Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• Many captains reported that some of the best blue marlin fishing that they ever saw occurred during a 3 day period this week last year. The “Reel Chaos” reported 4 blue marlin releases on a single trip and saw over 10 of the big fish over a 3 day period. The Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons were the hot spots with water temps in the upper 70’s.
• Tuna catches were exclusively yellowfin with most in the 30 to 50 pound range. One standout was a 70 lb. tuna caught on the “Reel Chaos” in the Poor Man’s Canyon in 80° degree water.
• Lots of mahi were being found across the inshore lumps and coral beds. The “Gret’s Three J’s” and the “Finatic” both came in with over 40 dolphin a piece.
The last big money tournament of the season dominated the offshore action last week. This year 178 boats competed during the 31st Annual MidAtlantic Tournament with 109 of those based in Ocean City and the balance fishing out of Cape May. The good news was the billfish apparently got the word and showed up in numbers we have not seen all summer. Over the 5 days of the event a total of 334 white marlin were caught with 98% of them released. That is over twice the total whites caught during the White Marlin Open this year. The blue marlins also came to play, with 56 caught overall, 41 released and the top 3 finishers all weighed over 600 lbs.
While the billfish categories soared during the event, the Tuna Division saw tougher times. Out of the 86 tunas weighed, only 3 were bigeyes and all of the others were yellowfins. Some of those however were quite sizable, and there was even a 5 way tie for 2nd Place for the Heaviest Tuna from Ocean City boats with five 82 pounders weighed.
From a payout perspective, unlike last year, this year’s competition between ports did favor the New Jersey crews. Our Ocean City teams brought home $1,768,645 of the $5,253,190 payout, or 33%.
There was a lot of action so let’s break it down.
The first 2 days of the event saw tough offshore weather. Only 69 boats went out between the 2 ports with 26 departing from Ocean City. While Cape May saw some good action getting the first 2 blue marlins of the tournament weighed. The first was a 469 lb. blue marlin from the “Three’s Enough” followed by a 490 lb. fish from the “Random Chaos”. Two of the three bigeye tuna caught during the event from the “Right Place” were also weighed at 193 lbs. & 152 lbs. as well as a number of yellowfins. The Ocean City scales only saw one boat, the “Double R” posting 2 yellowfins with the heaviest at 68 lbs. Day 2 was a windy washout with only 3 boats taking the chance and no qualifying fish to change the leaderboard.
With 462 ‘fishing days’ left in the tournament, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all saw most of the fleet fishing with lots of action.
Billfish
The common theme for billfish during the tournament was northern waters and deep. Most of the white and blue marlins were caught east of the northern canyons from the Baltimore Canyon up to the Lindenkohl Canyon. Most were in 1,000 to 1,400 fathoms of water.
The “Max Bet” fresh off of their win in the Poor Girls Open brought the first qualifying white marlin to the scales on Wednesday that they caught east of the Baltimore Canyon in 1,000 fathoms. It measured 71” and weighed the tournament minimum of 65 lbs. and put them on the board! While it eventually finished in 4th Place for Heaviest White Marlin, the crew did take top honors in the Most Points, Most Points White Marlin and Most Billfish Points Ocean City categories with 1,040 points for the 13 white marlin they released and the 65 lb. one boated. Shortly after , the “Catch 23” pulled up to the scale with a 73 3/4” white marlin that also was found east of the Baltimore Canyon in deep water, tipping the scales at 73 lbs. This crew also had a productive week releasing a total of 7 white marlin and 2 blue marlin. That put these two in 2nd and 1st Place respectively which held through day 5.
Day 5 saw two whites shake up the leader board with the NJ based “Kaarma” bringing in a 75 lb. white to secure 1st Place overall, moving the “Catch 23” to 2nd Place and another NJ boat, the “Random Chaos” weighing a 66 lb. fish to secure 3rd Place overall moving the “Max Bet” to 4th. The “RoShamBo” also caused a commotion when they came to the dock on the last day with a 65 lb. white marlin they got trolling 107 miles out of Ocean City in 1,400 fathoms east of the Wilmington Canyon. While this tied for 4th Place overall with “Max Bet”, the crew of the “RoShamBo” had gone ‘across the board’ entering all eligible calcuttas and taking home over $275K!
The first blue marlin to the scales in Ocean City was a 494 pounder on the “No Quarter” from south of the Lindenkohl Canyon in 1,000 fathoms. This one hit on an Alan Williams Custom Lure and Alan Williams was on the boat to see it! While this was the heaviest blue marlin at the moment, their time in the sun was short as the next boat to the scales was the “Kilo Charlie” who also had a blue marlin in the cockpit. Theirs hit on an artificial lure in the Lindenkohl Canyon, also trolling in 1,000 fathoms and the 119” blue pulled the scale down to show 607 lbs., moving them comfortably into 1st Place. That was of course until ‘moving day’ on Friday where they slipped to 3rd Place for overall Heaviest Blue Marlin after the NJ boats “Low Profile” weighed the 657 lb. winner and the “Lucky 7” took the 2nd Place slot with their 691 lb. blue. Other notable catches were from the “D.A. Sea” with a 494 lb. they found in the Poor Man’s in 800 fathoms, the “Bar South” landed a 472 lb. blue, the “Zipper” took top honors in the Under 50’ Calcutta with a 414 lb. blue marlin from the Baltimore Canyon in 800 fathoms and 78° water. Last year’s 2nd Place 895 lb. blue marlin winner, the “Wolverine”, came to the scales this year with a nice 451 pounder.
Tuna
As we mentioned, bigeyes took the top 3 slots for Heaviest Tuna with local boat “Lucky Duck” topping the list with a 210 lb. eyeball they caught east of the Washington Canyon. The 5 way tie for 3rd Place for Ocean City boats was shared by “Double R”, “No Quarter” and “Catch 23”, with a single 82 lb. yellowfin and the “C- Student” who had two 82 pounders! Most of the boats that brought tuna’s to the scales had low single digit or single fish to report for the day and the big ones were reported from the 800 to 1,000 fathom lines.
Other notable catches included a 104 lb. wahoo from the crew on the “Special Situation”, caught in the Spencer Canyon that has set a new MidAtlantic Tournament record. Top honors for mahi this year went to the anglers on the “Valentine” who ventured 100 miles out to east of the Wilmington Canyon where the big dolphin hit on their left long rigger eating a naked ballyhoo. 3rd Place went to the “Sea Wolf” for their 33 lb. mahi from the Baltimore Canyon. Overall the mahi bite is good both inshore and off with fish in the peanut to gaffer ranges.
After the tournament on Sunday the billfish bite continued and appears to be moving south toward us! The “Reel Chaos” reported 5 white marlin releases, the “Knot Again” had 7, the “Big Stick” reported 1 white and 1 blue marlin released and the “Showtime!” had 4. All of these were from the Wilmington Canyon. So it looks promising for the upcoming Ocean City Marlin Club’s Labor Day White Marlin Tournament!
Lastly, we want to congratulate a couple of big blueline tilefish catches. Daine Hursh of York, PA caught a pending Delaware State record blueline tilefish last week that weighed 25.5 lbs. and measured 38”. Angler Darwin Kunth from Duncannon, PA may also have a state record blueline, this one in Maryland. He hand cranked the 21.8 lb. blueline from 360’ while fishing with Capt. Steve Danner on the “Still Lucky”.
Until next week I will see you at the scales! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• The Ocean City Marlin Club is holding its traditional Labor Day White Marlin Tournament, the 64th edition of the event on September 2nd - 4th. Registration is on the 1st from 6:30 to 8:30 at the club. This is a fish 2 of 3 day format with scales open from 6:00 - 8:00PM each night at Sunset Marina’s Tournament Scale. More at OCMarlinClub.com.
• September 11th sees two one day tournament events. The first is the Bahia Marina Flounder Pounder hosted at Fish Tales in Ocean City. This fun tournament is great for families, kids and serious bay anglers. More info at BahiaMarina.com under tournaments.
• The second event is the 21st Annual Memorial Spot Tournament. This family focused event will be held this year on Sept. 10th and focuses on fishing from the docks at the Ocean City Fishing Center with categories for spot and other fish. No skill is needed and the entry fee is only $5. Awards at 5PM. For more info call 410-213-1121.
