Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•Marlin bite was good in 100 fathoms between the Washington & Norfolk Canyons in 81-degree water.
•Yellowfin bite was between the Baltimore & Poor Man’s during the week and between the Washington & Norfolk over the weekend.
•Bigeyes were caught in the Washington Canyon.
•Several makos were released in all the canyons.
•Water temperature in the bay was as high as 83-degrees. Flounder were found in deeper holes.
•Sheepshead were caught in good numbers around the South Jetty.
•Triggerfish were caught at Kelly’s Reef and at Winter Quarter Shoal.
•Small stripers were caught in the West Channel.
•Red drum were caught at the Bass Grounds.
Tuna &?Mahi
The yellowfin bite definitely slowed down last week, but it’s not like boats didn’t come back with fish. They came back with handfuls instead of 15 to 18. A lot of boats opted to stay inshore and look for bluefins in Massey’s Canyon and inshore lumps. Early in the week, Capt. Joe Drosey on “Rhonda’s Osprey” hit Massey’s Canyon and returned to Sunset Marina with a 101 lb. bluefin in the box. Anglers on the “JoJo” also hooked into a large bluefin, with theirs measuring 86-inches and estimated at over 390 lbs. They hooked the fish at the 461 Lump and even though it came up dead, they had to release it since it exceeded the maximum allowable length.
On Wednesday, Joe headed right back to Massey’s where his anglers muscled in a 141 pounder. Several other eyeballs over 70 lbs. were also boated.
On Thursday, the tuna bite was exciting in the Poor Man’s Canyon where anglers found a few bigeyes mixed in with yellowfins and white marlin. A good example was the charter boat, “Marli” that had 3 yellowfins, 3 bigeyes and a white marlin release. “PYY Marine” also had a good day trolling in 250 fathoms, returning with 3 bigeyes, weighing between 100 and 116 lbs., and 3 yellowfins. Capt. Steve Wagner reported water temperatures at 74-degrees. Capt. Doug Smetana on the “Fin Razr” may have been one of the smaller charter boats out there, but he ended up with one of the best catches of yellowfins, coming back with 5 after trolling in the Baltimore Canyon.
On Friday, boat traffic really increased and you know what that means... the bite starts to turn off. We see it all the time. Most boats headed to Massey’s and a few made the marinas happen when they had to fuel up at the end of the day after returning from the Lyndenkohl Canyon. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to report with boats coming back with a handful or less of yellowfins.
On Saturday, the bite was still slow for the majority of boats, but “Rhonda’s Osprey” had another good day with 12 yellowfins in the box after trolling in the Poor Man’s Canyon. The top boat of the day was the “Blood Money” who returned with 5 yellowfins, 3 bigeyes, a white marlin release and a blue marlin release. All of the action for Capt. Anthony Pino and his crew was at the southern end of the Spencer Canyon.
Sunday was a ghost town (relatively speaking) around the marinas, but we did see the “Marli” return with 9 yellowfins in the box after trolling in the Washington Canyon.
There were many mahi that hit the scales last week and the average size is definitely on the upswing. Most were caught by anglers trolling for tuna in the canyons from the Wilmington down to the Washington. We still haven’t seen any monsters caught this season.
Billfish
Anglers on the “Blood Money” returned to Sunset Marina with a blue marlin and a white marlin last Saturday. Several other white marlin were released up and down the line. We still haven’t heard of any boats releasing more than 2 white marlin in a single day.
Another good catch came in on Sunday morning when the “Restless Lady II” returned from an overnight trip with a 257 lb. swordfish caught in the Washington Canyon.
Sea Bass & Tautog
Black sea bass continue to be fussy. A lot of boats have switched over to flounder fishing on ocean reefs and wrecks, but those still looking for knotheads are sliding further offshore to find a good bite and larger fish. The throwback ratio continues to run high, but we did see a few fish over 3 lbs. get pulled over the rail.
The tautog season opened up again on July 1st with a 16-inch minimum and 2 fish per person.
Cobia
A few cobia have been caught by surfcasters and some have been spotted around large schools of bunker just off the coast. On Sunday, a 30 pounder was caught on the charter boat, “Reef Chief” and another large fish was spotted circling bunker a 1/2 mile south of the Ocean City Inlet.
Flounder
Looking back over the daily reports from last week, it was actually a very good one for anglers fishing on private boats, headboats and charter boats. We saw good bites in the bay, primarily in the East Channel and at the north end of the bay behind Assateague Island. Just like the prior week, you had to be flexible in your plans and hit several locations throughout the day to get your keepers. It didn’t seem to matter what the tide was, but the top of the incoming saw the best of the action.
As always, when the water starts to heat up, you need to look for the deeper holes holding cooler water to get the larger fish. The heaviest flattie of the week was a 7 pounder caught by Derek Yobst while fishing with Gulp around the South Jetty.
In addition to flounder, anglers fishing in the inlet and at the north end of the south bay also caught a few weakfish throughout the week. We also saw a Spanish mackerel caught just outside the inlet.
When it comes to bait, white Gulp Swimming Mullets and Z-Man artificial baits are still producing the most fish, but there are a lot of spot in our bay right now so castnetting yourself some for the livewell will really increase your chances of catching a good size flounder. Those things are like candy to large flounder. Rich and Debbie Daiker caught 8 nice flatties on Monday morning while using live spot for bait. Their largest weighed almost 6 lbs.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 37th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick Off. Anglers can fish 2 of 3 days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Registration is on Wednesday, July 3rd at 6:30 PM.
We also have the Chesapeake Bay Sport Fishing Association Flounder Sounder on Saturday, July 6th. For more information, call 410-868-5488.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
