Article by Larry Jock
Tropical Storm Hermine really messed up the fishing scene last weekend with rough seas shutting down the action beginning on Friday and even resulted in the canceling of the Ocean City Marlin Club Labor Day White Marlin Tournament.
The offshore weather report forecasts rough seas through Wednesday so we should see action resume on Thursday or Friday. It’s always interesting to see what happens after a significant weather event rolls through the area. Sometimes, the bite, both offshore and in the bay, changes substantially.
Prior to the blow, the yellowfin bite started to heat up again for anglers venturing down to the Washington Canyon. The tuna bite over the last month (maybe longer) has been dismal, but in the middle of last week, we began to see boats returning with good numbers of yellowfin in the box. Greenstickers had the best success, but fish were also caught on both the troll and the chunk. Like early in the season, anglers had to contend with ravenous sharks who set their sights on attacking yellowfins during the fight. Some boats lost as many yellowfins to sharks as they ended up boating.
This bite continued through the later part of last week with the last report coming in on Friday from the “Talkin’ Trash” and the “Reel Chaos” who made their way to the Washington Canyon and ended up with 10 and 6 yellowfins respectively. Capt. Chris Little on the “Talkin’ Trash” said that they had their 10 tuna in the boat by 11:30 am before a miserable ride home.
Offshore boats that were interested in chasing marlin headed to just below the Baltimore Canyon before the storm. The bite was fairly consistent all week, but on Thursday a couple of boats had double-digit white marlin releases and even a few blue marlin as well.
“Buckshot” fished the 100 fathom edge of the Baltimore and had 12 white marlin releases, the same as the “Blood Money” who was also just south of the Baltimore Canyon.
“Billfisher” had 9 releases and “My Cin” had 7. Both the “Miss Annie” and the “Grande Pez” each released blue marlin in the Baltimore Canyon on Thursday. We also saw some white marlin released in the Washington Canyon by boats searching for tuna near the Bigeye Hole.
Dolphin continue to be caught from anywhere deep in the canyons to the inshore wrecks. The “Last Call” continues their assault on big dolphin, returning with a 51 pounder last Wednesday after trolling around the 461 Lump.
If catching a cobia is on your bucket list, this season gave you the best shot as we saw several hooked inshore of Little Gull Shoal last week. The cobia have been found cruising around schools of bunker and rays and have been willing to eat live spot or bunker tossed their way. As you saw on this issue’s cover, Eddie Braxton, Wes Pollitt and Patrick Coomes caught 3 cobia weighing 40, 45 and 57 lbs. after seeing them around a school of bunker.
In the bay, anglers picked at flounder in the East Channel and in the Fish Bowl, north of the Rt. 50 Bridge. We also saw a few caught behind the Ocean City Airport. The best flattie bite is still being found on ocean structure, particularly up around the Old Grounds if you are inclined to make the 20 mile trek. The best bite can be found in anywhere from 90 to 120-feet of water. Dropping strips of flounder or mahi belly will do the trick.
If you weren’t interested in flounder, there are plenty of croaker and small bluefish roaming around the bay to keep you interested. Croakers have been found in the East Channel and at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor. Small bluefish were caught around the Rt. 50 Bridge on metal lures or swim shads.
Upcoming Tournaments
We have 3 tournaments on the schedule for this weekend.
The Ocean City Light Tackle Club is taking on members of the Ocean City Marlin Club in a billfish release tournament on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This is the first year of the tournament and I know that the competition will be intense. Kind of like the Yankee’s versus the Red Sox.
On Sunday, September 11th, there are two tournaments on the schedule. The first is Bahia Marina’s 11th Annual Flounder Pounder. Registration is on the 11th from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. Fishing begins with a shotgun start at 10:00 am and fishing concludes at 4:30 pm.
The other tournament on Sunday is the 16th Annual Ocean City Fishing Center Spot Tournament. This is a great event, especially for kids. All of the action is right along the docks at the Fishing Center and is really something to see. Registration is at 4:00 pm with lines in the water at 5:00 pm and out by 7:00 pm. The entry fee is only $5.00.
See you at the scales!