Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• Tuna was the headline story. Those fishing the weekend resulted in numerous boat reports of limit catches of yellowfin tuna and an ever-increasing quantity and size of bluefin tuna. The “Salty Bandit” landed a new Heaviest Fish bigeye at 270 lbs. that held on for the rest of the year.
• Our first longfin of the season was also reported by “PYY Fishing” from the Poor Man’s Canyon.
• The “Tiffany Lynne” caught and released their second great white shark in June. Both caught at the Jack Spot with the second one estimated at 500 lbs.
• The first wahoo of 2020 was caught on June 19th in the Poor Man’s Canyon on the charter boat “Last Call” and weighed 79 lbs.
The weather continues to play with those looking to head offshore! Horrible windy weather kept many at the dock some days, but when boats could break out, the fishing has been good. Last Thursday would be an example! The wind laid down and lots of yellowfin tuna hit the docks, more on that later. We also saw several more of our “First Fish” categories close out for 2021 including reports of the first wahoo on June 17th by Gary Welch in the Washington Canyon, The first cobia report came from Shannon Pickens who found his 36 pound “man in the brown suit” just 5 miles south of the Ocean City Inlet on a 1/2 oz. bucktail and Veronica Cannuli caught the first sheepshead just outside of the Ocean City Inlet. Both were caught on Thursday June 17th. This leaves only the “First Fish” for longfin tuna up for grabs!
We do have a minor correction to make from last week’s report on the First White Marlin catch and release of 2021 and associated prize monies. There are three sources that provide award monies for the boat that catches and releases the first white marlin of the season; the Town of Ocean City, Fisherman’s United Ocean City (the Coastal Fisherman is a sponsor) and the Ocean City Marlin Club. Each of these have their own qualification specifics and rules. As we reported, the “TUNAFOWL” based at Sunset Marina did in fact release the first white of the season, however they did not qualify for all three of the awards as we reported. After publishing we were informed by Ocean City Marlin Club President Boz Jefferson that “The catching of the first white marlin as previously reported did not meet the Ocean City Marlin Club’s criteria for the seasonal award....”. Meaning that the “TUNAFOWL” did still qualify for the $7,000 from Fisherman’s United of Ocean City and the $5,000 that the Town of Ocean City awards, but the $5,000 from the club remains up for grabs! President Boz shared with me that they are reviewing several catches reported since the 13th and are expected to announce the Ocean City Marlin Club winner in the day between when I am writing this and we go to press. We will of course update our social media platforms once the determination is made.
The big news last week offshore outside of the first fish was that the inaugural Tuna and Tiaras Tournament benefiting Women Supporting Women was held last Friday and Saturday with weigh-ins at the Ocean City Fishing Center. This was the first ladies only tuna tournament in Maryland, and most likely the first nationally focused on tuna. Tournament Director Pam Taylor put together a great program, and despite poor weather forecasted for Saturday, 36 boats registered with 159 anglers and over $60,000 in prize money available. Congratulations to the “Hocus Pocus” for winning Heaviest Tuna and other categories for a combined payout of $23,607. Full details can be found in our tournament section starting on page 60.
Tuna
Most of the action last week was tuna. Last week was consistent for yellowfin tuna with solid catches of upper single digits early in the week with a crescendo on Thursday of very early limit catches! The action was centered on the 100 fathom line, mostly south in the Norfolk and Washington Canyons with some action north up to the Rockpile/Southern Poor Man’s. Everything was working with mainly spreader bars/wide tracker and daisy chains with naked ballyhoo wand skirted (Joe Shute and Ilander). The boat “Slaughthouse” reported a 95.6 lb. yellowfin from the Poor Man’s in 250 fathoms, the “Second Chance” hit thier limit in 275 fathoms in the southern Poor Man’s, both the “Marli” and “Rhonda’s Osprey” had limit trips last Thursday in the Washington Canyon and were back to the dock by 11AM. Friday and Saturday saw the bite slow, moving from limit catches to low single digits as the weather moved in. Sunday and Monday were lost to wind as well.
The bigeye bite has slowed, but the ones being caught are large. The “Swords Fish” out of the Indian River Marina boated a 188 pounder south of the Poor Man’s on a skirted ballyhoo and was our heaviest to date until angler Tom Collins on the “Fishizzle” landed a 71” and 212 lb. eyeball, also in the Poor Man’s
White Marlin and Wahoo
As highlighted above, we had the first wahoo of the season reported from the Washington Canyon last Thursday. That one hit a blue and white Joe Shute on a ballyhoo. Cody Gross also picked one Friday from the south side of the Washington in 75 ° water. It was unexpected that of the 33 boats that fished Friday in the Inaugural Tuna and Tiaras Tournament, none brought a wahoo to the scales.
Blue Marlin
While there have been sightings of blue marlin, we got our first report of a blue marlin release from the “Blood Money” last Friday. They were south of the Washington when the marlin hit a ballyhoo with a blue and white Sea Witch around 11:30AM. Several releases were also reported in Cape May so we should see more action here in the upcoming weeks.
Upcoming Tournaments
We have an unusual weekend coming up with three tournaments! At least they cover a spectrum of the fishing community:
- The 6th Annual Indian River Kid’s Catch All Tournament is June 26-27 at the Indian River Marina. This is a great event for kid’s 3-18 and includes awards, gifts and food. Check out the details at www.KidsCatchAll.com
- The 42nd Annual Small Boat Tournament hosted by the Ocean City Marlin Club is for boats 34’ and under. This event offers both an inshore and offshore division and you do not need to be a member to participate. Details at www.OCMarlinClub.com
- The 3rd Annual Fish N Paddle Saltwater Slam Kayak Fishing Tournament is scheduled for June 26-27. This is the ultimate kayak fishing tournament! Kickoff and weigh-ins will be at Atlantic Tackle. Check www.FishNPaddle.com for details.
- The 39th Annual Canyon Kick Off also hosted by the Marlin Club is on July 2-4 and as with many of the club’s events, you don’t need to be a member to participate. More at www.OCMarlinClub.com.
That’s it for this week, see you at the docks! §
