Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• Wind was an issue with several blowout days keeping boats at the dock.
• The first white marlin for 2021 was released by the “Tunafowl” in the Washington Canyon in 140 fathoms.
• The yellowfin tuna finally arrived en masse with the hot spot at the southern Poor Man’s Canyon followed by the northern Washington Canyon.
• The first mahi catch for the season was made by the “Second Chance” in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
• We saw two swordfish come to the docks, the first from the “Reel Chaos” and the second from the “Primary Search”. Both from around 2000 feet in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
With mostly warm weather inshore and off since our edition last Wednesday, we saw consistent action offshore for yellowfin tuna with some new species finally showing up and some big milestones for the season were met! The big highlight for last week was the report of the first white marlin caught and released this season. There are of course major bragging rights for this achievement, but there are also some nice prizes available.
Word spread quickly on Tuesday of last week about a potential white marlin release, always a highly anticipated event! Capt. Bobby Layton on the charter boat “Wrecker” shared that he normally is set up to tuna fish this time of year, but having seen a white 2 days prior, he was on the hunt. On the Tuesday trip they found a white while trolling just north of the Baltimore Canyon. After they boated some yellowfin tuna, they saw the white pop up on the flat line. The white disappeared briefly only to hit on a ballyhoo with a Sea Witch on the bridge shotgun rod. Angler Kevin Gibbs, co-owner of the Dough Roller Restaurants in Ocean City shared that is was a totally different vibe working the white marlin versus the tuna they caught earlier in the day. The energy from the crew was at another level. This makes sense as the fish was a potential first white for the season as well as Kevin’s first ever white marlin catch! Beyond the bragging rights, the crew also won some nice cash, taking the trifecta of awards available. The first is the $5,000 award that the Ocean City presents as the “White Marlin Capital of the World”. Second, as a member of the Ocean City Marlin Club, the “Wrecker” will be awarded their $5,000 prize for the first member to release a white, and lastly, the group of local businesses known as Fisherman United Ocean City (Coastal Fisherman is a member of this group) awards currently $7,000 making the total payout for this fish at $17,000. Like some years past, another white was released on the same day by Capt. Joe Drosey’s crew on the “Rhonda’s Osprey”, but timing of the release breaks the tie. We have had no further release reports since these two.
As for blue marlin, the only info we have was from the “HotLine” who reported breaking off on a nice one in the northern Washington Canyon last Saturday.
Lots of other action offshore and the first canyon tournament for the season, so let’s get into it.
The good and not really bad news is that the very hot yellowfin tuna bite of two weekends ago that required 90+ mile runs to the southern Spencer Canyon moved into closer waters. Mainly the Baltimore Canyon followed by the north Wilmington. That good news was tempered by lower catch counts in the mid to upper single digits from the limit catches the week before. Great weather and lake like water on Saturday saw the Baltimore become a parking lot of boats, also putting pressure on the fish. Some notable catches were both in quantity and quality. We mentioned above that the crew on the “Rhonda’s Osprey” release a white, however they also boated 10 yellowfin in the Wilmington. The “Restless Lady” brought in 10 yellowfins from the Baltimore Canyon. The private boat “HotLine” continued its streak Saturday venturing to the less crowded north Washington Canyon and returning to the scales Saturday at the OC Smackdown Tuna Tournament with 10 yellowfin in the box. Captains were finding water in the mid 60°s to the low 70°s across the three canyons. In the ‘quality’ category were two large fish. The charter boat “Bill Slayer” out of the Indian River Marina pulled a 75 lb. yellowfin from the Baltimore and the PYY Marine Fishing team on the “Hooked Up” brought an 80.6 lb. tuna to the docks from the Wilmington Canyon during the Ocean City Smackdown Tuna Tournament last weekend. Both are new “Heaviest Fish” for DE and MD respectively and will most likely hold those spots for a while.
Yellowfin were not the only thing in the tuna news last week, with some other notable catches coming to the scales. The charter boat “Spring Mix” called in on Friday to share they were bringing in a large bluefin tuna, or at lease most of one they found in the northeast corner of the Baltimore Canyon in 200 fathoms. Angler Corey Healy was on the rod for 2 and a half hours, and just as the fish got to the boat a mako snapped off it’s tail and shredded some of the tuna’s belly. That’s right, the taxman is already in the Baltimore in early June! Even without a tail the bluefin weighed 243 lbs. and measured 71” and is now the Heaviest bluefin to beat.
Finally for tuna, the first bigeye of the season has been reported, and a big one at that. Again, the “HotLine” came to play last Sunday when angler Richie Widmayer landed a 191.5 lb. bigeye tuna, the First of the season in the Baltimore Canyon in a patch of 72° water.
In other offshore news, we are seeing a trickle of mahi at the docks, mainly gaffers mixed in with yellowfin catches on the troll. The Baltimore was also the most reported canyon for catches like the two nice gaffers caught by “The Zipper” and the current Heaviest at 24.8 lbs. caught by Jake Howe on the same “Wrecker” trip as the first white marlin. We expect to see this action picking up soon.
Lastly we have a couple of swordfish to report. The First of the season came to us from the crew of the “Espadon” who was deep dropping in the Poor Man’s Canyon on June 4th. Last Saturday saw a nice 106 lb. sword caught by the charter boat “Primary Search” in the Baltimore Canyon. Capt. Austin Ensor decided to try for sword as the tuna were being difficult!
Lots more action inshore, in the surf and the bays. Make sure to check out the Maryland, Delaware and Virginia reports to know the latest.
Another quick reminder that we have moved offices and are now a few yards west of our old offices at 12703 Sunset Avenue, Suite 8.
Until next time, we will see you at the scales! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• The 2nd Annual Tuna & Tiaras Ladies Tuna Tournament returns on June 17th & 18th. Scales are open both days from 4PM to 7PM at the Ocean City Fishing Center. More at TunaandTiaras.com.
• The South Jersey MidAtlantic Tuna Tournament is June 22nd thru 24th in Cape May, NJ. More at southjerseytournaments.com/midatlantic-tuna-tournament.
• The 7th Annual Indian River Kids Catch All Tournament is June 24-26. More about this family fun event at the Indian River Marina can be found at KidsCatchAll.com.
•The 43rd Annual Small Boat Tournament hosted by the OC Marlin Club is June 25-26. You do not have to be a member of the club to participate. Weigh-ins are at the Tournament Scale at Sunset Marina and details are at OCMarlinClub.com.
•The 4th Annual Fish N Paddle Saltwater Slam Kayak Tournament returns to Atlantic Tackle on June 25-26. Weigh-ins are from noon to 4PM.
