Article by Larry Jock
It was another busy week of fishing out of Ocean City, especially for offshore anglers in search of yellowfin tuna.
Inshore, anglers continued to have good luck catching bluefins and we saw the largest shark of the year hit the scales.
In the bay, flounder fishing was slow, but the good news is that we did see the arrival of croakers late in the week.
Yellowfin Tuna
Nobody can complain about the lack of yellowfin tuna this year as boats continue to arrive at the dock with incredible catches. The bite that had been centered in 70 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon worked its way south into the Poor Man’s Canyon late in the week, but darted north again on Sunday.
On Wednesday, “That’s Right” had 14 yellowfins in the Baltimore Canyon where the “Game On” (13) and “Playmate” (14) also recorded great days.
Thursday and Friday mellowed a bit for most boats, but the “Marli” did get on them good in the Baltimore Canyon returning with 17 yellowfins in the box on Thursday and an incredible 24 on Friday. Several other boats had nice, single digit catches of yellowfins in the Poor Man’s.
We only saw one more double digit catch over the weekend but several boats weighed 8-9 yellowfins after their trip. On Sunday, the “Reel Chaos” had a great day, with 17 yellowfins in the box after fishing in the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons. The “No Quarter” also had a nice day, catching 8 yellowfins in the Poor Man’s where captains reported water temperatures hovering around 72-degrees.
Bluefin Tuna
Although overshadowed by the hauls of yellowfin tuna, anglers fishing in 20-30 fathoms from the Lumpy Bottom and Parking Lot north to the Hambone found plenty of bluefins to keep them busy. Anglers also did well a little further inshore at the Jackspot. Most of the fish are between 40 and 50 lbs.
In the MSSA Tuna-Ment, the “Lady Luck V” caught two bluefin at the Lumpy Bottom, weighing 105.3 lbs. and 108.3 lbs. to win 2nd and 3rd place in the tournament. Most of the tournament information wasn’t available at press time, so we will have complete results and pictures in next week’s Coastal Fisherman.
Sharks
A couple of mako sharks hit the scales this week, but none were close to the 640 pounder caught on Wednesday aboard the “Fish Finder”. The big mako ate a bonita at the south end of the Fingers.
Dolphin
With warming water temperatures, we are definitely seeing an increase in the average size of dolphin being weighed. Most of the fish are being caught in the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons on trolled ballyhoo. We also saw some hooked at the Hot Dog, Jackspot, Parking Lot, Lumpy Bottom and in the Washington Canyon, where the “Lady Luck V” boated a 32.5 pounder on Sunday in the MSSA Tournament. The “Tide Up” also caught a nice pair on Sunday that weighed 17 lbs. and 17.6 lbs. on the scale at Sunset Marina.
Billfish
All of the billfish releases we heard about last week came from the Baltimore Canyon. Early in the week, the “M’m M’m Good” recorded 5 white marlin releases and the “White Lightning” rang up three. The “Marli” released a blue marlin on Thursday and a white marlin on Friday. We didn’t hear of any other releases until boats arrived back on Sunday, when the “Reel Chaos” and the “Blackjack” each reported one white marlin release.
Bluefish
We continue to see most of the bluefish catches coming from anglers tossing lures around the Rt. 50 Bridge. We haven’t seen many coming in from those trolling the ocean, which shouldn’t surprise anyone with water temperatures as warm as they have been.
Croaker
There should be plenty of action in the bays over the next few weeks with the arrival of croaker to our local waters. The area around Harbour Island and at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor are usually great locations to catch some hardheads. This is a fantastic fishery to get kids involved in since the action is usually fast and furious.
In the Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle said, “We're getting lots of reports of Norfolk spot in the surf. Anglers are using bloodworms, Fishbite Bloodworms and little pieces of squid or fresh bunker when available. Small croaker are mixed in with the spot, along with some small sea trout and a few kingfish. We had two good reports from 142nd and 94th Streets last week. There are still some big, big rays, sand sharks and bigger sharks for anglers fishing for them. Combination baits are great for the small fish. Use FishBites and a little strip of fresh bunker, frozen mullet or box squid.
Sea Bass
Sea bass fishing continued its inconsistent run with anglers recording numerous doubleheaders one day and not so much the next.
Over the weekend, sea bass were caught at the Great Eastern Reef and at Winter Quarter Shoal by anglers fishing in the MSSA and Marlin Club tournaments. Several days last week, the “Morning Star” returned with buckets of sea bass caught by happy customers using squid or clams for bait.
Striped Bass
Anglers continue to catch stripers at the tip of the South Jetty and around the Rt. 50 Bridge when drifting spot and perch. On Wednesday, both the “Get Sum” and “Skip’s Charter & Guide Service” kept their anglers busy with good catches of linesiders. The “Get Sum” hooked 13 on live spot around the Rt. 50 Bridge, while “Skip’s” anglers caught their limit of keepers plus 50 throwbacks from the South Jetty.
Flounder
It wasn’t a great week for flounder fishing with most anglers feeling frustrated with the number of “shorts” they are catching.
The bite has moved from the bay behind Assateague Island up to the East Channel and Thorofare. The East Channel was the hottest location last week, especially around the Cement Plant and north behind Harbour Island.
Anglers drifting live spot are definitely having the best results, but those using white and pink Gulp! Swimming Mullets are also holding their own. The largest flattie of the week was caught by the “Flounder King of Chester, NJ”, Carl Reichel, who landed a 26.5-incher on live spot in the East Channel.
Upcoming Tournaments
This weekend is the 29th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick-off. Weigh-ins are at Sunset Marina on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
See you at the scales.
