Article by Larry Jock
It was great fishing out of Ocean City over the long Memorial Day weekend. We saw good numbers of mako sharks hit the scales, in addition to a big thresher shark and the first bluefin tuna of the year caught on Sunday.
Sharks / Bluefin Tuna
Inshore water temperatures are hovering right above the magic 60-degree mark, resulting in makos, threshers and blue sharks being hooked just in time for the upcoming shark tournaments.
It’s tough to say what stole the show this week. Was it the good numbers of mako sharks that showed up on Sunday or was it the 525 lb. thresher shark that also hit the scales on Sunday?
The big thresher was caught by Dave Raine on the “Rain E Daze” during a trip out to the Fingers. The fish was hooked on a whole mackerel and took an hour to get to the boat.
The largest mako brought to the scales this weekend in Ocean City was a 164 pounder caught on the “Hookin’ Wubbas” during a trip to the Fingers. The fish ate a whole bluefish and was one of 3 makos hooked that day. They also released 3 blue sharks and a dusky during the trip.
Earlier on Sunday, the “Jo Jo” returned early with a 155 lb. mako in the box and the first bluefin tuna of the season out of Ocean City. Both fish were caught on trolled ballyhoo near the Marine Electric.
Although it was weighed in Delaware at Capt. Mac’s High Performance Tackle, a boat that fishes in our local tournaments, “Shark Tooth”, weighed a 180 lb. mako on Sunday that was hooked at the Sausages. The crew had a spectacular day, releasing 4 other makos, 1 blue shark and a sand shark.
Over the weekend, we saw 8 makos hit the scales, and many more released, with most coming in from the Fingers/Hot Dog/Sausages triangle.
Bluefish
The First Annual Bluefish Tournament, sponsored by the Ocean City Marlin Club, was held on Saturday and Sunday.
Quite a few choppers hit the scales, led by the crew on “Doc’s Boat” who took 1st place honors with a 12.2 lb. gator caught on a trolled hoochie at the Sausages. Second place was won by the “All In” with a 11.4 pounder, also caught on a trolled hoochie, but at the Hot Dog. The third place fish was an 11.2 pounder caught on the “Ditch Digger Too” at the Hot Dog.
In the old days, bluefish tournaments were big in Ocean City and with 29 boats, big fish at the scales and a $3,000 donation to the Catherine and Charles Kratz Memorial Foundation and Scholarship Fund, it looks like we may have another big bluefish tournament in Ocean City’s future.
If you are looking for small, snapper bluefish you can still find them in good numbers in our bay waters, especially around the Rt. 50 Bridge and off Gudelsky Park on the west side of the bay. Spec rigs are all you need to hook these feisty fish. This is a great fishery for kids, since the action is fast and furious.
Flounder
When the water was clean, flounder fishing was good this weekend. We didn’t see any 25/26-inchers like we have seen in the last couple of weeks, but quite a few in the low 20’s were caught. The throwback to keeper ratio looks like it is still running around 10 to 1. But hey, anglers are bending a rod and having fun. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
A good example of this is the “Bay Bee” that had 4 keepers on Monday and 31 throwbacks. Rumor has it that the mate, George Lenz, was sweating like Mike Tyson in a spelling bee.
Although anglers complained about the grassy conditions in the bay behind Assateague Island, it was still the hot spot for the weekend, especially around the airport.
The nicest catch we saw was when Mike Brockmeyer and Bob Miller stopped by the office to have their picture taken with their 6 keepers, measuring up to 23-inches and 4 lbs. The fish were caught south of the airport while using minnows and flounder belly for bait.
We also saw keepers being caught in the East Channel, just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor in some deep holes and also up around the Rt. 90 Bridge. Anglers using squid and minnows or shiners did well.
Striped Bass
Early risers capitalized on a fantastic striper bite around the South Jetty right before the weekend. Dave Black stopped by with a couple of beauties when he was lucky enough to be out there all by himself last Wednesday. The next day, when word got out, there were more boats out at sunrise and it was “game on” for everyone. Anglers reported the best bites came on Storm lures. Those that tried to toss live eels were not having much luck.
The bite off the Rt. 50 Bridge is still good at night, especially at the turn of the tide.
It’s funny how things change from year-to-year. One year it might be that Gotcha Plugs are the hot lure, then it might be red and white bucktails. This year, it is definitely Storm lures doing the most damage.
Tautog
With most anglers now targeting sea bass, tautog fishing has slowed considerably.
The “Morning Star” did bring back some nice ones last Wednesday, led by Robert Topci’s 14 lb. 11 oz. blackfish.
Sea Bass
We saw a load of sea bass hit the docks this week.
Over the weekend, the “Marli”, the “Angler” and the “Morning Star” all had good catches. The “Marli” and the “Angler” ventured out to the Great Eastern Reef, while Capt. Monty on the “Morning Star” would rather have a fillet knife in the eye than tell you where he was. Those willing to travel the 46 miles to the Bow Mariner wreck are being rewarded with nice catches as well.
On Sunday, Scooter Cone caught a 5 lb. 5 oz. sea bass, the largest we have seen this year, while fishing at a natural reef aboard the “Morning Star”.
Tournaments
This weekend is the 14th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament held at Bahia Marina. Weigh-ins are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4:00-7:00 pm.
Hopefully, the tournament action will be as good as what we saw last weekend. If it is, it should be an exciting tournament.
See you at the scales!
