Article by Larry Jock
It was a beautiful weekend in Ocean City and we saw quite a bit of action at the scales. The tuna bite looks like it is starting to heat up, so if you ever thought about chartering a boat to head offshore, take a look through this issue of the Coastal Fisherman and make some calls. It is usually a great time and one that you will remember for a long time.
Mako Mania Shark Tournament
The 18th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament was held at Bahia Marina last weekend and it was another exciting tournament for both anglers and spectators. They had 46 boats registered in the tournament and over $69,000 in prize money.
On Friday, 17 boats hit the water and the first one to arrive at the scale was the “Reel Nauti” with 16 year old, Dakota Bittner’s 398 lb. thresher shark. The thresher ate a whole bluefish near the Fingers and held on to win 1st place in the Thresher Division. “Port-A-Bella” was the next boat to hit the scale with their 229.4 lb. thresher. The charter boat, “White Lightning” took the early lead with a 135 lb. mako caught in 40 fathoms inside the Poor Man’s Canyon, but their lead didn’t last long because right behind them was a 138 lb. mako caught on the “Top Dog”.?
Day 2 of the tournament saw most of the boats leave the Inlet, but only 4 makos were weighed with none large enough to unseat the “White Lightning” and the “Top Dog”.
On Sunday, the final day of the tournament, most people were expecting the “Reel Nauti” to hold on to the top spot in the Thresher Division, but the Mako Division looked like it was up for grabs. The “Playmate” was the first boat to arrive and just missed breaking into the top 3 positions with a 129.6 lb. mako. All was quiet until the “Nontypical” showed up with a 223.7 pounder, good enough to take over 1st place in the Mako Division and win a check for over $38,000. Capt. Terry Layton found an acre school of big, chopper bluefish in 66-degree water south of the Hot Dog.
They didn’t even have their second bait in the water when the big mako took the tuna fillet offered by angler Tim McGuire and the fight was on. A half hour later, the fish was worth money.
The final boat at the scale was the “Wrecker” with 5 chopper bluefish. Their 2 heaviest, weighing 10.8 and 11.4 lbs., took 1st and 2nd in the Bluefish Division and were caught in 30 fathoms at the Sausages on Gotcha Plugs and Rat-L-Traps.
Sharks
Outside of the Mako Mania Shark Tournament, the big news was the 610 lb. thresher shark caught by anglers on the “Fin Chaser”. The big thresher, only 32 lbs. shy of the Maryland state record, was hooked on a mackerel at the Fingers last Friday.
Most of the shark action over the weekend took place around the Hot Dog, Sausages and the Fingers. There was a 317 lb. mako caught out of the Indian River Marina by anglers fishing in 500 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon.
Tuna
It was a good weekend for tuna fishermen with Saturday being the better of the 2 days. Several boats returned with good catches of yellowfins in the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons.
On Saturday, “Grande Pez” had a great day in the Poor Man’s with 10 yellowfins ending up in their box. In the Baltimore, “Boss Hogg” caught 8 yellowfins and the “Marli” ended up with a half dozen. Hugh and J.L. Cropper took their World Cat out to the Poor Man’s where they also ended up with 6 yellowfins in the box from 100 fathoms.
On Sunday, the “Reel Fin Addict” fished in 70 to 100 fathoms in the Poor Man’s and had 8 yellowfins and a couple of mahi. The “Triple S” went to the Baltimore Canyon where they caught 6 nice size yellowfins and a dolphin.
The bigeye bite had anglers chomping at the bit all week to get to their favorite bigeye hole. On Wednesday, the charter boat, “Foolish Pleasures” returned with a 140.65 pounder from 500 fathoms, south of the Poor Man’s where Capt. Dale Lisi found 70-degree water. On Saturday, the “Halcyon” reportedly caught 2 bigeyes and a dolphin in the Poor Man’s with their largest eyeball weighing 227 lbs. Also on Saturday, Bill Sands caught a 133 lb. bigeye on a trolled ballyhoo in the Poor Man’s and the “Reel Intents” returned with a 126 pounder from the Baltimore.
There were 3 bigeyes caught over the weekend by Indian River boats. The fish were caught in the Baltimore Canyon with the heaviest weighing 180 lbs.
Flounder
Anglers were frustrated for most of the week with dirty water conditions in the bay resulting in a sub par flounder bite. The cleanest water was found on most days outside the South Jetty where anglers were able to pick up a few flatties. This was where Chuck Wenzel ended up with 3 keepers on Sunday, all caught on Gulp!.
Early in the week, we saw a few flounder come in from the East Channel and from anglers trolling and drifting over the flats north of the Thorofare.
Sea Bass
Headboats continue to put their anglers on good catches of knotheads when fishing on ocean structure. In addition to good numbers of sea bass being caught, we also saw several fish weighing over 3 lbs. landed last week. Clams and squid continue to be the best offerings.
Sheepshead
We saw 2 sheepshead caught last week. The first came in from a junior angler fishing on the charter boat, “Lucky Break” early in the week. The 5 lb. 15 oz. fish was caught on a green crab while the boat was anchored at the South Jetty.
The 2nd sheepshead was also caught at the South Jetty, but this one was hooked on Sunday by Brian Scharle while fishing from his kayak. Brian’s sheepshead measured 17-inches and weighed 3 lbs. 10 oz.
In the Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reported that more stripers were caught in the surf, but not in any great numbers. Bluefish, sharks, rays and kingfish continued to dominate the action in the suds.
Upcoming Tournament
Unbelievably, there isn’t a tournament this weekend in Ocean City.
To make up for it, there are 2 tournaments on the schedule the following weekend. The M.S.S.A. Tuna-Ment will be held on June 20th, 21st and 22nd. Weigh-ins will be held locally at Sunset Marina and at Hook’em & Cook’em at the Indian River Marina. For more information, you can call 410-255-5535.
The Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament will also be held at Sunset Marina on June 21st and 22nd. This tournament has both inshore and offshore divisions and is open to all boats 34-feet and under. For more information, please call the Ocean City Marlin Club at 410-213-1833.
See you at the scales!
