Article by Dale Timmons
Another example of how times have changed—at last week’s registration for the Ocean City Tuna Tournament, I overheard one captain complaining that he had caught three white marlin that day, but no tuna. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem that long ago when many offshore captains would get ticked off if they were “covered up” by tuna that messed up their marlin baits. They would deliberately run away from tuna. Of course, in those days, the baits were probably carefully handsewn squids. The next day, the first day of tuna tournament fishing, a decent number of white marlin were caught and released, and some captains complained they couldn’t get away from the whites. One captain even said he had a marlin trying to eat a spreader bar that was just hanging off the side of the boat. Of course, there were a few hardcore marlin fishermen who also moaned that they couldn’t believe they were trying to get away from the whites. Offshore fishing along much of the mid-Atlantic has definitely changed over the years, from a fishery that targeted marlin to one that aims for the “meatfish”, mainly tuna and dolphin. Anymore, most of the actual marlin fishing is only concentrated around a few of the largest late season tournaments, and there are a few boat captains and owners in the Ocean City area who target billfish in the competition for seasonal awards presented by the Ocean City Marlin Club. Unfortunately, it seems, there are fewer and fewer anglers who charter boats simply to go marlin fishing. Of course, it may have something to do with how the fishery itself has changed. Years ago, you could make a day white marlin fishing from the Jackspot out to the 30 fathom line—last week, most of those whites were caught up in or near the Spencer Canyon—almost 100 miles away…
One interesting coincidence at the tuna tournament came when fishermen on the “Canyon Blues” with Capt. Larry Weekley weighed their tuna on the first day. Two junior anglers from the Stevensville, MD area boated identical 55 lb. yellowfins. Amazingly, on Sunday they came to the dock again, and both had caught identical 65 lb. yellowfins. The boys, Russell and Matt Crim, are both 16 years old. No, they are not twins, but two out of three triplets…the third party is a sister, but she didn’t make the trip…
After I wrote about the new Saltwater Angler Registry last week, I got an e-mail from a gentleman who planned to charter a boat for the upcoming White Marlin Open. His understanding of the Registry requirement was that if he was fishing only on a charter or party boat he did not need to register. He is correct, and I should have included this exclusion in my explanation. I assumed that most folks who charter a boat or go on a party boat, however, probably fish somewhere else as well, and the key word is here “only.” If you do any other type of saltwater fishing, such as from a bridge or pier or a day of flounder fishing with a friend, you are technically required to register…
In the past few years, surf fishing for sharks in the summer months has become more and more popular. The growing popularity of using kayaks to take large baits out behind the sandbar has made success rates climb. It may surprise some swimmers to see the size of some of the sharks that are being caught from the beaches, but the sharks have always been there, and as far as I know they have never bothered anyone, around here at least (I don’t think I’d go swimming at night, however). The question I received recently, however, is more about the welfare of the sharks than the people. Many of the sharks that are being caught are protected by law. You can’t keep a sand tiger or a sandbar shark, for instance, two of the more popular species targeted by beach anglers. The question is—are the sharks being injured when they are brought up on the beach before release? Well, it’s only my opinion, but to me it’s no different than handling any other fish you plan to release. First of all, I assume most anglers would have sense enough not to gaff the shark and drag it up on the sand. That said, the key to their survival is probably removing the hook and getting the shark back into the surf as soon as possible. Most anglers are using large circle hooks, which make removal easier, but I would still invest in a good deep throat de-hooker, size large. Every minute the sharks are out of the water lessens their chance of survival. On the other hand, sharks are pretty tough critters, and if there is no physical injury to their gills or internal organs, I think they’ve got a pretty good chance of going on their way. Sitting on top of the shark and pulling its mouth open for a “hero shot,” however, probably doesn’t help its chances. If you want a photo, have a friend ready with the camera as soon as you beach the fish, then kneel down behind it, get a quick shot and slide the shark back into the surf…
…Before I leave the subject, all my life I have heard people refer to small sharks caught on the beach as “sand sharks.” As far as I know, however, there is really no such thing as a “sand shark.” Most of the small sharks in the surf are one of two species, the smooth dogfish or the sandbar. The smooth dogfish is generally much smaller, with a pointy snout, fairly large eyes and no teeth. The sandbar shark, on the other hand, gets much larger and has a pretty good set of small triangular teeth. They are often called “brown sharks”. The average size in the surf is probably only three to five feet, but some of these guys with their “yakked out” baits are catching much larger sandbars…
A young friend of mine had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time one evening last week and encountered a large school of small stripers that were breaking the surface while feeding on “peanut” bunker. He caught several fish in the 16 to 18 inch range, then put on a slightly heavier bucktail jig and got it down below the breaking fish. It was then that he hooked a much larger fish, which “took me all over the place” before he broke it off on the light tackle. Unfortunate, but it illustrates a technique that can sometimes work very well. Many years ago, when we had a lot of large weakfish, or gray trout, in the inlets, we would often encounter schools of small snapper blues, but we learned that if we could get a lure down below the blues, very often the big trout would be laying under them, presumably feeding on the cut up pieces of whatever the bluefish were eating. Very often, if there are small fish on top, there are larger predators lying beneath them…just a tidbit of info that might help you someday…
Capt. Jeremy Blunt of the charter boat “Samurai I” brought an unusual fish to the scales at last weekend’s Ocean City Tuna Tournament. He was trolling around a squid boat working offshore and snagged the fish on his “right long” after it was thrown overboard as part of the squid “bycatch.” Anyway, the fish is called a “Buckler Dory”. I had seen a much smaller version many years ago that was found in a flat of butterfish, but Jeremy’s fish weighed two pounds. According to my Peterson’s Atlantic Coast Fishes, however, the buckler dory can reach up to seven pounds. It is a predator that feeds on small fish and shrimps (in this case probably squid) and “enters sufficiently shallow water to be caught commonly in trawls.” Its range is from Nova Scotia down to northern North Carolina, and it is found in 180 feet to as much as 1200 feet of water…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
