Article by Larry Jock
Windy weather continued to keep most anglers at the dock but it was nice to see a break on Saturday allowing boats to break the inlet in search of sea bass, tuna and mahi. Surprisingly, the first white marlin has yet to be caught and released. Are we going to make it through the entire month of May without the first white being caught?
With all the sea bass around, you knew that when the weather allowed good numbers of boats to hit the sharking grounds that some big threshers were going to arrive at the scales and this is exactly what happened on Saturday. At 9:30 in the morning, Anthony and Chris Pino hooked the first thresher of the year while fishing a bunker and squid combination at the Fingers. The 115 pounder was caught on the same weekend and at the same spot the guys have caught threshers the last 3 years. I guess that would qualify as a “honey hole”!
Next up was the “C-Boys” with a 229 pounder caught by Paul Crampton, III on a whole mackerel at the Parking Lot. Then, Brian and Keith Jacobs boated a 266 lb. thresher on a whole mackerel at the Fingers. The fish kept getting bigger when the “Stretchin’ Lips” showed up at Sunset Marina in the afternoon with a 412 lb. thresher caught on a bluefish fillet at the Marine Electric where Capt. Ed Richardson found 59-degree water. Finally, the “Game Changer” pulled into the Ocean City Fishing Center around 6:15 PM with a 437 pounder that was muscled in by a pair of junior anglers, Jack and Riley Ruane, at the Hambone. The big shark ate a bluefish fillet and took 2 hours to get to the boat and another 45 minutes to get into the cockpit. Congratulations to the Ruane boys!
A couple of mako sharks were brought to the scales this past weekend. In the Marlin Club Memorial Day Tournament, the “Nontypical” arrived with a 99.8 pounder that just missed the 100 lb. minimum weight requirement by only 3 oz. Unfortunately, the anglers had to cut some meat off the fish in order to remove the gaff or the shark probably would have qualified. The mako was caught in 1,000 fathoms in the Norfolk Canyon on a tuna strip. On Sunday, the Strine clan took a trip on the charter boat, “Moore Bills” and caught a 143 lb. mako shark at 3:30 PM on a mackerel fillet, southeast of the Jackspot. They also released another mako and a blue shark during their trip.
The offshore bite on Saturday was almost at the fence, between 92 and 100 miles from the Ocean City Inlet. The “Husevo” ended up catching a 57.4 lb. bigeye tuna in 70.1-degree water that was big enough to take 1st place in the Tuna Division of the Marlin Club Memorial Day Tournament. They also caught a couple of dolphin and released a mako during their trip. The “Reel Direct” saw some good action in the same location, with 2 yellowfins caught on 10 bites. Their heaviest tuna weighed 40.4 lbs. and gave them 2nd place in the Tuna Division. Capt. Frank Goodhart and his anglers on the “Brenda Lou” headed 92 miles to the Norfolk Canyon where they caught 3 yellowfins at a 64 to 68-degree temperature break. One of the tuna was caught on a green machine spreader bar and the other two on trolled ballyhoo. Their largest fish weighed 39.2 lbs., giving them 3rd place in the tournament.
There was also a 12 lb. dolphin weighed in the tournament, caught on the “Halcyon” in 67-degree water in the Baltimore Canyon (400 fathoms). The anglers were sharking and hooked the mahi on a strip of mackerel.
Saturday was also an excellent day for those looking to fill the cooler with sea bass. I heard multiple reports of a hundred boats at the Twin Wrecks and the Great Eastern Reef. It looks like you still need to get out into 100+ feet of water to get the larger knotheads, but a few big fish were mixed in with smaller fish caught closer to shore. The “Jezebel” went to the Great Eastern Reef and returned with 75 sea bass, including a 4 lb. 15 oz. fish caught by Chester Sadowski, Jr, only a few days before his 80th birthday.
Anglers fishing on local headboats also had good days when the weather cooperated with fish weighing up to 3 lbs. caught on clams.
On Sunday, Lee Vincent on the charter boat, “Fish Bound” caught a 5 lb. 4 oz. knothead at the Old Grounds. Anglers on the boat had their limit of 120 fish by 10:00 AM.
In the bay, flounder fishing turned on a little over the weekend with keepers boated primarily in the Thorofare, but a few also came from the bay behind Assateague as well. If you head to the south bay, make sure you stop by the duck blinds. Last year it was a good spot to catch flounder and a few have been pulled from that area already this season.
Most of the fish we saw last week were in the 18 to 20-inch range and were caught on Gulp! artificial baits and minnows. On Saturday, Steve Breskiewicz caught a 5 pounder in the Thorofare on a live minnow but was bested for largest so far this season when Mike Arnold stopped by the Coastal Fisherman office with a 5 lb. 1 oz. flattie caught on a minnow off the 3rd Street Bulkhead. Anglers on the charter boat, “Lucky Break” had some busy trips over the weekend with a few keepers ending up in the cooler and a load of throwbacks caught in the bay behind Assateague.
The South Jetty is also producing some flounder up to 22-inches. Anglers on the “Get Sum” and “Ivy Sea” combined for a half dozen keepers on Sunday at that location.
Also around the South Jetty, we saw a 5 lb. weakfish caught by Jan Rogers and a 23-inch speckled trout boated by Rich Daiker while casting a Roy Rig.
If you are looking for bluefish, the bite has definitely slowed, but you can still find some around the Rt. 50 Bridge and in the Ocean City Inlet. A few stripers have also been caught at both locations as well.
Tautog have been scarce, but Capt. Kane on the charter boat, “Fish Bound” found some on?Friday when windy conditions kept them closer to shore in 45 feet of water. They ended up with a boat limit of fish weighing up to 10.4 lbs. David Beach also caught a tog over the weekend while fishing off the 2nd Street Bulkhead.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 21st Annual Bahia Marina Mako Mania Tournament. The tournament starts on Friday, June 2nd and concludes on Sunday, June 4th with weigh-ins from 3:30 to 7:30 each day. Spectators always see some big sharks come to the scale in this tournament and Bahia Marina is a fun place to hang out. Food, drink and close proximity to the action. What more can you ask for?
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
