Article by Larry Jock
I wish I could say that fishing is red hot right now, but that just isn’t the case. The seas got pretty stirred up after Hurricane Irene, and unfortunately we have another system churning things up further offshore and a tropical storm heading inland up the coast. Both of these could really put a damper on fishing this week, but once things get settled down, I have a sense that we will see good yellowfin and marlin fishing out of Ocean City.
Labor Day Tournament
Thirteen boats entered this year’s Labor Day White Marlin Tournament, which was one boat more than last year. As always, the last day provided excitement when the “D.A. Sea” released 9 white marlin to overtake the “Reel Joy” for 1st place in the Billfish Division. Their 2-day total of 14 releases was 2 more than the 12 releases on the “Reel Joy”, with their final hook-ups coming during the last few minutes on Sunday.
Susan McCart continued her hot streak, landing a 62.2 lb. yellowfin in 500 fathoms in the Washington Canyon on the first day of the tournament and held on to win the Tuna Division.
The “Predator” had a good tournament, both in white marlin releases (8) and in the Dolphin Division, where they won 1st and 2nd place with 29.2 and 23.4 lb. mahi. These fish were caught deep, in 1,000 fathoms between the Washington and Norfolk Canyons.
The Master Angler Award for the tournament went to Jon Duffie, Sr. on the “Billfisher” with 3 self-hooked white marlin releases.
Marlin
Over 70 white marlin were released during last weekend’s Labor Day White Marlin Tournament. The bite was stretched from the Poor Man’s down to the north end of the Norfolk Canyon. Most boats centered on the Washington Canyon, where the bite moved from deep water on Friday and Saturday to 60-100 fathoms on Sunday.
A couple of blue marlin were also released during the week. On Saturday, the “No Quarter” returned from an overnight trip from the Washington Canyon with a release and on Sunday, the “Commocean” returned to action and recorded a blue marlin release in the Baltimore Canyon.
Tuna
It was feast or famine for tuna fishermen last week. Many boats came in with between 1 and 3 tuna, but a few really had good days. On Wednesday, the “Osprey” caught 10 yellowfins and “That’s Right” caught 9 between the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons. On Friday, the “Marli” boated 10 yellowfins in the Washington and “Pumpin’ Hard” caught 12 inside the Baltimore.
Dolphin
A lot of dolphin hit the docks last week by boats fishing mostly in 60-100 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Norfolk Canyons. Several gaffer dolphin were caught, with the “Hanna M” returning with a 37 pounder, the heaviest of the week. This fish was caught in 40 fathoms inside the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Wahoo
The largest wahoo caught so far this year was landed on Saturday aboard the “Reel Desire”, when they returned with an 89 pounder from the Washington Canyon.
On the same day, the “Sea Hunt” boated a wahoo in the Baltimore Canyon where “That’s Right” also landed a big wahoo earlier in the week.
In the Surf
We didn’t see much coming from anglers fishing off the beaches. Prior to the hurricane, snapper blues were abundant in the suds and there were still some spot, kingfish, big rays and sharks around. Anglers even reported catching some weakfish.
Flounder
It was not a good week for flounder fishing in our bays. The water still hasn’t cleaned up from Hurricane Irene, making it difficult to find consistent action. Anglers are still weeding through a lot of throwbacks.
Flounder fishing on ocean reefs, wrecks and shoals has really started to improve. We saw several fish over 5 lbs. coming in off headboats venturing offshore. The “Morning Star” returned with a 6.1 pounder on Friday and a 6.4 lb. flattie on Saturday. I also heard reports of commercial fishermen around Little Gull Shoal coming up with good catches of flounder.
This is the time of year where we will see flounder “stacking up” in our bays, preparing for their migration to ocean structure. Typically, the areas around the Cement Plant, the rocks along the north wall of the Inlet, the deep holes just south of the Rt. 50 Bridge and around the South Jetty will give you your best shot at a large flounder.
Anglers fishing ocean structure had good results from using the bellies of dolphin, bluefish or flounder. In the bay, minnows, spot and the ever-popular Gulp! artificial baits were the top producers. I know I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but Gulp! just came out with a larger, 6-inch version of their popular Swimming Mullet. Remember, big baits can equal big fish, so you may want to consider giving the larger Gulp! a try. Some local tackle shops are now carry them.
Sheepshead
We haven’t seen many sheepshead this year, but the majority of those hooked came in from around the North Jetty where, on Saturday, Kevin Javins was fishing with peeler crabs when he caught a beautiful 11 pounder.
Sea Bass & Croaker
Sea bass fishing last week was absolutely fantastic for those who ventured off to ocean structure. Headboats returned with good catches of fish weighing up to 5.26 lbs. That fish was caught by Travis Sturgill on the “Morning Star” while fishing with clams at an artificial reef, somewhat near the Jackspot.
There were days last week when croaker fishing was off the hook for anglers who were also fishing ocean structure. Headboats got into good numbers of hardheads on several days. Fish weren’t huge, but made for some fine dinners.
Upcoming Tournaments
On Sunday, September 11th, the 6th Annual Flounder Pounder will be held at Bahia Marina. Fishing is from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Hopefully, this week will provide some clean bay water and some of those big flatties that are hovering around the rocks will find their way to the scale.
Also on Sunday, the 10th Annual Ocean City Fishing Center Spot Tournament will be held for those looking more to have a great time with friends than landing a big fish. Fishing will run from 5:30 pm to 7:30 PM.
