Article by Larry Jock
It was another tough week of fishing, due to the absolutely horrible weather we experienced through Friday. Heavy, constant wind kept everyone at the dock, but when the weather cleared on Saturday, anglers hit the water with a vengeance.
Unfortunately, Sunday was the last day of the 2009 flounder season. We really got screwed by the feds this year who knew that the numbers being used to set regulations were flawed, but they were forced to use them anyway. Oh well, no sense complaining about it now. Time to look forward to some good fall fishing like we had last year.
Flounder
We saw a bunch of flounder caught over the weekend by anglers looking to get in that last trip of the year.
Earlier in the week, Sue Foster of Oyster Bay Tackle braved the bad weather and was casting off the beach at Gudelsky Park. She saw a school of mullet swim by so she quickly grabbed her cast net and caught a few to use for bait. Next thing she knew, an 8 lb. 10 oz. flattie was on her line. This was the heaviest fish we saw all week.
Most of the action continued to center around the East Channel, both close to the Rt. 50 Bridge and north towards Harbour Island. We also saw some fish caught in the West Channel, both near Hooper’s Crab House and just south of the Rt. 50 Bridge, along with in the Inlet towards the Commercial Harbor.
In tournament action, Ben Pollmeier won 1st place in the Flounder Round-Up held at Sunset Marina with a 6.6 lb flattie caught in the West Channel. Les Givens won the Bahia Flounder Pounder with a 4 lb. 9 oz. flounder caught in the East Channel, and Ed Krell took top honors in the M.S.S.A Beach-N-Boat Tournament with a 5.75 pounder boated at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor.
Anglers fishing the ocean reefs and wrecks reported a lot of throwback flounder.
The good news is that the latest blow did not drive mullet and spot from our bay waters. Time to use them for bluefish and stripers.
Croaker
Looks like the hardheads have left, as the last couple of weeks of bad weather forced the croakers to flee the bay. I checked with Capt. Nick on the “Get Sum” and Capt. Drew on the “Tortuga” and neither of them have seen a croaker lately.
Tautog
Some are being caught around 4th & 5th Street and around the South Jetty. Wrecks at Fenwick and Winter Quarter Shoals are also holding some tog.
Dolphin
The dolphin bite was actually very good over the weekend with catches recorded from the Baltimore Canyon/Tea Cup down to the Washington Canyon.
Striped Bass
Some stripers, with bluefish mixed in, were caught over the weekend by anglers flounder fishing by the Rt. 50 Bridge. Fishing around the South Jetty was very slow, according to Capt. Skip McGuire of “Capt. Skip’s Fishing & Guide Service”.
Tournament time is right around the corner. The Ake Primetime Rockfish Tournament is back on the schedule for November 21st. The Rocktoberfest Tournament at Bahia Marina is scheduled for October 17th and 18th. The Black Friday Tournament at the Ocean City Fishing Center will be held on November 27th and 28th. All of these tournaments are a blast, so mark your calendars and line up your team.
Wahoo
We saw some wahoo caught this weekend in the Baltimore Canyon and inside around the Tea Cup. On Saturday, Capt. Willie Zimmerman on the “Playmate” brought back 2 speedsters from the area around the Tea Cup.
On Sunday, Phil Knapp caught a beautiful 64 pounder in the Baltimore Canyon and the anglers on the “Four Play” landed 2 in the Wahoo Rodeo Tournament while fishing in 30 fathoms near the Tea Cup. Capt. Willie on the “Playmate” followed up with another 2 wahoo boated on Sunday at the Tea Cup.
Yellowfin Tuna
Prior to the last bout of bad weather, the yellowfin tuna bite was really turning on in 30 fathoms between the Hot Dog and the Elephant Trunk.
On Friday, on the tail end of the blow, the “Restless Lady” took an overnight trip to the Elephant Trunk where they raised a couple of yellowfins on the chunk and another 10 while trolling ballyhoo.
Anglers this weekend were able to find yellowfins scattered on the 30 fathom line from the Tea Cup to the Elephant Trunk.
White Marlin
The white marlin bite, which looked to be shaping up to be a red hot repeat of what we saw last year, really cooled off after the most recent blow. Most boats hit the Baltimore Canyon where the “All In” released 5 white marlin on Saturday. Other boats were able to pick at them in between 40 and 200 fathoms.
Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reports, “We had several reports of snapper bluefish in the surf Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the week was just too rough to hold bottom. Anglers wanting to fish Assateague were upset to find that the beach was closed to 4-wheel drive vehicles because of overwash from the high tides. “
See you at the docks!
