Article by Larry Jock
This Week Last Year
•Total weekend blowout last year. Kid’s Classic was cancelled.
•East Channel was the top spot for bay flounder fishing with other catches coming from the South Jetty, Thorofare and mouth of the Commercial Harbor.
•White Gulp Swimming Mullet was the top flounder bait followed by belly meat.
•Larger flounder came in from ocean sites.
•Croakers and spot were caught around the Rt. 90 Bridge. Chartreuse Fishbites worked the best.
•Cobia started showing up around Little Gull Shoal, Great Gull Shoal.
•The best tuna bite was in 30 to 50 fathoms around the Hambone, Hot Dog and in Massey’s Canyon. Yellowfins were mixed in with bluefins.
It was unbearably hot on most days last week, but that didn’t keep anglers from trying to bend a rod.
Last weekend was highlighted by the 15th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Kid’s Classic. Last season the event was cancelled due to bad weather. This year, around 250 anglers entered the tournament, which was down from previous years where the number is usually between 350 and 400 anglers. No doubt the high temperatures kept some folks in their air conditioned house and the kids on their XBox.
We did see some really nice catches come to the tournament scale by the junior anglers. The crew on “Gret’s Three J’s” arrived on the first day of the tournament with 4 white marlin releases from the Baltimore Canyon. The following day they released another 4 whites from 1,000 fathoms outside the Poor Man’s. They also weighed a 22.2 lb. wahoo, one of 6 wahoo bites they had on Sunday.
Another notable catch on Sunday was the “Fish Bound” coming to the scale with 26 flounder in the box, including the 6.2 lb. winning fish caught by Landon Bounds. The flatties were caught on minnows, cut bait and Gulp artificial baits in 90-feet of water, straight out from the Ocean City Inlet.
Also on Sunday, we saw the “Fish On” arrive with a 60.2 lb. yellowfin that was caught in the Baltimore Canyon and took 1st place in the Tuna Division.
Although there wasn’t a category for cobia, Alayna Goslee on the “I-Cart-er” weighed a 33.8 pounder that she hooked on a bucktail outside of Little Gull Shoal.
Speaking of cobia, last week, and especially over the weekend, many reports flowed in about cobia either hooked or spotted off the coast. Great Gull Shoal was definitely the top spot for the “man in the brown suit” with many fooling the curious fish with bucktails or eels. Reports also came in from anglers fishing just outside the Indian River Inlet, so cobia were stretched along the coast from Ocean City up to the Indian River. Last year, the waters off Bethany Beach was the hot spot.
Remember that cobia regulations in Maryland state waters is 1 fish per angler with a maximum of 3 per boat. In Federal water, they allow you 1 fish per angler and 6 per boat. I confirmed with a representative from the Maryland DNR Police that if you are heading in from federal waters and you have 6 cobia in the boat, you better not stop until you get to the dock. This is similar to how they have treated other catches of species with similar differences between state and federal regulations.
Tuna fishing is very slow right now. Water temperature in the canyons has been reported between 80 and 85-degrees. Early in the week, some yellowfins were caught down by the 800/800, but as the week progressed most boats started heading to the Baltimore Canyon in search of billfish. Several white marlin and at least one blue marlin was caught during the Kid’s Classic over the weekend. On Sunday, Chase Burbage caught his first blue marlin in 800 fathoms outside the Baltimore. Several other junior anglers caught and released white marlin in the Baltimore Canyon with many celebrating their “first” white marlin with a celebratory plunge into the Sunset Marina basin at the tournament scale.
A few wahoo were also boated in the Baltimore Canyon last week including a 54 pounder caught on “The Zipper” last Sunday.
Dolphin continue to be caught all over the canyons and we are starting to see some good size bulls being hooked on the troll.
Flounder fishing on ocean wrecks, reefs and open bottom is continuing to improve. I wouldn’t say that it is red hot or even as good as it was this time last year, but it is improving. It looks like you have to be in 75 to 100-feet of water right now to get on the best bite. One captain told me last week that he was speaking with a diver who told him that the water temperature on the bottom was 48-degrees. The lack of wind has kept the water from turning over, keeping the bottom much cooler than normal. Perhaps this could be the reason for the inconsistent ocean flounder bite.
Sea bass fishing is very inconsistent right now. We aren’t seeing many limits being caught by anglers fishing ocean structure with squid and clams. Most fish are in the 2 lb. range, but a few around 3 lbs. and over have also been thrown into coolers lately.
In addition to the cobia that have been seen cruising the surface around sting rays and schools of bunker, anglers have also been surprised with the number of Spanish mackerel caught this season. Last week, some lucky anglers were able to jump on a big school of Spanish mackerel that showed up just outside the Ocean City Inlet. We also had reports that schools were found just outside the Indian River Inlet as well, so they must also be stretched out all along the coast. We also saw a few caught last week in the inlet and in the bay behind Assateague Island including a first for Big Bird Cropper.
Boats that are heading down to Winter Quarter Shoal are finding plenty of triggerfish and some flounder to keep anglers busy. This spot is really overlooked by a majority of anglers and is well worth the trip.
Flounder fishing in the bay is excellent right now. You will have to deal with a lot of throwbacks, but anglers who are fishing with live spot are doing very well in the East Channel, the West Channel, in the Thorofare and around the South Jetty. Anglers are also seeing good bites coming in from the bay behind the Ocean City Airport and near Castaway’s Campground. Basically, the flatties are all over! I know I say it all the time, but the warm weather has made it even more important to find those deeper holes in the bay where the water is cooler.
Although white Gulp Swimming Mullets are still producing most of the catches in the bay, those fishing with live baby spot seem to be doing well and catching a better class of fish.
The Rt. 50 Bridge has been a great place to fish over the last several weeks. In addition to flounder being caught all along the bridge, we are also seeing hook-ups of various size bluefish, Spanish mackerel, pompano and stripers.
In the suds, surfcasters are still finding a surprising number of pompano interested in their offerings. The kingfish bite has slowed a bit, but anglers are still tangling with sharks, skates and rays at night.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the Big Fish Classic at the Talbot Street Pier. This is a unique tournament where anglers can choose to fish for 32 hours from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon or Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. Biggest fish wins! Weigh-ins are from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Friday and Saturday and 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Sunday. Just like the Poor Girls Open, this tournament is great for spectators because you can get so close to the action.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
