Article by Larry Jock
Depending on who you speak to, you will hear that fishing is excellent and you will also hear that fishing is tough right now. All I know is that I am seeing a lot of fish coming to the scales from those fishing in the bay and from boats venturing offshore.
Heading into the July 4th weekend, it looked like everything was set for some excellent fishing, but the effects of Hurricane Arthur were enough to make the seas a little too choppy to fish and the bay waters a little too dirty from Thursday through Saturday. The great news is that when things settled down, we saw a lot of action on Sunday.
Canyon Kick Off
With Friday and Saturday seeing choppy seas, the Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick Off became a 1-day shootout on Sunday. The scales were dominated with bigeye tuna and dolphin coming in from the Washington Canyon.
The first boat to the scale was the “Jenny Poo” with a huge, 267.2 lb. bigeye, the largest of the year, that was caught after their lines were in the water for only 10 minutes. The eyeball held on to win 1st place in the Tuna Division after being caught on a trolled Puller Lure in the Washington Canyon. The charter boat, “No Quarter” weighed the next bigeye, with theirs tipping the scale at 163.8 lbs., good enough to win 2nd place in the Tournament. A few boats later, the “Absolut Pleasure” arrived with a 158.4 lb. bigeye caught on a trolled ballyhoo in the Washington Canyon that ended the tournament in 3rd place.
A lot of mahi were caught on Sunday and the Dolphin Division was won by both the “Billfisher” and the “Proud Papa”, each with an 18 pounder. The “Billfisher” caught theirs in the Baltimore Canyon where Capt. Jon Duffie found 74-degree water, while the “Proud Papa” spent the day trolling in the Washington. Third place was won by the “Dilligaf” with a 17 pounder.
The “Billfisher” also took top honors in the Billfish Release Division with 3 white marlin releases. The “Canyon Hunter” won 2nd place with 2 white marlin releases and the “First Light” broke a tie for 3rd place with the “Last Call” by releasing their white marlin earlier in the day.
Overall, it was an exciting afternoon at the scales with 57 boats getting tuned up for this weeks Ocean City Tuna Tournament.
Bigeye Tuna
“Bigeye Fever” has a firm grip on boats heading east out of the Ocean City Inlet. Some anglers love them and others think they are too much work and wish they would go away. Whatever the case, we again saw quite a few arrive at the scales last week, all from 100 to 200 fathoms in the Washington Canyon on trolled ballyhoo, spreader bars or greensticks.
Early in the week, the “Marli” returned with a 151 pounder that was caught on their greenstick in 200 fathoms in the Washington. Tuesday was a big day for chasing eyeballs.
The “Fish Whistle” out of Indian River caught 3 weighing between 182 and 253 lbs. The “Restless Lady” returned from an overnighter with 3 bigeyes in the box, weighing 147, 168 and 196 lbs. The “All In” also caught a bigeye during an overnight trip with theirs tipping the scale at 182 lbs. The “White Lightning” had a 176 pounder and the “Marli” added another one to the list.
Wednesday through Saturday were blown out with bad weather, but in addition to the bigeyes caught during the tournament, the “Skattebol” continued to rack up catches of bigeyes, adding 2 more (128 & 155 lbs.) to the list after returning on Sunday from an overnight trip to the Washington Canyon. Right behind them was the “Blue Runner” with a 185 pounder, also caught in the Washington.
Yellowfin Tuna
Anglers trolling in the Washington Canyon continue to return with nice catches of yellowfins. Not all of the days are good ones, but several boats returned with high single-digit or double digit catches. The new controversial technique of greensticking has definitely helped the situation and put more yellowfins on the dock, but trolled ballyhoo and spreader bars continue being the techniques of choice. Most of the yellowfins are quality fish in the 45 to 55 lb. class.
Wahoo
After the monster 131 pounder was caught on July 1st, we have only seen 1 other wahoo arrive to the scales, and that happened on Sunday when the “My Cin” returned with a 70 pounder hooked at the 461 Lump.
Dolphin
The largest catches of dolphin we have seen this year came in during the Canyon Kick Off on Sunday. Most were caught in the Washington Canyon by anglers chasing tuna.
The big news on dolphin came out of Delaware when , on Sunday, Butch Emmert set a new state record by catching a 56.9 pounder in 60 fathoms at the tip of the Baltimore Canyon.
Sea Bass
Sea bass fishing continues to be hit or miss. Some days headboat captains are happy to report a great day for catching knotheads. Other days, not so much. More flounder are coming off ocean structure and some boats are heading to Winter Quarter Shoal, Fenwick Shoal or other favorite haunts to catch spadefish and triggerfish, which is relieving some of the pressure on sea bass.
Sheepshead
On Wednesday, July 2nd, Tyler Green boated a 10 lb. 6 oz. sheepshead while fishing with live bunker at the South Jetty.
Flounder
So far, it is turning out to be another good year for flounder fishing. Last year was fantastic, and from the looks of it, this year could be just as good.
The East Channel has been the hot spot recently and although the effects of Hurricane Arthur created dirty water conditions late in the week and into the weekend, flattie action on Sunday picked right back up. One group of anglers who fished off the 3rd Street Bulkhead had 11 keepers during a couple of days of fishing and the charter boat, “Get Sum” had 7 keepers during their afternoon trip on Sunday. Mid-week, before the blow, the charter boat, “Lucky Break” had a trip that produced 11 keeper flounder, up to 21 inches, caught on Gulp!
Swimming Mullets in the East Channel. The bite isn’t limited to just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge with flounder being caught south of the bridge as well. The area behind Harbour Island has been another good spot recently.
Most success is coming by drifting live spot, but the ever popular Gulp! Swimming Mullet, in either white or chartreuse, continues to produce excellent catches of flounder.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 27th Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament at the Ocean City Fishing Center. This is one of the largest, most popular fishing events of the year in Ocean City and usually produces some exciting days at the scale.
Weigh-ins are from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday and from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Sunday. With all the bigeye tuna being caught, it should be a very exciting tournament.
See you at the scales!
