Article by Larry Jock
It certainly was an exciting week of fishing capped off by a new state record cobia and a wonderful 1st Annual Branch Kreppel Memorial Blue Marlin Tournament. For those of you who didn’t know Branch Kreppel, he was a beloved member of the fishing community who owned a diving service that came to the rescue of many boat owners and local marinas over the years and unexpectantly passed away back in November. The tournament was a huge
success with good payouts to anglers, along with a nice contribution made to the Branch Kreppel Family Foundation. Kudos to Sunset Marina and all the volunteers and participants.
Although there weren’t any blue marlin weighed during the tournament, there were some caught along with a good number of white marlin. The “Billfisher” took top honors in the Billfish Release Division, releasing 2 blue marlin and 4 white marlin during their 2 days of fishing. Capt. Jon Duffie ventured up to the Spencer Canyon on Saturday where they released 1 blue marlin and 2 whites. On Sunday, they had similar results even though they changed strategies and fished down at the Rockpile.
The “Tighten Up” came in 2nd place with 2 blue marlin releases on Saturday, but weren’t able to muster up any hook-ups on Sunday.
The “Reel Joy” released 1 blue marlin and 1 white marlin on Saturday to finish in 3rd place.
The “Billfisher” also took top honors in the Tuna Division with a 63 lb. yellowfin, which is the heaviest yellowfin caught in Ocean City so far this year.
The “Legasea” won 1st place with a 17 lb. dolphin caught on the first day of the tournament.
Overall, $57,200 was awarded, and if a blue marlin was weighed, the number would have been closer to $70,000. Keep an eye on this tournament next year. I have a feeling this is one that will grow in both participation and payouts.
BILLFISH
As mentioned earlier, the billfish bite was very good with over 30 white marlin and at least 9 blue marlin released over the last week. Boats went as far north as the Spencer and as far south as the Rockpile in 100 fathoms between the Poor Man’s and Washington Canyons. We continued to see most of the action centered on the 30 fathom line outside the Hot Dog, where the “That’s Right” returned from a trip on Sunday with 2 blue marlin releases and a white marlin release. Water temperature in that area has hovered in the low 70’s where the billfish are feeding on dolphin and tuna.
COBIA
The big news on the inshore front was the 71 lb. cobia caught on Saturday by Chris Toner on the “Fish Finder”. Chris and his fellow anglers were shark fishing on Great Gull Shoal when the cobia took Chris’ live spot. This fish breaks the current record of 67 lbs. set back in 2007 by local cobia fishing legend, Mike Horsey.
We saw a 27 lb. 7 oz. cobia caught by Ryan Starner while fishing at Fenwick Shoal early in the week.
A couple of weeks ago we saw a nice 40 pounder caught on Winter Quarter Shoal, which is located around 26 miles from the Ocean City Inlet. Maybe this is a good sign that we will see better cobia action in local waters than we have seen over the last couple of years.
SHARKS
Surprisingly, we saw a couple of nice mako sharks caught over the weekend along with one caught early in the week by the “Restless Lady” in 30 fathoms outside the Hot Dog. On Saturday, the “Reel Instigator” boated a 136 pounder followed closely at the Sunset Marina scales by the “Act II” with a 185 pounder. The “Reel Instigator” hooked their mako during an overnight trip in 500 fathoms outside the Baltimore Canyon. The mako on the “Act II” was caught in 30 fathoms outside the Hot Dog.
FLOUNDER
Anglers continue to be frustrated by the large number of undersized flatties they need to weed through before they get their keeper. Most of the action is still in the East Channel, although we saw more keepers coming in from the north end by Harbour Island than by those drifting by the Rt. 50 Bridge.
Anglers are also catching flounder on the ocean reefs and wrecks. We have also heard reports of flounder being caught along the rocks just south of Gudelsky Park. The bait of choice is spot, followed by minnows and the Gulp! swimming mullet.
STRIPED BASS
We haven’t seen a lot of keeper-size stripers being caught. Capt. Skip McGuire did report a good bite happening around the tip of the South Jetty, although “short” fish in the 25-inch range far outnumber those 28-inches and larger. Capt. Skip said you have to get in tight to the rocks to have much success, so be careful. As with flounder, live baiting spot is the preferred method for landing a keeper.
The nighttime bite around the Rt. 50 Bridge is still good with fish hanging tight to the bridge pilings.
As I was waiting for boats to come in to the scales at Sunset Marina last weekend, I couldn’t help but notice a good amount of May worms slithering around the docks and the large schools of peanut bunker feeding on them. Occasionally, you would see a striper crash the water as they blasted through the peanut bunker. Keep an eye out for this scenario around the docks. You could pick up a keeper striped bass if you do.
DOLPHIN
A good number of dolphin are being caught up and down the line, with most of the mahi we have seen coming from tuna fishermen trolling in 30 fathoms outside the Hot Dog. Water temperatures are in the low-to-mid 70’s, making it ideal for these fast growing fish.
The good news on the dolphin front is that the average size of dolphin being caught is increasing. Reports from captains have dolphin hitting everything from ballyhoo to artificial lures.
TUNA
Similar to what we saw last year, bluefin tuna are dominating the bite with the vast majority being caught by anglers trolling ballyhoo around the Hambone. We did see some come in from chunkers this week, but most are being caught on trolled ballyhoo and spreader bars.
We had a couple of fantastic days of yellowfin tuna fishing. On Wednesday, the “Pumpin’ Hard” had 7 yellowfin (kept 4) along with a 150 lb. bluefin tuna, a white marlin release and a bunch of gaffer dolphin from the 30 fathom area outside the Hot Dog.
On Friday, the “Playmate” returned with 12 yellowfins from outside the Hot Dog and the “Marli” had 8 yellowfins and a bluefin in the same area.
CROAKER
Croakers are still roaming the bay with most catches being made around the Commercial Harbor and in the bay behind Assateague Island. Squid, shiners and Gulp! artificial
baits have been productive baits to use.
SURF
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reports, “We at Oyster Bay Tackle and Fenwick Tackle finally heard of croaker in the surf after dark. There were also huge rays that took over an hour to get in. A few bluefish were reported earlier in the week. The bluefish were biting on finger mullet on mullet rigs. We had lots of reports of croaker after dark from the beach on bloodworm and squid. We had reports of Norfolk spot on bloodworm, night crawlers and Artificial Fish Bite Bloodworms. Sharks and rays were biting bunker chunks or whole small squids. Assateague surf saw croakers and sharks, including some of the first spinner sharks.”
SEA BASS
In addition to hooking into some of the larger flounderwe have seen, anglers fishing the ocean wrecks and reefs are also picking at sea bass. Weather was on the snotty side this past week, so we didn’t see the normal amount of sea bass hitting the docks. Anglers using clams and squid for bait are having the best luck.
We have a busy tournament schedule coming up with the 1st Annual Marlin Club Ladies Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Sunset Marina, the Ocean Pines Flounder Tournament on Saturday at the Yacht Club and the White Marlin Open starting on Monday. See you at the scales.
