Article by Dale Timmons
Talk about an amazing finish! I have to congratulate angler Scott Lathroum, a.k.a. “Spunk”, of the Reel Inn, along with owner Scott Steele and the crew of the “Toplesss” for their winning 95 lb. white marlin in the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 tournament, held last week at Sunset Marina in OC and South Jersey Marina in Cape May, NJ. The big white was caught on the final day of the tournament, when very few other boats were even fishing. I wasn’t at the weigh-in, but publisher Larry Jock said the fish was a true white and not a roundscale spearfish. Larry also said that his win marks three years in a row that a boat fishing out of OC has won the white marlin division. The winning fish has been caught on the last day for the last two years. So again, nice going, guys…
A news release from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission last week confirmed what most fishermen already know—the weakfish (gray trout) “biomass” is in the toilet. An independent panel of scientists “confirmed that stocks are at an all time low and current fishery removals are unsustainable under existing stock conditions. It agreed with the stock assessment’s conclusions that weakfish abundance has declined markedly, total mortality is high, non-fishing mortality has recently increased, and the stock is currently in a depleted state.” The release states that the weakfish stock is at a low of 2.9 million pounds, “far below the proposed biomass threshold of 22.4 million pounds.” That means it is only 10 per cent of what it should be at minimum. One positive note in the release says that “juvenile surveys indicate young-of-the-year weakfish continued to be present in numbers similar to previous years…” The ASMFC Weakfish Management Board is currently preparing Draft Addendum IV, which will propose a range of options to reduce fishing mortality, including a possible complete harvest moratorium and limited bycatch-only fisheries. A public comment period will begin sometime this fall. The days are gone when we could fill coolers with the big purple gold trout in spring and fall. I just hope that whatever actions are taken are not too late and the trout get a chance to come back, though probably not in my lifetime. In fact, we probably should have had a moratorium on weakfish 10 years ago…
I was reading an article last week on fishing the back bays of Ocean City in another local fishing publication when I came across the statement, “The Thorofare, the long stretch of deep water between the sea wall behind OC near 8th street and the western shore of the bay…” Gosh, I guess I’m not doing my job, because I sure wasn’t aware that they had moved the Thorofare. I mean, I’ve been here my whole life, and the Thorofare was always a short stretch of deep water between the mainland and Dog and Bitch Islands on the west side of the bay, just about opposite Harbour Island. Of course, most of Dog and Bitch Islands has now washed away, but I don’t think they moved the Thorofare all the way across the bay to 8th Street…
Had a call from a friend of mine, Del Baker, who is an OC paramedic and firefighter. Seems that Del, his sister and some friends were recently attacked by the same “chiggers on steroids” that tore me up a couple of years ago while I was clamming. Del told me there has been quite an outbreak, and that some folks have even had to go to the hospital. The culprit is a parasite, not “crab larvae”, and the condition is known as Schistosomal Cercarial Dermatitis. A gentleman named Dr. Rick Kutz sent me information about the parasite after I complained originally. According to Dr. Kutz, “The parasite is a fluke (flatworm) that cycles between waterfowl and snails. The waterfowl release eggs in their feces, and the snails ingest the eggs, which further develop within their bodies. In the fall, the infective state (called cercariae) is released in the water from the snails and search for waterfowl to infect. The cercariae sometimes attempt to infect hosts that are refractory to the infection (like humans). In humans, the infective stage can only penetrate a few layers of the skin, but they cause a severe itch! Sometimes the site becomes infected.” Apparently, some folks (like me) are more allergic to the little critters burrowing into their skin than others. At the time, Sue Foster told me the only way she had found to prevent being attacked was to slather on bug spray and suntan oil before going clamming. Del did some research on his own, and he said that if you start to itch when you come out of the water, flushing with fresh water is the best initial treatment. If you do become infected, there is a topical ointment, which is by prescription, called Fluocinonide Cream, which helps considerably. I think muddy areas, like the west side of Skimmer Island, are more infected than sandy bottoms, and the presence of green “cabbage” seaweed makes it even worse…you have been warned…
Speaking of warnings, I was reading a discussion on one of the local web sites about being hit by the barb on a stingray tail and what to do about it. The best advice, of course, is to avoid getting hit in the first place, but accidents do happen, and all I know is that a lot of the “old timers” who gigged flounder in the sounds behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina years ago always carried a bottle of turpentine in the boat. If they accidentally stepped on a ray and got stuck, they immediately poured turpentine on the wound. They claimed it would keep out infection and even helped with the pain…never done it myself, just passing along the info, for what it’s worth…
When I was a teenager, a friend of mine worked at the now defunct Paul’s Tackle Shop, and sometimes I would go help them pack squid just for something to do (it was a little slower in OC in those days). I remember sitting in school the next day with the smell of squid on my hands. Fishermen have always had to deal with stinky hands, whether from squid, bunker, peeler crabs or whatever. An enterprising young lady from Lewes, DE has been working on the problem, and she was kind enough to send me some samples of her Fisherman’s Friend Soap, which is designed to remove those fishy smells from your hands. It is a blend of lemon and orange peels, herbs, honey and an aloe moisturizer, with very little scent of its own except for a slight hint of citrus. I went to the bait freezer and rubbed some salted, partly frozen bunker on my hands and gave it a try. I admit I was a little skeptical, but the soap really did remove the bunker smell from my hands, which is hard to do. The soap is made by Beach Bumz Gifts, 1 Whitehaven Way in Lewes, and it is available wholesale or retail by calling 302-644-8380. Might be a good item for the local tackle shops and marinas…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
