Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• A big Nor’easter parked its self off the coast for 4 days. The Mother’s Day Storm as it came to be known ravaged the beaches from Cape Henlopen to Assateague. It also pushed what little warm water that was headed our way east and south.
• Calvin Malone beached and released a rare 5 foot shortnose sturgeon in the surf at Assateague Island.
• Capt. Brent Wiest set a new DE State record with a 20.48 lb. tautog he caught at an ocean structure.
• The weather and cold canyon waters kept the battlewagons in their slips.
• The flounder action in the Thorofare was good for those able to get out around the wind and weather.
What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were in the middle of what would become to be known as the Mother’s Day Nor’easter of 2022. The storm pummeled the beaches up and down the coast for 4 days, taking a lot of the beach and dunes away with it. It also had lingering effect to offshore fishing. It was still early in the season for the canyons to be active, but some warm water was seen north and west from the gulf stream prior to the storm. After the blow the warmer water had been pushed west and south. Some say this storm was a major contributor to the difficult offshore season we had all of last year.
Fast forward to this year. On Friday of last week, I was anticipating my report and fully expected to be discussing what we were hearing from captains on when they expected to go out. Instead, I got several calls for ‘First Fish’ of the season catches offshore! The first came from Sean Welsh, owner of the “Restless Lady”, who let me know about a boat out of Sunset Marina that went out and had an early hookup. The crew of the “Full Service” headed 60 miles out into the Baltimore Canyon and found nice temperature breaks ranging in the mid 60°s. They were still in the process of setting their first spread for the day when they got a hit at 5:27AM on a cedar plug and a blue & white Ilander. The sun was barely up when angler Jeff Rosenkilde grabbed the rod with the crew, still unsure of what they had on the line. It did not take long for them to figure out they had a bigeye on the line, and since it hit on a 50, it only took 45 minutes to get the 95 lb. eyeball to the boat. So congratulations to the crew for landing the first bigeye tuna of the season and about a month earlier than usual! I had at this point slotted this fish as the current Heaviest for the season, but as I soon learned, that was not to be the case!
Several other crews ventured out over the weekend, most last minute like “Full Service”. Saturday saw Capt. Chris Little on the charter boat “Talkin’ Trash” head out to the Poor Man’s Canyon from the Ocean City Fishing Center. They fished in 400 fathoms and were finding 65° water. They went deep dropping and had a productive day landing 9 golden tilefish and 3 rosies. They changed tactics when they found a nice weed line and saw two mahi! Angler Brad Hubbard of Bel Air, MD was able to get one on the line and earned the title for First Mahi caught for the 2023 season! However, as they say, the day wasn’t done.
I mentioned that the early bite was cited a few times this week as when anglers were getting hits. So it was natural that the crew of the “Pier Pressure” made plans to drive down to Ocean City from Baltimore in time to get in the water by 3AM Saturday morning. Well, a faulty wheel bearing on the trailer had a different idea and shot a big hole in that plan! Undaunted, Capt. Ray Novak and crew spent the early morning hours fixing the trailer and got in the water finally by 2:30 PM, almost 12 hours behind schedule. They fished in the Poor Man’s Canyon until just about sunset and were rewarded with 2 nice catches, a bigeye and a yellowfin tuna. The eyeball weighed in at 113.2 lbs. at the Ocean City Fishing Center making it not only the 2nd bigeye of the season, but the current heaviest.
Sunday saw another set of nice catches. Capt. Keith Kaler and crew on the “Reel Chaos” fished both the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons where they found 65°-68° water. They were trolling plastic baits on a wide tracker spreader bar and tricked two yellowfin, one from each canyon! Sunday also saw the largest tuna catch of the week from the “Hocus Pocus”. Capt. Yanni Harris also headed to the Poor Man’s and fished in 100 fathoms, finding 64° water. They were using spreader bars and managed an incredible 5 yellowfin tunas! As if that were not enough, they found a big weed line with a 5° temperature break and tons of mahi. They were able to snag a nice one.
And finally, a little closer to shore, a pending DE State record was for tog was caught! Angler James Milano of North Babylon, NY headed out to an ocean structure with Capt. Joe Azato on the chart boat “No Limit” and landed the 22.9 lb. record fish. This beats the previous record only set last year!
So overall a good weekend for those that ventured out. With these reports and a nice forecast for next weekend, we expect a lot more action is coming!
Until next week, keep sharing your catch with us by emailing or texting to [email protected]! I will be at my son’s college graduation this weekend, but after that I will see you at the docks! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• The Lewes Harbour Marina will hold the Joe Morris Memorial Canal Flounder Tournament on May 19th. This event raises awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. For more info check Facebook or call (302) 645-6227.
• Old Inlet Bait & Tackle and the Delaware Fisherwomen will again be hosting the Cast for a Cure Surf Fishing Tournament on May 20th. This event benefits the Tunnell Cancer Center Special Needs Fund. More at OldInlet.com.
• The first offshore contest of 2023 is scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-28. The 14th Annual Franky Pettolina Memorial Day Tournament is sponsored by the Ocean City Marlin Club. Weigh ins will be at Sunset Marina’s Tournament Scales from 4:30-7:00pm each day. More at OCMarlinClub.com.
