Article by Larry Jock
It was a crazy week of fishing, both in the bay and off the coast. We saw big catches and big fish from those chasing flatties. Tuna fishermen saw the bite die and then come back to life over the weekend and billfishermen continued their assault in the Canyons. You just never knew what to expect from day to day.
Flounder
The flounder bite was inconsistent last week. For most of the week, anglers struggled to find their keeper. Throwbacks were numerous, and larger fish were scarce. How high was the throwback ratio? Well, on Tuesday the “Bay Bee” recorded 82 throwbacks during their morning trip and another 70 in the afternoon. That looked to change later in the week when we started seeing good size flatties hit the dock. Almost all of the heavier fish came from deeper holes around the bay, which is pretty consistent with what we see during this time of year when bay waters start to really warm up. The deeper water in the West Channel off Martha’s Landing and along the houses in the Thorofare produced some quality fish.
The largest flounder of the week was Jim Small’s 27-incher that he surprisingly caught on a Gotcha Plug along the rocks at the corner of the Inlet and the bay behind Assateague Island. I must admit, that is the first flounder I have seen caught at that location.
As far as sheer numbers of flounder caught in a trip, the “Lucky Break” really lit it up on Wednesday, returning with 11 in the box after drifting in the West Channel off Gudelsky Park. Capt. Jason Mumford said they got all 11 in around 7 drifts.
Good size flounder are also being caught on ocean reefs and wrecks. Both the “Morning Star” and the “Angler” returned with nice fish up to 4 lbs. last week. If you want to make the 20-mile run to the Old Grounds, it just might be worth your while. Anglers fishing out of Lewes, DE are having good luck at this area.
Sea Bass
The ocean reefs and wrecks are producing decent catches of sea bass lately. Anglers using clams are getting the best results. The Great Eastern Reef and the Susan Powers Reef at the Jackspot are both giving up nice size fish. Like flounder, you have to weed through throwbacks to get one for the cooler.
Croaker
Some hardheads showed up in the bay three to four weeks ago and we thought the bite was on. Unfortunately, it lasted only a few days and then they disappeared. Well, we got our first report of croakers back in our bay late last week. However, they are small, in the 7-9 inch range. The best bite occurred around 28th Street. Hopefully, they will stick around a bit, and we will see an influx of larger fish.
Striped Bass
The striped bass bite heated up again around the South Jetty, but unfortunately the vast majority of fish were too small to put in the box. The only keeper we saw came in Friday when an angler on “Skip’s Charter & Guide Service” captured a 32-incher on live spot.
Tuna
Through the first half of the week, anglers were still landing good numbers of yellowfin tuna while chunking at the Hot Dog, where the “Restless Lady” ended their day with 17 in the box on Wednesday. However, on Thursday, the bite slowed dramatically and by the weekend the chunking bite was dead.
The good news is that a larger class of yellowfins were found by boats trolling in the Washington Canyon and between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons in 50 to 100 fathoms. Over the weekend, boats averaged two to seven fish weighing up to 65 lbs. On Saturday, Capt. Jason Norton on the “Ranger” bucked the trend and fished my himself in the Washington Canyon and ended up with 7 yellowfins on Saturday and 9 on Sunday.
On Tuesday, a couple of bigeye tuna were landed in the Washington Canyon. “Moore Bills” returned with a 260 pounder and the “Singularis” boated one weighing 230 lbs.
Dolphin
The dolphin bite followed the tuna bite, shifting from the Hot Dog early in the week to the canyons over the weekend.
On Friday, the “No Quarter” boated a pair of dolphin in the Baltimore Canyon weighing 23 and 31 lbs.
The largest mahi to hit the scales this past week was a
65 pounder caught by the “Singularis” on Saturday. As of press time, we weren’t able to secure a picture of this beast. Hopefully, we will have it for you in next weeks issue.
Billfish
It was another steady week for billfishermen. White marlin releases were recorded throughout the week starting in the Washington Canyon and ended up in 50 to 100 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons over the weekend. The bite wasn’t red hot, with most boats returning with one to three releases per trip.
At least 7 blue marlin were released last week by boats trolling in the Washington and Baltimore Canyons.
On Saturday, “Coolin’ Out” ventured out to the Washington Canyon where they released 2 sailfish and a white marlin.
Wahoo
On Wednesday, the “Ranger” caught a wahoo on the troll at the Hot Dog. The “Jet Lag” boated a 40 pounder in 30 fathoms at the Sausages where “One A Day” captured a 53-incher on Sunday.
Upcoming Tournaments
This coming weekend we have two tournaments on the schedule. On Friday and Saturday, the 3rd Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Ladies Tournament will be held with weigh-ins at Sunset Marina from 5:00 to 7:30 PM.
For those anglers who like to chase the flatties, the Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce will hold their 4th Annual Flounder Tournament at the Ocean Pines Marina. Fishing is from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM with weigh-ins from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Cost is only $30 per person.
All this leads into the 38th Annual White Marlin Open that begins on Monday. Weigh-ins are Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 9:15 PM at Harbour Island.
See you at the scales.
