we saw it pick up again. The “Rhonda’s Osprey” came in Sunday with 9, the “Marli” boated 18 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday and the “Talking Trash” hit their limit of 18 on Sunday as well. Most of the fish are in the 20-40 pound range, however the “Ro Sham Bo” found one at 74 lbs. and “PYY Fishing” landed a 78 pounder between the Washington and Norfolk early last week. DJ Johnson had a whopping 98 lb. yellowfin from the Poor Man’s, so they are out there! All the captains report the tuna are not being picky on baits, hitting wide tracker bars, chains and skirted ballyhoo. Specifically, Sterling Tackle bars, Daisy Chains, Nomad Plugs, Green Machines and ballyhoo with blue and white skirts were common comments.
The mahi bite remains slow and what is being caught is usually on the troll with typically ballyhoo in a tuna spread. The “All In” boated a gaffer in the “Washington” and the “Kilo Charlie” had two, 1 from the Baltimore Canyon and the big money winner in the Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick Off at 14.6 lbs from the Washington. This week however the biggest and our new ‘Heaviest’ for Maryland comes from the “Boss Hogg” where angler Jimmy Carr landed a 28 lb. bull dolphin, from the Washington Canyon.
Billfish
Only a few blue marlin releases last week, most from in or just outside of the Washington Canyon. Most recently were the 2 from the “Big Stick” on Sunday during the Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick Off. White marlin release reports have been usually single fish from the Washington as well. Capt. Howard Lynch was the exception on the “Kilo Charlie”, he took a trip to below the Washington where his crew released 5. Most water temperature reports were in the low 70’s.
Wrapping up would be a couple notable shark catches. Our new ‘Heaviest’ thresher for Delaware was caught by Rory Badger using mackerel at the Old Grounds and tipped the scales at 458 lbs. The “Reel Desire” also set a new record for the season with the 250 lb. mako they caught in the Poor Man’s Canyon and the “Ro Sham Bo” released a mako and a hammerhead during an overnight trip to the canyons.
Upcoming Tournaments
• The South Jersey Yacht Sales Offshore Showdown will run from July 7-10 out of Cape May, NJ.
• This weekend is the Ocean City Tuna Tournament, one of the world’s largest and richest and is hosted at the Ocean City Fishing Center. The three-day event is full of anticipation, excitement and fun for all. While spectators wait for action at the scales, they can enjoy cold cocktails and food at the on-site restaurant, Micky Fins Bar & Grill. Local vendors will also be selling everything from boats and tackle to jewelry at the vendor area on site. Anglers can fish 2 of 3 days from Friday thru Sunday with scales open from 4PM to 8PM on Friday & Saturday and from 4PM to 7PM on Sunday.
• Follow our Tournament Schedule in the paper and on line to keep up to date!
Until next week, I will see you at the scales!
