Article by Larry Jock
It may not go down as one of the greatest weeks of fishing in Ocean City, but there were some tremendous fish caught throughout the week. Even though Emma Zajdel’s Maryland State Record cobia was on the cover of this issue, it very well could have been the 102 lb. wahoo caught on the “Pumpin’ Hard” or the 125.8 lb. yellowfin caught on the “Brenda Lou”. All were incredible catches.
Cobia
We have to start off the report with Emma Zajdel’s Maryland State Record cobia, caught last Thursday night. Emma was fishing on the “Victorious” when they started heading back from the Jackspot where they were looking for some bluefin tuna because a storm was moving in. They noticed some birds working around Little Gull Shoal, a couple of miles southeast of the Ocean City Inlet and, thinking they were bluefish feeding on schools of bait, decided to throw out some skirted ballyhoo. The 94.6 lb. cobia hit the ballyhoo and the fight was on and 9-year-old, Emma grabbed the rod. They were able to get their other lines cleared and chased down the big cobia, enabling Emma to get it to the boat in 20 minutes. This cobia was huge and easily surpassed the current Maryland State Record of 74 lbs. set back in 2014. Big congratulations go out to Emma, her dad, Eddie Zajdel, Robert Clarke and his son, Ashton. That was quite a fish!
Tuna
The water that was producing incredible yellowfin catches over the last month has moved further offshore into 1,000 fathoms, so tuna fishermen concentrated their efforts last week on the 20 fathoms line in search of bluefin tuna. The bluefin bite was painfully slow all weekend with most of the action coming from Massey’s Canyon, but we also saw fish caught around the Chicken Bone, Hot Dog and Hambone as well. Several charter boats returned from Massey’s with their limit of 4 bluefins and on some days, a couple of yellowfin and mahi as well. Those looking for giant bluefins were able to find them in 1,000 fathoms where the commercial guys banged on them hard recently.
Yellowfin tuna were caught over the weekend in the Poor Man’s Canyon, at the Tea Cup, around 461 Lump and at the Rockpile. While most of the yellowfins are in the 35 to 45 lb. range, we did see three 50+ lb. yellowfins caught on the “Second Chance” while they were trolling in 1,000 fathoms outside the Washington Canyon on Friday. The highlight of the weekend was the 125.8 lb. yellowfin caught during the Marlin Club Canyon Kick-Off by Brian Stempowski on the “Brenda Lou”. The big allison was hooked in 600 fathoms outside the Rockpile in 76-degree water and took Brian 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the boat. I think it is safe to say that this will be the largest yellowfin tuna caught this season.
Early in the week, anglers on the “Triple S” boated a pair of longfins while trolling in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Wahoo
This was the best week of the season so far for those looking for wahoo. On Friday, Charlie Long on the charter boat, “Pumpin’ Hard” muscled in an absolute monster wahoo, a 102 pounder, while trolling in 80 fathoms just above the Washington Canyon. Surprisingly, the fight only lasted around 15 minutes and was caught on a skirted ballyhoo with a mono leader.
Other wahoo were caught throughout the week in the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons and we even saw one come in from the Fingers after being hooked on a Green Machine.
Mahi
Boats returning with bluefins and yellowfins often found mahi mixed in as well. The largest mahi we saw last week was a 25.4 pounder caught on the “Second Chance” in 1,000 fathoms outside the Washington Canyon over the long weekend.
Billfish
Several boats recorded multiple white marlin releases while trolling in the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons last week. We even saw some blue marlin releases as well. Early in the week, “Rhonda’s Osprey” released a blue marlin in the Poor Man’s that was estimated at over 500 lbs. Also on Tuesday, both the “All In” and the “Odinspear” released blue marlin in the Poor Man’s.
The leader of the week was the “Streaker” who recorded 4 white marlin releases while trolling in 1,000 fathoms outside the Poor Man’s Canyon on Sunday. Their timing was good since it put them in 1st place in the Billfish Release Division of the Marlin Club Canyon Kick-Off.
Flounder
The flounder bite is scattered around the bay. Keepers are being caught in the East and West Channels, north of the Rt. 50 Bridge and around the South Jetty. Finding clean water has been the key.
As this column was being written, the charter boat, “Get Sum” called to say that they had 10 keepers in the box during their morning trip with fish caught in the East Channel, West Channel north of Hooper’s and in the West Channel off Martha’s Landing.
Those looking to break the Inlet are finding incredible flounder catches at the Old Grounds, but if you don’t want to make that 20-mile trip, you can find them on several closer reefs and wrecks such as the African Queen and the Great Eastern Reef.
In the bay, the top bait continues to be white Gulp! Swimming Mullets, either fished alone or combined with a live minnow. On ocean structure, anglers have had good success fishing cut bait or strips of mahi and flounder belly.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the famous Ocean City Tuna Tournament at the Ocean City Fishing Center. This tournament is always packed with exciting action and spectators can get a great view of the fish being weighed at Micky Fins Restaurant right there at the Fishing Center. Weigh-ins are from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday and 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Sunday. Most of the weigh-ins will be at the Ocean City Fishing Center, but if you are around Sunset Marina on Friday and Saturday, boats will be allowed to weigh stringers there as well.
See you at the scales!
