Article by Larry Jock
It was a beautiful holiday weekend in Ocean City with a lot of boats on the water and some nice fish arriving at the docks.
Sharks
Just in time for the upcoming shark tournaments, thresher and mako sharks have started to show up at the scales around Ocean City.
The “Blackjack” weighed a 122 lb. mako shark on Friday that was caught in 61-degree water on a whole mackerel at the Fingers. They also released 2 larger makos during the trip.
On Saturday, the “Pipe Dream” returned to the Ocean City Fishing Center with a 293.5 lb. thresher shark caught on a whole mackerel at the Fingers. Also on Saturday, “Kylee’s World” boated a 122 lb. mako just outside the Jackspot where they released 2 other makos and a blue shark.
Sunday produced snotty seas but that didn’t keep the anglers on the 16-foot Carolina Skiff, “Magasea” from heading to the Fingers where Lee Slota captured a 213 lb. thresher. It took the crew 80 minutes to get the shark into the boat after being towed for over a mile. Also on Sunday, the “Miss Cheyenne” came back from an overnight trip where they released 14 blue sharks at the Middle Sausage before boating a 260 lb. thresher at the Fingers. Chris Graham was also fishing at the Fingers and captured a 140 lb. mako in 56-degree water on a whole bunker.
Tuna
Looks like another early tuna bite this year with yellowfins and bluefins arriving at the scales during the week with most boats having the best luck in the Baltimore Canyon.
The week started out with Kevin McCabe of West Ocean City boating a 45 lb. bluefin in 100 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon where he found 65-degree water. On Thursday, Capt. Jon Yost on the “Game On” returned with 3 bluefins measuring 43, 45 and 58-inches (98.5 lbs.). The fish were caught on the west wall of the Baltimore Canyon in 63-degree water.
The largest bluefin we have seen so far this year was the 68-incher caught by Francois Aldrich on Friday while trolling a skirted ballyhoo in 50 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. Francois reported water temperatures hovering around 53-degrees where he caught the 202 pounder (see picture on left).
On Saturday, the “Reel Chaos” boated a pair of yellowfins in the Poor Man’s Canyon and on Sunday, the bite heated up with the charter boat, “Spring Mix” returning with 2 bluefins and 3 yellowfins from the Baltimore Canyon. The “Game On” had another good day, hooking 12 bluefins measuring between 27 and 47-inches in 500 fathoms in the Baltimore. “Second Chance” caught 6 yellowfins during a late afternoon bite in the Washington Canyon, all while trolling spreader bars.
Finally, the “Reel Fantasy” threw 5 yellowfins and 2 bluefins on the dock at Sunset Marina after fishing between the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons (340 line). Their largest yellowfin weighed 57 lbs. and their heaviest bluefin was 93 lbs. All were caught on trolled Squidnation Big Heavy’s and spreader bars.
Sea Bass
Sea bass season opened on May 19th and we have already seen some really good catches of knotheads arrive at the dock. On opening day, the charter boat, “Fish Bound” headed to a wreck outside the 2nd Lump and returned with their 90 fish limit. “Fish Bound” had several good days during the week, with limits caught at the Twin Wrecks, the African Queen and Kelly Reef.
The “Jezebel” took a trip out to the Great Eastern Reef on Sunday and had 50 sea bass caught on clams and bluefish strips.
Anglers have been surprised with the number of cod mixed in with the sea bass on ocean wrecks and reefs.
Flounder
It was hit or miss for flounder fishermen last week with bites all over the bay. Weekend anglers, especially on Sunday, had trouble finding clean water with the north/northwest wind creating bad conditions in the Thorofare. Cleaner water was located in the bay behind Assateague, but that didn’t last long and conditions worsened throughout the day.
On Wednesday, Frank Emerson stopped by the office to have his picture taken with the 25-incher he caught while drifting flounder belly and minnows in the Thorofare. The following day, Jim Patton landed a 5 lb. 8 oz. flattie on a live minnow in the East Channel during the incoming tide.
On Saturday, Pat Strine made the most of only 3 bites, catching 3 flounder during the outgoing tide while drifting minnows and Gulp! around the Rt. 90 Bridge.
We also saw flounder caught in the Ocean City Inlet, in the suds off Assateague Island, in the South Bay between Markers 3 & 4 and by anglers tossing bait from Gudelsky Park.
Gulp! artificial baits, particularly Swimming Mullets in white or chartreuse, have produced the best results.
Speckled Trout
On Sunday, Nathan Allison caught a 5 lb. 4 oz. speckled trout on a live minnow in the Fenwick Ditch.
Bluefish
Bluefish action is being dominated by small snapper blues in the bay, primarily around the Rt. 50 Bridge. Talk about some fun fishing! Most anglers were catching the bluefish on spec rigs or bucktails tipped with curl tails. I tried one night to hook them on a Gotcha Plug but gave up when my buddies were having better luck whizzing spec rigs to the bridge pilings or casting and retrieving them across edges of the sandbar.
Unfortunately, we haven’t seen many choppers come in from anglers trolling the ocean. Fifteen boats tried their luck during last weekends Marlin Club Bluefish Tournament and the largest bluefish was an 11 oz. snapper caught on a trolled spoon north of Fenwick Island.
In the Surf
Stripers and black drum continued to be caught by surf fisherman off Assateague Island and from the beaches in north Ocean City. The big catch of the week occurred on Wednesday afternoon when Marcus Crowley caught and released an estimated 80 lb. black drum. Marcus thought a ray had taken the sand flea he was soaking and was surprised to see the big tail come out of the suds after the 20 minute fight.
In addition to good size stripers and black drum, surfcasters have been busy with bluefish, kingfish, blowfish, skates and sharks.
Sheepshead
The first sheepshead of the year was caught on Sunday by Rob Antonucci during a trip on the charter boat, “Ocean City Guide Service”. Rob was surprised when the chunk of clam he was drifting in the bay near the Assateague Bridge was inhaled by the 18-incher.
Striped bass
Besides the bite for surfcasters fishing off Assateague, striper fishing was dominated by small stripers caught by anglers looking for bluefish around the Rt. 50 Bridge. The fish are small, but they are beautiful, with no blemishes at all.
There was a tremendous bite around the South Jetty on Friday night, around 6PM, when the charter boat, “Lucky Angler” hooked 35 linesiders measuring between 16 and 22-inches. Capt. Jason Mumford reported that larger stripers were found near the North Jetty where cleaner ocean water was wrapping around the rocks during the incoming tide. They also caught 50 bluefish and some shad during the memorable trip.
Upcoming Tournament
The Ocean City Shark Tournament is this weekend, May 29th to 31st. This is earlier than normal and shark fishing is heating up, so the tournament should be a good one. Weigh-ins are at the Ocean City Fishing Center from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM
See you at the scales!
