Article by Larry Jock
It’s starting to look like a fishing season, ladies and gentlemen! The days are sunnier and water temperatures are on the rise. We are still 2 to 3 weeks behind schedule, but at least the docks are getting busier.
Tuna
With warmer water being spotted within reach of Ocean City, you know there were anglers chomping at the bit to get out there. On Sunday, veteran anglers on the “Nontypical” took the trip out to 100 fathoms between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons and ended up with 5 yellowfins in the box. The fish were cookie-cutters in the 40 lb. range with the largest weighing in at 41.4 lbs. Terry Layton reported pretty water ranging from 64 to 67-degrees.
After hearing this, I’m sure there will be several boats heading that direction this week, so stay tuned to our daily online fishing report at www.coastalfisherman.net.
Sharks
Just in time for the annual shark tournaments beginning in a couple of weeks, we are starting to see sharks showing up at the scale.
Fresh off their 214 lb. mako caught last week, the “Restless Lady” stayed closer to shore and fished the Marine Electric wreck on Saturday, where they boated a 125 lb. mako and released 18 blue sharks and a thresher.
On Sunday, Bob and Chris Pino took some time off from their new, West Ocean City Optical Galleria store to do some shark fishing southeast of the Jackspot. They released 12 blue sharks and a mako in 59.5-degree water. On the same day, the “Quick Draw” fished at the Marine Electric and caught a 121 lb. mako and released 8 blue sharks.
The first thresher of the year was caught by a boat out of the Indian River Marina on Saturday when Joseph Foley landed a 268.8 pounder while fishing with whole mackerel around “DB” Buoy off the coast of Delaware.
Flounder
Water temperatures in the bay continue to rise, hovering in the mid-60’s for most of the week. The Thorofare continues to be a good location for catching keeper flatties but the bay behind Assateague, running from the Ocean City Airport down to the duck blinds saw a definite increase in action. Drifting minnows, shiners or Gulp! Swimming Mullets is your best ticket for success with white or pink being the best colors for artificial baits.
The largest flounder of the year came in on Saturday when Tom Yarko showed up at our office with a 25 3/4-incher that tipped the scale at 7 lbs. 7 oz. Tom hooked the big flounder on the flats, north of the Thorofare on a minnow and curl tail combination. Tom has graced the pages of the Coastal Fisherman many times over the years, and swears by flounder belly for bait, so I was surprised to see he caught the big fish on a minnow.
Over the weekend, water conditions were spotty, but we saw multi-fish catches come in on the charter boat, “Get Sum” and the headboat, “Bay Bee”, both during trips to the bay behind Assateague. We also saw 3 keepers come in from Chuck Wenzel and Pete Renzi after drifting in the bay behind Castaway’s Campground during the incoming tide on Sunday.
Bluefish
Snapper bluefish have invaded the bay waters behind Ocean City, so if you have a light tackle rod and a metal lure, now is the time to have some fun. How much fun? How about the anglers on the charter boat, “Happy Hooker” who caught 57 snappers in only 2 hours. All of the fish were caught on bucktails and spec rigs. Small bluefish were also hooked by anglers flounder fishing in the bay behind Assateague near the duck blinds and behind the campgrounds.
Weakfish
It’s great to see an increase in the number of weakfish caught over the last few years, and it looks like this year could turn out to be even better.
Local angler, Dave Watts caught the largest weakfish of the year, an 8 lb. 2 oz. trout, while tossing a Swim shad off the Rt. 50 Bridge at 6:00 PM on Saturday night.
Another nice weakie was caught on Sunday by Jay Hoffert while fishing on the headboat, “Bay Bee”. Jay’s weakfish measured 23 1/2-inches and weighed 4 lbs. 8 oz.
Tautog
On May 16th, the daily creel limit for tog dropped from 4 per person down to 2 per person, so we will probably see less anglers heading to ocean structure in search of blackfish. The charter boat, “Fish Bound” did have a limit of tog for their 6 anglers on Sunday after a 1/2-day trip to Russell’s Reef.
Sea Bass
Finally, sea bass season opened up on May 19th. The minimum size continues to be 12 1/2-inches but the creel limit was reduced from 20 fish per person down to 15. We have seen some nice size fish released by anglers fishing on ocean structure recently, so look for some nice catches in upcoming issues.
In the Surf
The action in the surf, especially off Assateague Island, has really been a mixed bag. We heard from one angler on Tuesday that there was a great striper bite going on, especially close to the VA line, yet most said that it was horrible. The bite did seem to turn on over the weekend with many good size linesiders getting caught in the suds by anglers fishing with fresh bunker. A lot of the stripers ranged from 30-inches to over 46-inches.
In addition to striped bass, surfcasters also caught some good size black drum and on Saturday, Hugh Cropper IV caught a 25-inch red drum.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the first Ocean City tournament of the year. The 5th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Memorial Day Bluefish Tournament will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 24th and 25th with anglers able to fish one of the two days. Weigh-ins will be held at Sunset Marina from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM.
The following week is the Ocean City Shark Tournament. Historically, the tournament is held Father’s Day weekend, but this year it has been moved up to May 29th to May 31st.
See you at the scales!
