Article by Larry Jock
It was another incredible week of fishing in Ocean City. Although shark and sea bass fishing hasn’t lived up to expectations, tuna fishing has more than made up for it. There has also been plenty of action in the bay for anglers searching for flatties and stripers, although catching a keeper flounder is still a challenge.
Here’s what we saw...
Shark Tournament
Warm water temperatures continued to haunt local shark tournaments. In last week’s Ocean City Shark Tournament, only 3 makos were weighed and no blue sharks or threshers ever saw the scale. Large bluefish were also scarce.
The “Nontypical” was the big winner with a 224 lb. mako shark that took 1st place in the Mako Division. The fish was caught in 76-degree water in the Poor Man’s Canyon. They also won the Release Division with 38 points resulting from 1 dusky, 4 tiger sharks and 5 makos released. Overall, there were 100 sharks released during the 3-day tournament (13 makos, 2 blue sharks, 46 sandbar or dusky, 16 hammerheads, 10 tiger sharks and 13 spinner sharks).
The Bluefish Division was won by the “Teaser” with a whopping 2.7 lb. snapper caught near “B” Buoy on the final day of the tournament.
The Dolphin Division was also won on the final day when Tim McGuire on the “Nontypical” boated a 32 pounder in the Washington Canyon.
James Kirk on the “Tuna Box” landed a 43 lb. bluefin at the Jackspot on the last day of the tournament to win the Tuna Division.
It was no surprise to anyone at the awards banquet when Capt. Terry Layton on the “Nontypical” was named Sharker of the Year for his teams combined performance in the Mako Mania and Ocean City Shark Tournaments. They weighed 2 makos in the tournaments (120 lbs. & 224 lbs.) and accumulated 1,100 release points during their 4 days of fishing.
Yellowfin Tuna
Although the warmer offshore water temperatures (72-76 degrees) put a damper on those chasing sharks, it certainly has produced some of the best yellowfin tuna fishing we have seen in quite some time. Action was strong throughout the week starting on Monday when the “Marli” and the “Moore Bills” returned with double digit catches. The “Marli” boxed 24 that day, closely followed by 21 on the “Moore Bills”.
On Tuesday, “That’s Right” returned from the Wilmington Canyon with 11 yellowfins in the box.
Thursday saw some tremendous action in the Baltimore Canyon with the “Moore Bills” catching another 24 yellowfins. The “Marli” (18), “Foolish Pleasures” (12), “Dawg Haus” (12) and “That’s Right” (10) also recorded double digit catches.
On Saturday, the “Marli” smoked them again with 24 yellowfins in the box, all caught between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons. The “Fish Bonz” also ventured to the same area and ended their day with 10 in the box.
Sunday saw a sporadic bite where some boats were able to hook up to 9 yellowfins, while others had trouble getting any action.
Bluefin Tuna
Those anglers not interested in making the longer trip to the canyons were able to find big schools of bluefin tuna along the 20-fathom line. Heck, even the headboat, “Morning Star” was able to troll one up on Sunday.
The big news last week in regard to bluefin tuna was the potential world record set by Alan Elenson on the “Paige V”. Alan enjoys going after bluefin world records, and before Wednesday’s catch, already had 3 on the books. After heading out, just west of the Hambone, Alan was able to hook a 22.5 lb. bluefin on 4 lb. test line, breaking the previous line-class record of 16 lbs. 11 oz. set in 1992.
Elsewhere, anglers recorded solid catches while trolling near the Jackspot, Hambone and Chicken Bone. On Sunday, the “Restless Lady” released 30 bluefins, keeping 2, including a 110 pounder. Capt. Todd reported that the inshore lumps are loaded with bait and the fish are stuffed with sand eels.
Dolphin
Larger dolphin are hitting the docks, caught by anglers primarily trolling for tuna. The dolphin caught by Tim McGuire in the Washington Canyon on Saturday was the heaviest mahi we have seen so far this year, tipping the scales at 32 lbs.
Billfish
Boats looking for yellowfin tuna recorded white marlin releases throughout the week. On Monday, the “Moore Bills” released 3 whites in 70 fathoms in the Wilmington. Thursday was a good day when the “Marli” released 2 white marlin, also in the Wilmington, the “Osprey” released 2 in the Baltimore and “That’s Right” broke off a blue marlin in the Poor Man’s. On Sunday, “Reel Fantasy” released 2 whites in the Baltimore where “Pullin Tidal” also recorded a release.
Bluefish
We usually see the larger, chopper bluefish coming from anglers fishing the inshore lumps, but it seems with the warmer ocean water the larger fish are more easily found in the bay around the Rt. 50 Bridge. We saw a couple of fish caught last week that measured over 30-inches. Those fishing with Gotcha plugs pulled in the big fish.
Flounder
Early in the week, bay anglers continued to hit the flounder hard, primarily in the bay behind Assateague. When the water was clear, and the wind wasn’t fighting the tide, good numbers of fish were caught. Later in the week, the bite shifted to the flats, north of the Thorofare.
Anglers had to be patient when looking for a fish to take home since the throwback/keeper ratio is still running high. A good example of this occurred on Wednesday, when fishermen on the “Bay Bee” brought back 9 keepers and recorded over 130 throwbacks during their two trips.
Although the keepers seem to average 19-20 inches, a junior angler on the “Get Sum” was able to pull a 24-incher out of the bay on Wednesday behind Castaway’s Campground.
The best baits to use are no secret. Shiners, minnows and definitely the Gulp! Swimming Mullet are the top producers. If you use the Gulp! artificial bait, pink and white are the hot colors.
Sheepshead
On Saturday, Michael Guigley caught the heaviest sheepshead of the year, a 13 pounder, while fishing with clams at the South Jetty.
Striped Bass
The incredible striper bite we saw in previous weeks seemed to thaw a little as the week progressed. Early in the week, anglers on “Skip’s Charter & Guide Service” pulled 6 keepers from the rocks during a late afternoon trip. They also recorded 50 throwbacks, all while fishing with live spot. After that, a few fish were reported by anglers fishing with live bait around the Rt. 50 Bridge and also across the tip of the South Jetty.
Sea Bass & Cod
We continue to see catches of sea bass and cod come off the headboats heading offshore to reefs and wrecks. The cod bite this year has been remarkable, with more fish caught than in the last 10 years combined. On Thursday, a junior angler aboard the “Morning Star” landed a beautiful codfish weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. Anglers are doing well using clams for bait when looking to hook either sea bass or cod.
In the Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reports, “Big stripers are basically gone from the surf. It was a great run, and you can always catch one, but it's very "hit or miss." The only thing big in the surf now are sharks and big rays. Small fish, such as kingfish, croaker, small trout, and sand perch are hitting in the surf right now. These fish are biting FishBite Bloodworms, real bloodworms, cut bunker and little pieces of surf clam. Combination baits are great such as FishBites and a little strip of fresh bunker, frozen mullet or box squid. “
Tournaments
There are 2 tournaments this weekend, both with weigh-ins at Sunset Marina.
The MSSA Tuna-Ment will begin on Friday and end on Sunday. Weigh-ins are each day from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm. This tournament stretches down the coast, with boats fishing out of Wachapreague and Chincoteague competing with those sailing out of Ocean City.
The Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament will be held on Saturday and Sunday with weigh-ins from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Here’s your chance to view the action of two tournaments at the same time, so head on out to Sunset Marina this weekend and have a great time.
