Article by Larry Jock
The big news this week is the 44th annual White Marlin Open this week. With 353 boats competing for a record $4,900,000 this year, it should be an interesting event. That is 24 more boats and $450,000 more than last year. As this report is being written on Monday morning, storms are rolling through the area but that didn’t keep 136 boats from fishing on the first day.
Heading into the tournament, the marlin bite has not been very good. Last week, a few boats found bites in the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons but most headed to the Washington Canyon where they found fish in 50 to 100 fathoms. The boats that did get on them mostly returned with between 1 and 3 white releases but a couple (“Billfisher” & “Intents”) had 5 releases while trolling in the Norfolk and Washington Canyons early in the week and the “Reel Chaos” went 7 for 8 on Friday in the Washington.
A few blue marlin were hooked last week, a good sign for WMO participants. The “Bar South” released one on Tuesday in the Baltimore, the same day the “Buckshot” released one outside the Rockpile. On Wednesday, both the “No Quarter” and the “Legasea” each hooked one in the Washington where the “Legasea” also released 4 white marlin during their trip. On Friday in the OCMC Ladies Tournament, Michelle DiMattia released a blue marlin in the Washington and on Sunday, Billy Todd and Jeff Greenwood let one go while trolling in the Baltimore.
The tuna bite was hit-or-miss all week with 1 to 3 fish being the most common result for boats that found them. Some boats are still chunking for tuna in Massey’s Canyon and around the Hot Dog, but trollers came across yellowfins earlier in the week in the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons. The yellowfins we are seeing this season continue to be a wonderful class of fish, with most in the 45 to 55 lb. range. The largest one I saw last week was a 62.2 pounder that came in on Friday during the Ladies Tournament from anglers on the “Brenda Lou” after trolling in 50 fathoms in the Washington Canyon.
Dolphin are stretched up and down the line from deep in the canyons to inshore around the Twin Wrecks and the Bass Grounds. Catching them on the troll or tossing them cut bait will do the trick on hungry mani.
This time of year is usually not the best for sea bass fishing, but Capt. Monty Hawkins on the headboat, “Morning Star” said that the sea bass bite lately has been the best he has seen in a long time. Anglers aren’t overloading coolers with fish, but are definitely catching enough for several nice dinners. Fish are scattered and anglers are needing to hit several locations throughout the day to scratch out decent numbers of fish.
The ocean flounder bite has been feast or famine, but should only get better from this point on. The Old Grounds continues to be the hot spot if you are willing to make the long run out of Ocean City. Dropping bucktails tipped with Gulp!, cut bait or flounder belly are giving anglers the best shot at a keeper. We are still looking for the first one over 10 lbs.
On the lumps closer to shore, anglers are finding Spanish mackerel and snapper bluefish interested in trolled spoons and feathers. Fenwick Shoal, Isle of Wight Shoal and the Bass Grounds would be good stops for this type of action.
In the bay, the flounder bite is really spread out with fish being caught in the East Channel, the Thorofare, at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor and down behind Assateague Island. Finding clean water with a good drift speed is the key right now. Bay flounder fishermen are still frustrated with the incredible number of short fish being hooked this season. Some boats are reporting 40 throwbacks with 1 keeper, but at least folks are bending a rod. Most of the seasoned bay flounder fishermen are switching from Gulp! and minnows to live mullet and spot.
A few red drum are being caught in the East Channel by flounder fishermen using squid and shiners for bait. Black drum and sheepshead were hooked last week around the South Jetty.
The croaker bite hasn’t heated up yet, but I did receive reports of a decent bite around the Rt. 90 Bridge from anglers fishing with Sabiki rigs tipped with Fishbite bloodworms.
Upcoming Tournaments
Although this week is consumed by the White Marlin Open, with weigh-ins from 4:00 PM to 9:15 PM everyday through Friday, there are plenty of lady anglers with their sights set on the upcoming Poor Girl’s Open. It’s a 3-day event with anglers fishing 1 of 3 days on August 17th, 18th or 19th. The Poor Girl’s is definitely one of the most fun tournaments of the year, for both anglers and spectators, so get a group together to fish the tournament or head on over to Bahia Marina and have a great time.
See you at the scales!
