Article by Larry Jock
Wow! It was quite a week for fishing in Ocean City with a few “firsts” and a load of tuna caught in the canyons.
White Marlin
With Ocean City being known as the “White Marlin Capital of the World” it makes sense that the first one released receives a lot of fanfare, and that was the case last Wednesday when Capt. Steve Moore on the “Stalker” took his anglers to the Poor Man’s Canyon where mate Ron Bennett caught and released a white in 200 fathoms. The fish hit a white marlin favorite, a ballyhoo dressed up with a blue and white Ilander. The catch brings Ron and the “Stalker” team $16,000 in award money, made up of $6,000 from local businesses (Atlantic Tackle, Bahia Marina, Bank of Ocean City, Coastal Fisherman, Ocean City Fishing Center and Sunset Marina), $5,000 from the Ocean City Marlin Club and $5,000 from the Town of Ocean City.
A few other white marlin were released throughout the week including a pair in the Small Boat Tournament where one was hooked by the Triple 0’s and the other in 100 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Blue Marlin
Last Sunday on the “Chaser”, the first blue marlin of the season was released while trolling in 500 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons.
Sharks
With the minimum size of makos being increased from 54-inches to 83-inches, some people (including me) wondered if we would see any hit the scales this year. We saw a nice one caught on the “Marli” a few weeks ago and on Sunday morning, the charter boat “Foolish Pleasures” arrived with a 636 pounder that was caught during an overnight trip in 500 fathoms in the Norfolk Canyon.
Tuna
It was an exceptional week of tuna fishing in the canyons with most of the action coming from between the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons.
We saw a couple of good trips come back early in the week but the yellowfin bite really turned on in the Poor Man’s Canyon on Thursday in water between 200 and 500 fathoms. Some of the most noteworthy catches came on the “Moore Bills” (18), “Boss Hogg” (18) and the “Marli” (17). In addition to yellowfins, several boats returned on Thursdaywith a couple of bluefins in the mix and the charter boat, “Marli” even had 3 bigeyes in their fish box.
On Friday, the yellowfin bite really exploded with over 8,000 lbs. of tuna coming into Sunset Marina alone. The water moved to the south, so most of the catches were on boats trolling between the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons. Double digit catches came in on the “Talkin Trash” (21), “Pumpin Hard” (17), “White Lightning” (11), “Spring Mix II” (11), “Espadon” (12), “Rhonda’s Osprey” (18), “Boss Hogg” (18), “C-Boys” (22), “That’s Right” (18) and the “Marli” (18). Like the day prior, several boats also had bluefins in the mix and a 150 lb. bigeye was caught on the “Espadon” (150 lbs.) in 300 fathoms in the Poor Man’s.
As expected, Saturday’s tuna bite was a little tougher, which is not uncommon when you have a great bite heading into the weekend and boat traffic increases dramatically, driving the fish deeper. Yellowfins were up and down the line with catches coming in from the Norfolk Canyon on overnight trips but most seemed to come from the Poor Man’s. We also saw 3 nice bigeye tuna come in on the “Offshore Hooker” after they went 3 for 7 in 330 fathoms in the Poor Man’s. Their eyeballs weighed 83.2, 92.0 and 98.6 lbs.
Sunday’s bite was even tougher than Saturday’s and we didn’t see a lot of tuna flags flying at the end of the day, but anglers on the charter boat, “Boss Hogg” pulled out a good trip when they returned with 9 yellowfins from the Wilmington Canyon. Capt. Brian Porter told me that they were ready to call it a day when they got covered up and put the final 8 yellowfins in the box. Also in the Wilmington Canyon, the “Reel Chaos” captured a couple of bigeyes in addition to 3 yellowfins.
Weakfish
On Tuesday, Dave Neumayer was tossing a Roy Rig around the South Jetty when he hooked into a 20-inch weakie.
Sea Bass
Sea bass fishing right now is tough. Anglers are finding good numbers of fish but anglers have had to weed through a lot throwbacks to get their keepers. Some boats have had to travel over 25 miles from shore to find structure holding good numbers of larger fish.
Flounder
Flounder fishing in the bay was much improved over what we have been seeing due primarily to an increase in water clarity. A lot of the action continues to come from the bay behind Assateague and last week it was spread out with keepers caught down by the Duck Blinds and also on the north end closer to the inlet.
Last week, we saw much better action in the East Channel. Early in the week, Budd Heim and Charlie Plis caught 9 keepers (releasing 5) while drifting bucktails tipped with Gulp Swimming Mullets. On Friday, Budd was joined by Kevin Welkner and the duo caught 6 in the East Channel, also on Gulp artificial baits.
Also on Friday, anglers on the charter boat, “Get Sum” ended their morning trip with 7 keepers in the box. Capt. Nick said he was all over the bay finding fish wherever he found clear water.
On Saturday, boat traffic was heavy but we still saw some good catches of quality flounder. Katie Thatcher and Nate Gregory ended their day with 7 keepers in the box including a 23 1/2-incher caught by Katie. The duo caught their fish on white Gulp artificial baits in the Thorofare and behind Assateague. Anglers on the headboat, “Bay Bee” also had a good day with 7 keepers caught on squid and shiners behind Assateague Island.
Water temperature in the bay right now is hovering between the low 70’s at the end of the outgoing tide and the high 60’s during the incoming tide.
Cobia
A few cobia were hooked in the Ocean City Inlet over the weekend and on Monday morning, but none met the 40-inch minimum size for state waters.
In the Surf
It’s been quiet in the surf with kingfish, skates, sharks, small bluefish and stripers taking offerings of cut bait and lures.
Upcoming Tournament
We have a rare off-week for tournaments in Ocean City but if you are inclined to take a short trip north to the Indian River Marina, they are holding their annual Kid’s Catch-All Tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Registration is Friday at the marina from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Friday night and 6:00 to 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. This tournament is open to anglers ages 3 to 18 and fishing is allowed on one or both days. Like the Marlin Club Kid’s Classic, this tournament is a must for junior anglers.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
