Article by Larry Jock
Thanks to Mother Nature, the week started with a bang and ended with a bang. Problem was that the middle of the week fizzled out due to poor sea conditions. Oh well, we shouldn’t complain. We’ve had a great summer weather-wise and hopefully it will continue.
As this report is being written late on Monday, the first day of the 37th Annual White Marlin Open has concluded and there was one word for it... INSANE! Close to 60 fish were weighed, breaking a single day record. A few fish were weighed in the first hour and a half of the weigh-in, and after that the action never stopped until the scales were closed around 11:00 PM, almost 2 hours after the scheduled close.
The fish that had the crowd really humming was the 790 lb. blue marlin that Trey Little caught while fishing on the “Scandalous”. This fish was fat, with a girth of 70-inches. As they say, timing is everything, and it certainly applies here since it was the first blue marlin Trey ever caught. At the time the scales closed on Monday, this fish was worth $500,000.
The largest white marlin of the day was Bob Hinman’s 78.5 pounder caught on a naked ballyhoo while fishing on the “Troublemaker”.
Several large dolphin were weighed during the first day of the tournament with Cory Bubb’s 53.5 pounder at the top of the leaderboard. Cory hooked the bull dolphin on a naked ballyhoo while on the “Top Gun”, a boat fishing out of Cape May, NJ.
The final boat of the marathon weigh-in was local charter boat, “That’s Right” with Capt. John Oughton at the helm. Angler Travis Boone, from Baltimore, MD, weighed a 76.5 lb. yellowfin to take the lead in the Tuna Division.
Another local boat that had a phenomenal day was the “Fin-esse”, whose anglers recorded 10 white marlin releases on the first day alone.
Overall, it was a day that nobody will soon forget, and certainly sets the stage for a memorable 2010 White Marlin Open. Stay tuned for next week’s Coastal Fisherman for a full recap of the tournament and photos of all the winning fish.
Billfish
Just in time for the White Marlin Open, we saw quite a few billfish releases in spite of rough sea conditions during the middle of the week. On Tuesday, several boats went out to the Baltimore Canyon and released a few white marlin. On Wednesday, the action shifted to the Washington Canyon where the “D.A. Sea” released 8 and the “Reel Joy” released 3. “Pumpin Hard 66” and the “Reel Toy” each released 2 further south in the Norfolk Canyon. On Thursday, the “D.A. Sea” went to the Washington Canyon again, this time releasing 4 white marlin.
On Friday, the “Billfisher” took off in rough seas for the Norfolk Canyon and was rewarded with 2 white marlin releases and a blue marlin.
On Saturday, the action slowed in the Washington Canyon, probably due to an incredible amount of boats in that area. Most boats returned frustrated with one or two white marlin releases. The “Fin-esse” and “Bailey’s Ark” each released a blue marlin, with “Fin-esse” hooking theirs south of the Washington Canyon and “Bailey’s Ark” releasing theirs at the Rockpile.
Tuna
The rough sea conditions kept most charter boats at the dock during the middle part of the week, although Wednesday the “Always Late” had a 57 lb. yellowfin in the Washington Canyon and “Blood, Sweat & Tears” returned with 2 from the Baltimore Canyon. On Saturday, we saw a few caught by anglers in the Marlin Club Ladies Tournament where West Ocean City’s Nora Dunn caught a 61.6 pounder in the Washington Canyon to win the Yellowfin Division. The “American Lady”, also in the Washington Canyon, returned with 3 yellowfins in the box, weighing between 52.8 lbs. and 57.4 lbs. The largest catch on Saturday came from the crew on the “That’s Right” with 5 yellowfins caught inshore of the Washington.
Sunday was a light day, with most boats preparing for the WMO. The “Tuna Box” did catch a couple of yellowfin while trolling between the Hot Dog and the Poor Man’s Canyon. Their heaviest tipped the scales at 53 lbs.
A couple of bluefins were also caught during the week. On Tuesday, the “Candy Man” boxed a 55 pounder from just outside the Hambone and on Thursday, the “Marli” caught a bluefin around the Tea Cup.
Dolphin
We continue to see a lot of dolphin being caught by anglers in search of tuna and billfish. The most impressive catch of the week was the 50 pounder caught by Matt McGuigan in the Baltimore Canyon early in the week. Matt battled the bull dolphin for over 2 hours after hooking it on a light flounder rod with 14 lb. test. This is the largest dolphin caught out of Ocean City so far this year.
Elsewhere, most of the dolphin we saw this week were bailer dolphin, which kept the fish cleaners very busy. The fish were caught on cut bait in the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons early in the week, and shifted to the Washington at the end of the week.
Wahoo
With warm water pushing its way inshore, we saw a couple of wahoo landed this week. On Thursday, the “Marli” caught one at the Tea Cup and the “Legasea” forgot to call to get a picture taken of their 63 pounder caught in the Norfolk Canyon.
Striped Bass
Anglers are having really good success catching linesiders under the Rt. 50 Bridge. Drifting live spot or croaker has really been doing the trick. “The King” told me that he has been catching them by fishing the north side of the bridge and letting the outgoing tide take his live spot on a fishfinder rig right under the bridge. Like flounder, you have to weed through the throwbacks to get your keeper, but if you put your time in, the larger fish are there.
Flounder
It was an excellent week for flounder fishermen. We saw more keepers caught this past week than we have seen in quite some time. No doubt, the Ocean Pines Flounder Tournament on Saturday contributed a lot to the number of flounder caught. When you have 181 anglers going after one species of fish, you hope a lot are caught, and they were. Capt. Nick on the “Get Sum” had me laughing when he told me that there was a “steady 4-foot chop in the East Channel” on Saturday due to all the boat traffic.
Anyway, a couple of impressive catches from the week are worth mentioning. On Friday, Frank Zeccola stopped by the office to have his picture taken with 2 flounder, weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 6 lbs., caught on strip baits around the South Jetty. On Saturday, Barry Meredith caught a 6.2 pounder, also around the South Jetty, and the crew on the “Sea Hunter” ventured down behind the Ocean City Airport where they nabbed 8 keepers, all on white Gulp! Swimming Mullets.
Speaking of baits, if you don’t carry a tub of Gulp! Swimming Mullets, you might want to reconsider. This bait is red hot, and has been for quite a few weeks now. Anglers are also finding success dropping live spot to the bottom to catch larger flatties.
There were a few hot spots this week. The East Channel, both around the Rt. 50 Bridge and up around Harbour Island, the mouth of the Commercial Harbor, the Thorofare and around the South Jetty all produced quality catches last week.
Cobia
The “Fish Finder” keeps banging away at the cobia, last week catching 2 around Great Gull Shoal. The fish weighed 31 lbs. and 41 lbs. and were caught on live spot.
Croaker
Hardheads are here, just not in any numbers. Most are at or under the 9-inch minimum size. Fish are being hooked around the mouth of the Commercial Harbor and in the channel that runs in front of Gudelsky Park on the west side of the bay.
Sea Bass
Capt. Monty on the “Morning Star” reported a good week of sea bass fishing. In Monty-talk, it came out as: “Some outstanding fishing this week. Odd for heart of summer really. Take your luck where you find it I suppose. It certainly wasn't all gravy.”
Upcoming Tournament
This week the White Marlin Open continues through Friday. Weigh-ins are from 4:00 to 9:15 PM. Keep an eye on our online fishing report at www.coastalfisherman.net for daily tournament updates. Providing there is a good weather forecast, Friday can be a very interesting day to visit the scale at Harbour Island. Some exciting things can happen on the final day of the tournament.
The next tournament on the schedule is the Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls’ Open at Bahia Marina scheduled for August 12th, 13th and 14th. This tournament is an absolute blast for both anglers and spectators. The lady anglers really get into it and bring some nice fish to the scale. Plus, they get excited about their catches, which makes it even more fun to watch. Weigh-ins are from 4:00 to 7:30 PM.
See you at the scales!
