Article by Larry Jock
If we could just get some consistently good weather in Ocean City, we would see some phenomenal fishing. Last week, we had nice weather and it was an exciting one with great catches coming in from offshore anglers with tuna, wahoo and marlin and bay boats getting into some really nice hauls of flounder.
Flounder
As always this time of year, finding clean water is the key to good flounder fishing and last week was no exception. Nice catches of flatties came from as far south as the Duck Blinds behind Assateague Island to up north on the flats of the Thorofare and all points in between.
Early in the week, Bob Freitag stopped by the office to have his picture taken with the 26-inch, 6 lb. 10 oz. flounder he caught while dropping a minnow off the 2nd Street Bulkhead. This has always been a great spot to catch a big flattie. I still remember Bob Gummer coming to the office shaking after catching a 12 lb. 6 oz. monster flounder from this same location. Minnows or live spot always seem to work the best off the bulkhead.
We are also seeing nice catches come in from anglers drifting in the East Channel, south of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Flounder pounder, Preston Walls landed a couple of big flatties close to the Bridge. Preston’s fish measured 23-inches and 27-inches.
One of the best flounder catches we have seen so far this year came in on Sunday morning when Jay Betz landed himself a pair of 26 1/4-inch flatties while fishing on the Thorofare flats. The fish hit on consecutive drifts and were caught on live minnows. Beautiful fish!
The charter boat, “Get Sum” really tore up the flounder last week, actually setting a boat record on Sunday with 10 keepers during a 2-hour trip. Capt. Nick found a honey hole around the South Jetty and has returned with double-digit catches on multiple occasions this year. On Monday morning, he banged out another 6 there before heading to the bay behind Assateague where they picked up another 10.
On Sunday, a good bite turned on down by the Duck Blinds, just south of the OC Airport and it looks like the bite stayed strong on Monday morning as this report was being written when the “Get Sum” had another 4 in the box.
Flounder action on ocean structure last week was stellar. On Thursday, anglers on the charter boat, “Fish Bound” had 32 keepers and followed that up with another 20 on Saturday. The headboats, “Morning Star” and “Angler” also had good days for their anglers who were looking for flounder. Dropping squid or clams was the hot ticket on reefs and wrecks.
The best bait last week seemed to be live minnows and flounder belly but the popular Gulp! Swimming Mullet wasn’t far behind.
Sheepshead
There were some sheepshead caught around the South Jetty over the weekend. Last year we had a great run of sheepshead, so keep an eye out around the rocks for these crab loving fish again this year.
Striped Bass
Anglers are still pecking away at striped bass around the Rt. 50 Bridge, particularly late in the day and at night. Lamont Hilbert landed another 36-incher while tossing a bucktail around the pilings.
Marlin
Late on Friday night, the “Blood Money” arrived at Sunset Marina with a 370 lb. blue marlin caught in the Wilmington Canyon. The fish put up a fight for 40 minutes before expiring. Also on Friday, the first blue marlin was released by an Indian River boat, the “Seaflame” while also fishing in the Wilmington Canyon.
Several white marlin releases were also reported throughout the week. The “Dawg Haus” released one on Wednesday during a trip to the Baltimore Canyon. On Thursday, the “White Lightning” released a pair of white marlin in 70 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. On Saturday, the “Griffin” also released a white in the Baltimore Canyon.
Wahoo
The first wahoo of the year came in on Saturday when the “Second Chance” caught one in 71-degree water on the East Wall of the Baltimore Canyon. There was another wahoo caught on Saturday, but I do not have the details.
Tuna
The batch of water that stretched from the Spencer Canyon down to the Washington Canyon has produced some really nice catches of bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna over the past couple of weeks.
Bigeyes came in throughout the week, mainly from the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons, with a slight edge to the Wilmington for the number of eyeballs caught. The bigeyes were caught in deep water, particularly late in the week when commercial boats really tore them up. On Friday, the charter boat, “Moore Bills” returned from an overnight trip with a great catch of 3 bigeyes and 6 yellowfins. As is normally the case, the bigeyes came to life right before dark and were also picked at throughout the night.
When boats moved inshore of the Canyons, into 45 fathoms, they got into schools of yellowfins. Several boats returned throughout the week with double digit catches of yellowfins, but many also struggled over the weekend. The best catch of yellowfins came in on the “Restless Lady” on Wednesday when they had 17 in the Baltimore Canyon.
At the time of this report on Monday morning, some good water was in the Washington Canyon and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some boats heading that way in the next couple of days.
Although the old tried and true ballyhoo and spreader bars continue to perform well, I am still getting reports from charter boats and private boats about the effectiveness of the new Squidnation Flippy Floppy. With a green machine behind it, the erratic actions seems to make the yellowfins go wild. Check them out at your local tackle shop.
Upcoming Tournament
There are 2 tournaments on the schedule this weekend. The first is the Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Weigh-ins are at Sunset Marina at the lower scale.
The other tournament is the M.S.S.A Tuna-Ment held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.. This tournament also has weigh-ins at Sunset Marina, but will be at the upper scale by the fish cleaning station.
Both are great tournaments and there is no reason you can’t enter both tournaments to double your chances at a payday.
See you at the scales.