Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• The weekend was a washout with a strong nor’easter moving through the area from Friday through Sunday.
• The crew of the “Blood Money” challenged stormy weather to catch both the first bigeye tuna and first yellowfin tuna of the season. They started inshore and kept heading to deeper water outside the Poor Man’s Canyon finding the tuna in 800 fathoms.
• Anglers on the “HotLick” caught the first bluefin tunas of the season 90 south of Ocean City.
• The “HotLine” caught a 187 lb. 85” male mako shark in the Fingers.
It sure feels like someone flipped a switch to turn on the offshore action. While we have enjoyed warm onshore temps, the water had been staying in the low 60’s well past the canyons. Too chilly for tuna. Satellite data did show some warmer water moving in to the north so a few intrepid captains filled the tanks (to the brim!) and ran 75 to 90+ miles out in search of some prey. Capt. Chris Ragni on the “Bill Slayer” out of the Indian River Marina was one of the first, heading 92 miles to the southern edge of the Spencer Canyon. They got 5 yellowfins in the box pretty quickly and by early afternoon they were at their limit of 18 and cruising back. These were the first yellowfin tunas reported from Delaware based boats. News of this spread quickly and a small armada of boats returned to the area, around 90 miles from the Ocean City buoy on the 100 fathom line in the Spencer, on Saturday. Let’s just say it was not a good day to be a tuna in the Spencer Canyon on Saturday. One of the first boats back was the “Foolish Pleasure” at Bahia Marina. Capt. Dale Lisi had his anglers on the boat at 2:30 in the morning so they could fish at first light after a 4.5 hour ride! They reported a couple of multiple hookups but mainly picking the yellowfin one at a time. Interestingly the fish hit on all kinds of bait. Ballyhoo, chains, spreader bars and the good old cedar plug on a flat line. He was at his limit of 19 by 11 AM. Capt. Brian Porter was there too. His catch is on the cover, which is appropriate as his angler got ‘covered up’ at one point getting their limit of 18. Similar stories were reported from the charter boat “Ro Sham Bo” and the “Restless Lady” as well as recent cover star private boat “HotLine” who were kind enough to share a few tuna loins with the Coastal Fisherman! In other encouraging tuna news, yellowfins were also found a little further south of the Spencer. Capt. Anthony Matarese on the charter boat “Reel Chaos” boated 17 good sized yellowfins in the Wilmington Canyon. He was 75 miles out and fishing in 67 DEGREE water. The “Reel Fin Addict” ran 100 miles south of Ocean City on June 1st and found 7 yellowfins. Lastly for tuna updates, we did have a report of the first longfin tuna of the season. Chad Tingle fished the Wilmington Canyon last Sunday on the “Sea Bear” and caught a nice chunky 49.5” longfin.
We have seen the first dolphin of the season on the last day of May from the Poor Man’s Canyon, but nothing since until last Sunday when the crew of the “Restless Lady II” returned to the Talbot Street Pier with a nice gaffer mahi from the Spencer Canyon as well.
Closer to shore, the action centered on golden tilefish, some rosies and a few sharks. Golden tilefish were in the Washington Canyon. Capt. Mark Hoos on the charter boat “Marli” got a nice bunch of goldens there as did the crew on the “Catching or Cussin”. They fished in 92 fathoms of the Washington finding some 30 pound fish and a 29 lb snowy grouper! The Poor Man’s was also saw Shannon Pickens pulling up a 35 pounder from 800 feet on the charter boat “Green Reaper” reporting a 37 lb. fish and some rosies. The charter boat “Primary Search” got a mix of fish at Arby’s Reef that included blueline and golden tilefish, rosies and sharks.
Speaking of sharks, the “Knot on Call” reported the first black tip shark for 2022. They had to work for it, running a nice drift and chum slick at the Twin Wrecks, but eventually they got on the hook. Our current Heaviest thresher for the season weighed in at 373 lbs. and measured 87” was caught at the Fingers using bunker.
Still no marlin action, but the forecast looks good for both on shore and off. When they arrive you will be the first to know if you read the Coastal Fisherman and follow us on social media.
Another quick reminder... we have moved offices and are now a few yards west of our old offices at 12703 Sunset Avenue, Suite 8.
Until next we I will see you at the scales! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• The 2nd Annual Tuna & Tiaras Ladies Tuna Tournament returns on June 17th & 18th. Scales are open both days from 4PM to 7PM at the Ocean City Fishing Center. More at TunaandTiaras.com.
• The South Jersey MidAtlantic Tuna Tournament is June 22nd thru 24th in Cape May, NJ. More at southjerseytournaments.com/midatlantic-tuna-tournament/
