Article by Larry Jock
Last week’s fishing action centered around the 36th Annual White Marlin Open. Nobody thought that this year’s tournament would top last year’s in excitement, but it did with numerous big fish hitting the scale and a couple of state records being smashed.
With 298 boats registered for the tournament, only 2 down from last year, you had a feeling something big was going to happen. We just didn’t know how big.
By now, everyone has seen or heard about the 1,062 lb. blue marlin caught by Bob Farris on the “No Problem” that set a new Maryland state record. This fish beat the old record set in 1989 by angler Jim Daniel. The big blue marlin is the first “grander” ever caught out of Ocean City, and like Jim’s fish, was hooked in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
The captain of the “No Problem” told me that the blue marlin towed the boat for 6 miles after being hooked on a J.W. Candy lure. It then took Bob 3 hours and 5 minutes to get to the boat. Interestingly, he also said that they saw the blue come up on a teaser bait, so they quickly got the teaser out of the way so the fish would move over to a hooked bait, which it did. The captain said that when the blue took the bait, it never made a ripple in the water. That’s how soft it hit. I spoke to John Oughton, captain on the “That’s Right”, who has caught a couple of granders over the years, and he confirmed the captain’s story, also commenting how “soft” some big blues hit.
At 189 inches from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail, the guys at the weigh station were a little concerned about getting the fish weighed. When the fish was hoisted on the scale, its bill cleared the dock by only inches. By the time all the hoopla settled down, and the pictures were taken, the bill was resting on the dock. The weight of the fish had actually stretched the cable on the hoist.
With all the excitement about the blue marlin, it was fairly easy to forget that a 93.5 lb. white marlin was caught to win 1st in the White Marlin Division. This is a big white marlin, and tied for the second heaviest white marlin caught in tournament history. This fish was fat right through the tail, as were all of the top white marlin weighed. The winning white marlin was caught in 600 fathoms outside the Baltimore Canyon, as was the 3rd place white marlin caught on the “Nontypical”. The 2nd place white marlin was caught in 55 fathoms inside the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Angler Sean Healey, along with the crew on the “Orion”, deserve a lot of credit for landing the 93.5 pounder since they fought the fish from the bow of the boat when they encountered transmission problems.
Here are the billfish statistics from the tournament:
White Marlin
Boated - 20
Released - 350 (94.6%)
Blue Marlin
Boated - 7
Released - 27 (79.4%)
Sailfish
Boated - 0
Released - 1 (100.0%)
Spearfish
Boated - 0
Released - 2 (100.0)
Total Billfish
Boated - 27
Released - 380 (93.4%)
Total - 407
These numbers are very close to those from last year’s tournament, where a total of 406 billfish were hooked and 349 white marlin were released.
In the Tuna Division, we saw the top 3 spots won by anglers landing bigeye tuna, which we haven’t seen much of before the tournament began. The first place fish weighed 249 lbs. and was caught on the first day of the tournament. The anglers were targeting white marlin in the Baltimore Canyon when they hooked into a double header bigeye bite on 30 lb. test. One broke off and the other one was boated. The second and third place bigeyes were caught deep in the Wilmington Canyon, where reports came in about bigeyes being seen in the morning rolling on top along with some whales. The second place fish, caught on the “Drillin-N-Billin”, was caught on a trolled Pakula lure, while the third place bigeye was hooked on a green machine spreader bar by Ed Gross on the “Foolish Pleasures”.
Another notable catch in the tournament was the 254 lb. scalloped hammerhead shark caught on Wednesday by Jamie Gill on the “Lisa”. The crew was chunking at the Elephant Trunk when the hammerhead took a butterfish rigged with a circle hook. The old state record of 194 lbs. was set in 1994 by angler Greg Garman.
Overall, this year’s White Marlin Open will be one to remember with record fish, payouts of over $2,164,000 and large crowds.
FLOUNDER
The bite around Harbour Island has finally run its course, but the action remains the strongest in the East Channel closer to the Rt. 50 Bridge and near the south side of Bird Island where water temperatures are ranging from 71-73 degrees during the incoming tide, and higher on the outgoing.
The best flounder action continues to be on the ocean reefs and wrecks. We saw some nice fish come in off the Twin Wrecks and many others come in off the “Morning Star” from undisclosed locations.
Anglers continue to have good luck using live spot for bait in addition to live peanut bunker and Gulp! artificial baits. The bay is loaded with peanut bunker. Capt. Nick on the “Get Sum” said that Herring Creek is a good place to go and net some bunker for flounder fishing.
The Assateague Tackle rigs are still a big hit with anglers this year, especially the “Deadly Double” (with spinner blades), the “Double Trouble” (with skirts) and the new “George Rig”. The “Flukinator” has also done well for anglers fishing at ocean wrecks.
CROAKER
There are a lot of croaker roaming the bay with good concentrations around the South Jetty and the mouth of the Commercial Harbor. Larger croaker in the 15-inch range can be found around the South Jetty.
There are also large schools of croaker just off the beach around 28th and 50th Streets. Headboats have taken advantage of this bite, with reports of many bent rods.
Anglers drifting squid and Gulp! artificial baits are having the best luck.
STRIPED BASS
The night bite around the Rt. 50 Bridge is decent. Same with the bite around the South Jetty. Drifting with live spot provides your best opportunity for landing a linesider.
BLUEFISH
Like the striper bite, smaller bluefish are hovering around the South Jetty, while the larger fish are stalking prey around the Rt. 50 Bridge.
IN THE SURF
Some large sharks are being caught by anglers fishing off Assateague. The gang from “Far Out Fishing” have been launching baits to sandbar and black tip sharks. Some pretty big ones at that.
This week is the Poor Girl’s Open, held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Bahia Marina. This tournament is a blast, and coupled with the great atmosphere at Fish Tales, makes the tournament a fun event for spectators.
The Mid-Atlantic $500,000 starts on Monday with weigh-ins held Monday through Friday at Sunset Marina. The main headquarters for the tournament is in Cape May, NJ, but lately the boats running out of Ocean City have done well. Last year, Susan McCart on the “Reel Joy” caught a 92 lb. white marlin to take first place and over $699,000 in award money. Weigh-ins are from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm each night.
See you at the scales.
