Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• Trish Walsh brought a 149 lb. allison/yellowfin tuna to the dock from the Poor Man’s in 1000 fathoms. She was fishing on the “Big Stick”.
• The “Top Dog” took top honors in the new ladies only billfish release tournament, Rebels Release.
• While the overall billfish bite was solid, it was scattered. Capt. Joe Drosey on the “Rhonda’s Osprey” had a bright spot though achieving a Billfish Grand Slam by releasing a white marlin, blue marlin and sailfish all in a single trip.
On Saturday the 28th Annual Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open wrapped up after 155 boats and 771 anglers participated in the annual charity event for breast cancer awareness. This year’s event saw a purse of over $250,000 and a donation of $125,000 to the American Cancer Society. It was such a great tournament for not only the anglers and crew but also for the spectators and survivors that participated.
This event is primarily a billfish release tournament but also has divisions for tuna, dolphin and mahi. All categories had great action over the 3 day tournament. The lady anglers on the “Talkin’ Trash” set the bar early on Thursday being the first boat to the scales bringing a 162.7 lb. bigeye tuna to the scales that Rose Kalinock caught. This was only one of the 19 tuna they caught that day trolling in 400 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. While not the largest bigeye we have seen this season, it certainly was one of the biggest lately and it remained unchallenged ending the tournament in the top spot! The Billfish Release Division also saw good catches with the top three place holders hitting the leaderboard on each of the tournaments three day. First on Day 1 was the Cocktails & Canyons crew on the “Big Stick”. They released an impressive 8 white marlins and a blue marlin earning 910 points. Tuesday saw stiff competition from the “Blood Money” when they returned with a report of 9 white marlin releases for their 3 anglers posting 900 points to the leaderboard. A blue marlin release was worth 10 more points than a white keeping the “Big Stick” in the lead. And finally on Saturday the “Max Bet” posted 7 white marlin releases for 2 lady anglers locking in 3rd Place. Ending in 1st Place were the crew of the “Big Stick” earning $136,805 in award monies. All the releases in the top three were from outside the Poor Man’s Canyon in 1000 - 1200 fathoms. Our full tournament coverage with pictures and details starts on page 60.
The overall offshore bite has been tough the past couple of weeks and that continued through the early part of last week. Starting last Wednesday however it picked up for marlin and as we saw with the “Talkin’ Trash” during the Poor Girl’s the tuna bite was on. The majority of our reports had the billfish moving north and in deep water to the east and southeast of the Poor Man’s Canyon with the secondary reports east of the Baltimore. Depth was fairly consistent at 1000-1400 fathoms so there was some diesel burned last week!
Tuna were in the Baltimore through the Poor Man’s to the Rock Pile and from inside canyon depths to the deep water as well. The bigeye from the tournament for example was in the Baltimore in 400 fathoms. They were primarily yellowfin tunas in the 35 to 50 lb. range and hookups were mostly multiples. There was a lot of wahoo action last weekend as well with half a dozen nice sized speedsters being brought to the scales. Most of our report were for 40 - 50 lb. fish, however Kelly Rhoten on the “Nauti Norwegian” took first place in the Poor Girls with a 65.5 pounder they got outside the Baltimore Canyon in 400 fathoms. Many have been lost too after hitting on white marlin spreads and cutting through the leaders.
Lastly, the mahi bite has been steady and we are seeing nice reportsw for gaffer and peanut sizes on the inshore reefs and wrecks from headboats like the “Angler”, “Judith M” and the “Morning Star” as well as the offshore canyon charter boats. A definite highlight was the 49 lb. bull dolphin caught by Mike Hendrickson on the “Wrecker” from the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Upcoming Tournaments;
• The 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Tournament is in full swing this week from August 16th thru 20th with weigh ins from 5 - 9PM at both the Canyon Club Marina in Cape May and at Sunset Marina in Ocean City. This is another tournament with a multi-million dollar purse sure to bring big fish to the docks!
• The Ocean City Marlin Club hosts its 6th Annual Marlin Club vs Oc Light Tackle Club Shoot-Out from August 27-29th.
There are not weigh-ins for this event and more information may be found at ocmarlinclub.com
Follow our Tournament Schedule in the paper and on-line to keep up to date!
Until next week, I will see you at the scales! §
