Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• It was this week last year that angler Billy Gerlach caught a 1,135 lb. blue marlin during the 30th Annual MidAtlantic Tournament deep below the Washington Canyon on the 471 lump. The fish won the tourney and set a new Maryland State Record. It was one of the more than 6 brought to the scales. Top white marlin was 82 lbs. caught on the “Sea Wolf” by Pete Roskovich in the Norfolk Canyon.
• Bigeye tuna dominated the tuna division at the MidAtlantic with the “Pipe Dreamer” bringing in 2 eyeballs from the Wilmington Canyon both over 200 lbs. with the tourney winner at 235 lbs.
• Big wahoo were being caught inshore at the Fingers and Sausages. Anglers commented the bigger ones hit on lines with longer leaders.
The offshore fishing was once again dominated by a tournament, this time it was the 49th Capt. Steve Harman Poor Girls Open hosted by Bahia Marina. The ‘PGO’, as it is known, is primarily a billfish release tournament, and despite a very difficult summer for marlin, there was good action in the Billfish Release Division with over 30 white marlin released, 10 blue marlin and a few swordfish. That was a decent showing for a fleet of 161 boats, almost 800 lady anglers and 161 fishing days! Top honors this year went to the crew of the “Max Bet” for the 2 blue marlin and 2 white marlin released on Day 1 of the event earning 420 points. 2nd were the anglers on the “Buckshot” who had 2 blue marlin and 1 white marlin release for 320 points on Day 2 and the team on the “C-Boys” slid into 3rd Place as one of the last boats on the last day reporting 1 blue marlin and 2 whites for 310 points. Almost all of the marlin reports we saw last week were from deep water, east of the canyons. The “Max Bet” traveled 97 miles to get east of the Baltimore in over 1,000 fathoms for their catches. The “C-Boys” were a little further south in the Poor Man’s Canyon, also in 1000 fathoms, and the “Buckshot” even further south on the 1,000 fathom line between the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons. The Junior Angler Billfish Release award was also notable. Summer Knupp released 2 whites while fishing on the “Pumpin’ Hard, also in 1,000 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon. She was part of team “Do it for Gavin” in memory of Gavin Knupp who recently passed away after a tragic hit and run accident.
Unlike other recent tournaments dominated by bigeye tuna, the Tuna Division of the PGO saw only yellowfins brought to the scales making for a very competitive Division. The “Boss Hogg” set the bar on Thursday with a 72.4 lb. yellow caught by Jackie Pickering while trolling in 120 fathoms of the Poor Man’s Canyon. The next 2 days saw a bevy of fish in the high 50 pound to low 60 pound range jockeying for the leaderboard’s other spots, but no one could beat the “Boss Hogg” who finished in 1st Place. Angler Lisa Poole on the “Christine Marie” weighed a 66.9 lb. yellowfin on Day 2 to take 2nd place at the time but was pushed to 3rd when Lindsey Harrington brought in a 69.3 pounder to the scales on Day 3 that she caught in the Poor Man’s Canyon on the “Billfisher”.
The Meatfish Division was also active with lots of gaffer mahi brought to the scales in addition to many reporting double digit catches of bailer size dolphin. Another Day 1 fish locked in the top spot when Melinda Spedden on the “Fish On” brought in a 22.9 lb. fish from the Washington Canyon. The other 2 spots were filled in late on Day 2. The “Grande Pez” showed up first with a 22.5 lb. fish caught by Jessica Mistr that hit on their marlin spread in over 1,000 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons. The very next boat at the docks was the “Reel Chaos” who jumped into 3rd Place with a 16.9 lb. mahi caught by Jessica Matarese who was also marlin fishing in 1,200 fathoms of the Poor Man’s Canyon.
The Wahoo Category under the Meatfish Division was also busy, which was a nice surprise as these speedsters can be elusive this time of year. Meagan Phillips blew up the leaderboard on Day 2 with a 56.9 lb. wahoo she caught on the “Knot Right” just north of the 800/800 in the Washington Canyon using mono in 200 fathoms. Rounding out the leaderboard were Brook McGinnis’ 47.8 lb. fish caught on the “Salty Sons” that took 2nd Place and a 45.9 lb. wahoo on the “Mikk’s in it Up” caught by Alexa Mikk.
The big winner however was the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research that received a donation of $100,000 from the tournament and the Harman family. That pushes the total contribution received over the life of the tournament to almost $2,000,000.
Outside of the tournament we did see a small uptick in marlin releases. While still low, hopefully it is a harbinger of things to come! Given the slow tuna bite, we are also seeing anglers switch to tilefishing with good results for blueline and a few goldens, especially from the Wilmington.
A couple of other notable trips this last week included one on the “Restless Lady”. The non profit Platoon 22, whose mission is to assist veterans returning to civilian life chartered the “Restless Lady” as part of their Platoon Outdoors program. The aspect of the group focuses on getting veterans together in outdoor activities like fishing & hunting to give them time to bond and support each other. On this overnight trip the boys boated a mess of fish, including 5 yellowfin tuna, a bunch of tilefish and released a hammerhead shark. The topper however was the 102” blue marlin caught by Michael Falzone in the Baltimore Canyon. The other one that caught my attention occurred during the Paradise Grill Flounder Pounder Open held last week. Angler Eamonn ‘Irish’ Carey was jigging with 6” Gulp on a chicken rig near the Light Ship when he connected with a 33” and 27.5 lb. bluefin tuna! Pretty nice catch on a 20 lb. braid flounder set up and the only bluefin catch we have heard about in weeks.
The last big tournament of the season is upon us this week, the 31st Annual MidAtlantic. As I write this on Monday, I see 178 boats entered, competing for almost $5M in prize money. 109 of those boats are based out of Ocean City, and with some of the best captains in the world and a decent weather outlook I expect to see some great action!
Until next week, I will see you at the scales! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• The 31st Annual MidAtlantic Tournament started on Monday, August 22nd and runs through the 26th. This elite and capacity limited tournament attracts some of the best boats and anglers in the world to compete for millions in prizes. Last year’s payout was just under $6M. This event has two locations for scales, the Canyon Club in Cape May, NJ and Sunset Marina in Ocean City. Hours are 4-9 PM. More at TheMidAtlantic.com and social media.
• The Ocean City Marlin Club is holding its traditional Labor Day White Marlin Tournament, the 64th edition of the event on September 2nd - 4th. Registration is on the 1st from 6:30 to 8:30 at the club. This is a fish 2 of 3 day format with scales open from 6:00 - 8:00PM each night at Sunset Marina’s Tournament Scale. More at OCMarlinClub.com.
