Article by Larry Jock
As we blow by Labor Day, the summer tourist season is coming to a close, but you know what that means? White marlin! It’s that time of year when we typically start to see good numbers of flags flying at the dock and I’m not talking about the popular Trump flags that a local construction contractor loves so much. I’m talking about the blue and white flags signifying white and blue marlin.
Although the best white marlin bite was far away in the Hudson Canyon, where one boat released 38 in a single day and several others had releases in the upper 20’s, we also had a good bite closer to home from the Baltimore Canyon down to the Washington Canyon with most of the action centered in the Poor Man’s Canyon, outside the Rockpile.
The Ocean City Marlin Club Labor Day Marlin Tournament was held last weekend and the crew on the “Buckshot” had a couple of memorable days. On Saturday, they went 15 for 15 on whites and followed that up with a blue marlin release and 8 white marlin releases on Sunday. On both days they trolled naked ballyhoo outside the Rockpile and ended up in 1st place in the Billfish Release Division. In second place was the “Haulin n Ballin” with 14 white marlin releases and a blue marlin release. They released the blue marlin and 6 whites while trolling in the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons on Saturday and ventured further south into the Washington Canyon on Sunday where they released another 8 white marlin. In 3rd place was the “Reel Joy” with 2 blue marlin releases and 9 white marlin releases in the Washington.
We saw several other blue marlin released on Sunday by anglers aboard the “Reel Assets” (Washington), “In the Black” (Poor Man’s) and “Legasea” (Washington). The “Billfisher” also had a great day on Sunday when they released 3 blue marlin north of the Washington Canyon.
The next few weeks should be interesting and I hope they are good ones for all of those anglers who patiently wait for the billfish to show up in good numbers.
We saw quite a few bigeyes show up during the MidAtlantic tournament, so I was anticipating seeing a few during last weekends Marlin Club tournament. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out. The only tuna weighed during the 3-day event came in on the “Pumpin Hard” when Jim Giles arrived with a 150.2 pounder caught while trolling in 200 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon. Knowing the anglers who were fishing on the “Pumpin Hard”, a tuna was the last thing they wanted to see, being more interested in billfish, but the bigeye ended up getting tail wrapped after hitting a dink bait and took only 30 minutes to get to the boat.
Dolphin continue to be caught in good numbers, although we really aren’t seeing a lot of slobs hitting the weigh stations. Most of the mahi are in the 8 to 11 lb. class, although in the tournament the “Grande Pez” took top honors with a 28.2 pounder caught on the final day by the Rockpile. The “Reel Joy” came in second place with a 25.4 pounder caught in the Washington.
Although there wasn’t a category for wahoos in the tournament, we did see a nice one caught by Raymond Shirk on the “Slaughterhouse”. Raymond’s wahoo weighed 53.4 lbs. and was caught in 70 fathoms near the Rockpile. Just a few days earlier, Raymond’s daughter, Pam Hess, was fishing on the “Slaughterhouse” and muscled in a 66 pounder that she hooked on a skirted ballyhoo in the Poor Man’s Canyon. Look’s like Raymond has to do the dishes after Thanksgiving dinner!
We saw a 46 1/2-inch, 60 lb. bluefin tuna caught on Sunday by Deb Motika on the charter boat, “Over-Board”. Capt. Dustin Lorah said that he headed to the 20 fathom line, straight out from Ocean City where they caught the bluefin along with sea bass, false albacore tuna and mahi during their trip.
Inshore, as predicted, the flounder bite continues to improve. On Friday, Capt. Monty Hawkins on the “Morning Star”, who normally is very reserved in his description of the fishing action, told me that it “was the best flounder fishing day of the year.” Now that is saying something! Good flattie bites were found on several spots last week with the best action in 80+ feet of water. The Old Grounds is still producing good catches if you want to make that run, but you can stay closer to home by heading to the Bass Grounds, Russell’s Reef, the Great Eastern and Winter Quarter Shoal to name a few. Now is a good time to join the Ocean City Reef Foundation so you can get their book of reef charts. It will be the best $50 you ever spend for fishing.
In the bay, flounder fishing is good if you can find clean water and cooler, deeper holes. You will see several fish in this issue that were pulled from deeper water in the East Channel and around the Rt. 50 Bridge. We also saw some nice fish caught in the West Channel, just south of the Rt. 50 Bridge. White Gulp Swimming Mullets continue to work well, but this time of year you increase your odds of catching a big fish by cast netting yourself some live bunker or mullet. Those big flatties just can’t resist a live bunker, but make sure you give it time to eat it. Patience is a virtue when you are flounder fishing with live bait.
Snapper bluefish and short stripers can be found around the Rt. 50 Bridge and can be enticed to strike a bucktail, Rat-L-Trap or any type of cut bait.
It looks like sheepshead are still hanging around the South Jetty. Capt. Dave Caffrey on the charter boat, “On the Run” really has a bead on them and his angler, Dan Kous ended up hooking a 15 lb. 5 oz. bruiser while using crabs for bait.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend a team from the Marlin Club will take on one from the Light Tackle Club and we wish them all much success.
The Bahia Marina Flounder Pounder is scheduled for September 9th and the Ocean City Fishing Center Spot Tournament will be held, as always, on September 11th.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales! .