Article by Larry Jock
The 3rd Annual Huk Big Fish Classic was held last weekend and, once again, the final day was an exciting one. This year, 67 boats competed for over $332,000 in prize money, a significant increase over last years total of $202,000.
The tournament is broken up into a pair of 32 hour fishing windows. The first begins at 7:00 AM on Friday and goes until 3:00 PM on Saturday. The second is for the same time window but runs from Saturday to Sunday. Only 6 of the 67 boats fished on the front half of the tournament, so action at the scales was minimal, but the crowd was buzzing when the “Reel Intents” arrived with the first blue marlin of the tournament. The 358.5 lb. blue was caught between the Washington and Norfolk Canyons on a pink plug, but unfortunately it didn’t make the 400 lb. minimum weight requirement for blue marlin.
Another great catch came in on Saturday when the “No Quarter” came to the scale with a 49 lb. wahoo, a small dolphin, a white marlin release and a blue marlin release.
Although fishing has been slow, with 61 boats fishing in the back half of the tournament, you had a feeling that the action would be fast and furious at the scale, and it was!
Waiting for the scale to open was the “Marli” with a 407 lb. blue marlin that held on to win 1st place in the tournament for heaviest fish honors. The 112-inch blue marlin sported a 54-inch girth and was caught on a skirted rubber ballyhoo in the Washington Canyon.
Right behind the “Marli” was the “Fish Bone” with a 393.5 lb. blue marlin caught in 1,000 fathoms outside the Poor Man’s Canyon on a black and purple Bass Pro Shop plug. This fish was actually 1-inch longer than the one caught on the “Marli”, but didn’t meet the minimum weight requirement.
The next notable catch came in on the “Last Call” when mate Chris Evans arrived with a 28 lb. dolphin caught by Will Hrbek while trolling in the Poor Man’s Canyon. This ended up being the heaviest dolphin weighed in the tournament.
The “Fish Whistle” spent the night in the Washington and Norfolk Canyons and returned with a 190 lb. bigeye tuna that took 3rd place for heaviest fish caught in the tournament. To add to the excitement, the “Fish Whistle” threw a 343.5 lb. blue marlin on the scale, but it was another one that didn’t hit the minimum weight.
“Miss Annie” arrived at the scale with a 166.5 lb. bigeye that was hooked in the Washington Canyon, making it the 2nd heaviest tuna caught in the tournament.
The final blue marlin of the tournament came in on the “Canyon Runner” when they weighed a 380 pounder that did not qualify.
The 2nd heaviest fish of the tournament arrived at the scale when Fred Crickenberger weighed a 193 lb. mako shark that was caught in 500 fathoms outside the Washington Canyon.
Ben Verner on the “Huk” boat was the next to arrive and he had the crowed gathered around when he weighed a 68 lb. swordfish caught during the day in the Norfolk Canyon.
One of the final boats to come to the scale on the exciting final day was the “Katherine Anne” with a 78.5 lb. white marlin and 12 white marlin releases. They actually had 13 releases but 1 was not counted as a release because it was brought into the boat to measure. All of the whites were caught while livebaiting in 50 fathoms in the Norfolk Canyon. This was, by far, the most releases recorded by a boat in this years event.
In just 3 years, the Huk Big Fish Classic has turned into one of the top tournaments in Ocean City and it will be interesting to see how this event develops. The organizers and the staff at the Talbot Street Pier really did an outstanding job!
Tuna
With water temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s, tuna fishing is tough right now and calm conditions with little current over the weekend made it downright horrible. Top tuna boats in town came back with minimal fish with some reporting no bites at all. Most of the action continued to center in Massey’s Canyon for anglers chunking with butterfish, but with the Big Fish Classic going on, it wasn’t surprising to see boats venture down to the Bigeye Hole in the Washington Canyon looking for eyeballs. In addition to the couple of bigeyes caught in the Washington Canyon, we also saw fish caught in the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons as well by boats fishing Saturday into Sunday.
We did see some good yellowfin action on Wednesday for boats fishing in Massey’s, but this was really the only day of the week worth noting. Right after that it went back to being horrible. Luckily, the action in Massey’s was slow for the crew on the “Get Bent” forcing them out to the Baltimore Canyon where they boated a 233 lb. bigeye.
Billfish
Although they didn’t come to the scales, the crew on the “Nontypical” had a tournament to remember, catching a Grand Slam that almost turned into a Super Grand Slam. The anglers were trolling in 100 to 300 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon when they caught and released a short swordfish on Sunday morning. Then, at 7:30 AM they released a white marlin and before releasing a blue marlin at 2:57 PM they jumped off a sailfish. These were the only bites they received all day.
Outside the tournament, Will Abel released a blue marlin on Wednesday while trolling in the Washington Canyon. On the same day, Charles Nichols also released a blue marlin in the Washington Canyon while trolling on the “Billfisher”. We also saw 3 white marlin releases on the “De-Bait-Able” while trolling outside the Rockville.
Dolphin
Good numbers of gaffer dolphin continue to keep anglers busy, both on the inshore lumps and in the canyons offshore. The highlight of the week was junior angler, Spencer Gibbons-Neff’s 49 lb. dolphin caught while trolling on the northeast corner of the Washington Canyon on the “Billfisher”. Another great catch came in on Thursday by Jeremy Kehring when he boated a 35 pounder while chunking in Massey’s Canyon.
Flounder
This time of year, flounder fishing can be sporadic and that would be a good description for current conditions. Fishing in the bay with Gulp! or cut bait can be productive in the deeper holes holding cooler water, like in the East Channel and around the South Jetty. Flounder fishing was very good in the bay behind Assateague Island where anglers on the charter boats, “Lucky Break” and “Get Sum” had good catches last week.
Flounder fishing on ocean structure, especially up at the Old Grounds, was very good last week. The charter boat, “Fish Bound” had good catches while drifting between “A” and “B” Buoys.
Bluefish
If you were looking for non-stop action on light tackle, then around the Rt. 50 Bridge is where you wanted to be as anglers tangled small and medium-size bluefish throughout the week. The incoming tide was the most productive and the little snappers bit on almost anything you threw at them. Swim shads took a beating so most anglers switched over to bucktails or spoons.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 8th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Heels and Reels Ladies Tournament. Anglers can fish 1 of 2 days on either Friday or Saturday with lines in the water at 8:00 AM and out by 3:00 PM. This year, weigh-ins will be held at Atlantic Tackle from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
On Monday, the 43rd Annual White Marlin Open will be held at Harbour Island on 14th Street and the Bay in Ocean City and runs until Friday.. Known as the richest billfish tournament in the world, 308 boats competed for nearly $4,000,000 in prize money, so all of the big hitters in the sportfishing community will be entered. Weigh-ins will be from 4:00 PM to 9:15 PM, Monday through Friday, so grab a lawn chair and head on over to Harbour Island. It is always an exciting and entertaining time.
See you at the scales!