Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• The big news of the week was that local boat “Top Dog” who won the 61st Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament catching a tournament record 914 lb. blue marlin.
• The yellowfin tuna action was exceptional.
• Bluefin were popping up in Massey’s Canyon with fish hitting the doc up to 88 lbs. Anglers on the “Blood Money” hooked up with a 237 lb. bigeye tuna.
• Sea bass were hard to come by with no large ones being reported yet this season.
• Anglers had to work hard for flounder, covering a lot of ground to get a set of keepers. Offshore reefs & wrecks were more consistent.
• Small bluefish and kingfish were being caught in the surf.
First some good news, the Coastal Fisherman is back to weekly publication schedule, running through September 23rd! Thanks again to our reader, advertisers and supports as we worked through the COVID environment and transition processes. Now to the Offshore Report.
Tournaments have finally begun, and it feels great. Lewes Harbour Marina was first holding The Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament on June 5th to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. A total of 425 enthusiastic anglers registered raising $8,500+ for PCAN. At the end of the day Price Lindsay took first place with a very nice 5.98 lb. flounder.
The 41st annual Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat tournament was held last Saturday and Sunday and was the first tournament of the Maryland season! Similar to the success of The Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament, the registration numbers were huge. A total of 53 boats registered, an 76% increase over 2019. While the weigh ins for these events were not open to the public, they did allow for capturing the catches, our coverage of the Small Boat Tournament starts on page 50 of this issue.
Offshore action has been steady to exceptional for certain species. Also first catch reports for longfin tuna, bluefin tuna, wahoo, thresher shark and sheepshead were received over the last two weeks, as well as several new ‘heaviest fish’. With the weather forecast inshore and offshore looking good for the next 7 days, we will see if this level of bite will continue.
Tuna
Tuna was the headline story of the last two weeks. Both the weekend of Friday, June 12th and this last weekend resulted in numerous boat reports of limit catches of yellowfin tuna and an ever-increasing quantity and size of bluefin tuna. Our first longfin of the season was also reported. Like last year the bite seems to have started in the Baltimore Canyon and moved south. Captains report that the south Poor Man’s and northern Washington Canyons are the hot spots right now, with the Baltimore Canyon next. Yellowfins are being found in 400-500 fathoms and the bigeyes in 800+ fathoms range. The tuna were hitting everything in the spreads; ballyhoo with/without islanders, spreader bars, daisy chains and green machines were common mentions when we reviewed catches.
Highlight of the week goes to angler Griffin Wingenroth on the private boat “Salty Bandit” catching our new ‘heaviest tuna’ weighing in at 270 lbs. The biggie hit a spreader bar while they were fishing in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Marlin
White marlin releases have also been fairly regular mixing in with the yellowfin tuna action. Same locations, spreads and baits as for yellowfin. The private boat “Carol’s Teakettle” won the 41st Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament - Billfish Release category with a blue marlin release on June 20th.
Wahoo
The first wahoo of the season was reported to us on June 19th. Angler Henry Glanding, fishing on the charter boat “Last Call” pulled in a nice 79 lb. wahoo on a ballyhoo while in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Shark
Anglers connecting with yellowfin tuna are paying the ‘tax man’ as sharks hit their fish before they can get them to the boat. Also, many captains are reporting hammerheads sightings during daytime trips. Boats shark fishing while overnighting in the Baltimore Canyon report catching and mostly releasing mako, hammerhead, blacktip, sandbar and dusky sharks. In the past week we have had two new ‘heaviest fish’ reports for Mako in both the Delaware and Maryland categories. Joe Wilkenson on the boat “Fine Line” reported a 330 lb. mako that took a bluefish in the Baltimore Canyon (weighed at Sunset Marina) and Todd Middendorf caught a 330 lb. mako, also in the Baltimore Canyon as it was chasing a school of bigeye tuna. It was hooked on a rigged ballyhoo tuna bait (weighed at Hook’em & Cook’em at the Indian River Inlet Marina). Lastly there have been great white shark catches and sightings at the Jackspot and The Fingers. Marc and Mark Troch on the boat “Tiffany Lynne” caught and released their second great white in the last two weeks. The first one was caught at the Jackspot, the second one on June 20th was estimated at 500 lbs.
Overall a very good two weeks offshore, even with a few rough days in the middle.
COVID Information
Much has improved from our last issue. According the latest guidelines for Maryland from June 22nd, “Commercially licensed fishing charter boats can carry their U.S. Coast Guard approved capacity but must follow CDC and Maryland Department of Health guidelines”, This would include head/party boats and individually chartered boats. As always it is advised to check directly with the charter for details and any policies they have in place to comply with the CDC and Maryland Department of Health guidelines.
As of publishing date, Delaware has a restriction for head/party boats of 60% of US Coast Guard rated capacity with social distancing requirement. No restriction on individual charter boats.
Beaches, ramps, tackle shops, fuel docks are open in both states. Check our charter section for boats and details.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the docks.
