Article by Larry Jock
The big news this week was definitely shark fishing, highlighted by the 13th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament held at Bahia Marina over the weekend. Here’s the catch report for the entire tournament:
75 makos caught
337 blue sharks caught
3 thresher sharks caught
2 dusky sharks caught
1 tiger shark caught
If you look at these numbers and then factor in that 46 boats participated in the tournament, it is pretty impressive. Weather did play a factor in the tournament, with rough conditions keeping all but 1 boat at the dock on Day #1. Saturday morning was nasty, but flattened out in the afternoon and Sunday’s seas were beautiful, but fog settled in for most of the day.
The “Nontypical” took top money honors, winning $44,719 for their 1st place (244.4 lbs.) and 3rd place (199 lbs.) makos. Capt. Terry Layton carried his anglers to the same location on both days, to 25 fathoms inside the Washington Canyon where he used Capt. Mac’s Monster Mash Chum to lure the winning sharks to the boat.
Other spots where makos were caught included just east or south of the Jackspot, the Sausages and the Fingers, with most being hooked around the Jackspot.
In the Thresher Division, Ethan Spencer really got the crowd excited when he, along with the crew on “Wayne’s World”, brought a 443.3 pounder to the scale. Like a lot of the makos, this thresher was caught just outside the Jackspot in 62.5-degree water.
Bluefish have been scarce this year, and it was not better in the tournament with only 9 weighed in. The “Jezebel”, always a threat in local tournaments, arrived with a 10.4 pounder caught at the Fingers.
When it came to bait, bluefish and mackerel either filleted or whole were the overwhelming choice for anglers.
Overall, it was an exciting tournament and a great way to jumpstart our season. We now get a weekend off until the Ocean City Shark Tournament on June 18th, 19th and 20th.
Outside the tournament, anglers throughout the week were able to land all the blue sharks they wanted around the Jackspot, the Hambone and the Fingers. A few makos were also caught.
STRIPED BASS
We continue to see a good striper bite for anglers drifting the point of the South Jetty. Those tossing bucktails during early morning hours or at night are reporting catches in the double digits. Tipping the bucktail with a curly tail or a Gulp! Alive Swimming Mullet seems to improve your chances. The vast majority of fish are in excellent shape, but we did receive a couple reports of fish looking a litter battered, so be careful handling your catch. It’s probably a good idea to keep a pack of disposable, disinfecting wipes in your boats if you have to handle a fish with sores.
FLOUNDER
It won’t go down as one of the greatest flounder fishing weeks we have had, but some fish were caught... not many, but some. Water clarity was a problem, due to all of the rain and poor weather we experienced. As always, find the clean water and you find flounder.
Hunter Dortenzo did catch 3 keepers on Saturday while drifting minnows and Gulp! baits in the bay behind Assateague. Cheryl Frank also landed a couple of keepers in the bay behind the Ocean City Airport, where most of the keepers we have seen over the last couple of weeks have been caught. Her largest was a 22.5-incher.
BLACK DRUM
We didn’t hear much about black drum recently, either from the surf or in the bay, until Bruce McGuigan and Brenton McCleary caught three small ones near the Assateague Bridge on Wednesday.
BLUEFIN TUNA
Although the bluefin regs were adjusted on June 1st to allow 2 bluefins to be kept, we still haven’t seen many hit the dock. J.R. Pequignot on the “Marli” did capture a nice 81 pounder on Thursday at the Parking Lot where Capt. Mark Hoos, Jr. reported water temperatures at 67-degrees.
Capt. Rich Daiker on the “Teaser” did tell me that one of his anglers fought a bluefin for over 3 hours during the Mako Mania Tournament before coming loose. Rich estimated the bluefin at between 800 and 900 lbs. and was hooked in 20 fathoms at the Fingers.
SEA BASS
We continue to see nice catches of sea bass coming from ocean wrecks and reefs. Several fish over 4 lbs. were caught with the heaviest tipping the scales at 5 lbs. 12 oz.
Although many anglers like to use squid when fishing for sea bass, it seems like those using clams are seeing better results.
No doubt we will see a lot more sharks being caught over the next couple of weeks and hopefully the action in the bay will heat up as well.
Check out our new website at www.coastalfisherman.net for fishing updates each day, along with videos, recipes and a host of fishing information.
See you at the scales!
