Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•”Absolut Pleasure” won the Poor Girls Open with 12 white marlin releases in a single day.
•Tuna Division won with a 112 pounder.
•Tilefish caught on squid in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
•Jackspot holding Spanish and king mackerel.
•Inshore flounder bite was strong.
•A couple more cobia were caught off the DE coastline, but the bite dwindled.
•Sheepshead were caught around the South Jetty.
•Most of the flounder caught in the bay came from the East Channel, but a few were also caught in the bay behind Assateague down by the duck blinds.
•Croakers were caught around the South Jetty and at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor.
On Saturday, the 26th Annual Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open wrapped up with 184 boats and 925 anglers participating. Total prize money was over $269,000 and a contribution was made to the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research in the amount of $140,000. What a great tournament!
Although it is primarily known as a billfish release tournament, the big news was the 74.5 lb. dolphin caught by Kristy Frashure on the second day while fishing on the “Haulin’ n Ballin’”. This sets a new Maryland State Record, unseating the 72.8 pounder caught on July 28th by Jeff Wright. Kristy hooked the bull dolphin on a naked ballyhoo in 1,200 fathoms behind the Poor Man’s Canyon. It must have been one heckuva fight because the mates had the leader in their hands 5 times before they could stick a gaff in it. The “Haulin’ n Ballin;” has had an incredible season, winning the Blue Marlin Division in the White Marlin Open a couple of weeks ago, worth over $962,000, and now catching the state record dolphin. Hat’s off to owners, Aaron and Kristin Jezierski, Capt. Howard Lynch and the entire crew for a great season! And it’s not over...
The tuna bite has been awful lately, but we did see some nice yellowfins on the Poor Girls leaderboard, Anglers on the “Marli” and the “Reel Chaos” each caught 65.3 pounders with the earlier catch on the “Marli” breaking the tie. Capt. Mark Hoos on the “Marli” had his anglers in 125 fathoms at the southern end of the Poor Man’s Canyon on Saturday and Capt. Anthony Matarese, Jr. also took his group to the Poor Man’s on Sunday where they hooked their 63.5 pounder. Third place in the Tuna Division went to the “Cabana” where Capt. Eddie Wheeler had the boat in 500 fathoms in the Washington Canyon when Carlie Carey caught a 64.9 lb. yellowfin.
Ginger Fleming on the “Restless Lady II” went wire-to-wire in the Wahoo Division, catching her 1st place 69.7 lb. speedster on the very first day of the tournament while trolling in the Washington Canyon.
The “DA?Sea” won 1st place in the Billfish Release Division with 5 white marlin releases on the final day while trolling just above the Poor Man’s Canyon. The “C-Boys” and the “No Quarter” tied for 2nd place with 4 white marlin releases each, with the “C-Boys” marlin being caught earlier in the day giving them the 2nd place spot. Capt. Luke on the “C-Boys” said they were in the Poor Man’s while the “No Quarter” was in the Baltimore. From talking to everyone, it looked the marlin bite was between those two canyons throughout the tournament.
Outside of the event, the anglers on the “Triggerfish” started the week off right when they boated a 437 lb. swordfish last Tuesday while fishing in 1,400 feet of water between the Washington and Norfolk Canyons. They hooked the swordfish at 5:20 in the morning and had it to the boat around 8:30 AM. The anglers also caught a 50-incher during their trip, all while using a skirted strip of a skippie for bait.
Tuna have been scarce, but I did receive an email from a boat out of New Jersey saying that they went 2 for 3 on bigeyes in the Wilmington Canyon on Saturday.
Anglers are still taking advantage of the incredible cobia bite we have seen this season. Probably the strongest many of us can ever remember. The best bite has been around Great Gull Shoal, but they have been caught all along the coast by anglers tossing bucktails and eels at fish cruising around schools of bunker. Nicky Ferrara caught a 72 pounder while fishing on his tricked out jet ski off the coast of Bethany. We also saw a pair weighing 42 and 58 lbs. caught by anglers on “The Migrator” at Great Gull Shoal.
Out at the Jackspot, anglers got into king mackerel and some bluefish, but the surprise catch was Jamie Goslee hooking into a barracuda while fishing on the “Bent Over”.
Anglers also got into some Spanish and king mackerel closer to the beach at the Bass?Grounds and at Fenwick Shoal.
The inshore flounder bite continues to be hit-or-miss. Most of the comments I hear from anglers is that the number of fish are way off from what we are used to seeing on inshore lumps and structure, but then I will see a great catch of nice fish arrive at the scale. It’s been unpredictable. It looks like you really have to work for the fish this season and the lack of big flounder is very noticeable. You saw it again in the Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder last weekend, where for the second year in a row a fish under 10 lbs. took the top spot. The good news is that the season is far from over and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few big flatties arrive at the scale. Spro bucktails tipped with strip baits is always the “go to” set-up for the doormats.
Black sea bass continued to be very picky, but a report from Justin Marshall said that he has had good luck recently fishing in 90-feet of water. He has had to deal with a lot throwbacks, but his keepers have measured up to 18-inches.
Around the South Jetty, anglers are still finding a few sheepshead, some flounder and short stripers.
Flounder fishing in the bay is centered primarily around the East Channel and in the Thorofare, but some are being picked at in the West Channel and in the bay behind Assateague Island as well. Live spot, mullet, minnows or Gulp Swimming Mullets have been working the best.
In the surf, we are still seeing the usually summer line-up of skates, rays, sharks and snapper bluefish. The surprise continues to be the number of Florida pompano being caught in the suds. Jim Thompson caught a 17 1/2-incher while surfcasting off Fenwick.
Upcoming Tournaments
After The MidAtlantic this week at Sunset Marina, the heavy stretch of tournaments is over, so we have a rare weekend off. The next event on the schedule is the Ocean City Marlin Club Labor Day Tournament on August 30, 31 and September 1st. Anglers can fish 2 of 3 days and they now have an overnight option. Weigh-ins are from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Sunset Marina.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
