Article by Larry Jock
The weekend was dominated by action at the Poor Girls Open where on the final day, the top 3 spots in the Billfish Release Division were won by anglers on the “Absolut Pleasure” (12), “Reel Chaos (8) and the “Pumpin Hard” (7). The “Absolut Pleasure” anglers, with Capt. Willie Zimmerman at the helm, found their white marlin out in 700 fathoms between the Baltimore and Poor Man’s Canyons. The majority of the white marlin hooked in the tournament came from the Baltimore or Poor Man’s Canyons. It sounds like there was a good bite deep outside the Poor Man’s on Sunday with a few boats getting high single-digit and low double-digit releases.
The Tuna Division was won with a 112 lb. yellowfin caught by Nancy Kohl on the “A Salt Weapon III” when the tuna hit a dink bait in 800 fathoms in the Wilmington Canyon. This is the largest yellowfin tuna caught so far this season.
On the final day of the event, the anglers on the “Bent Tent” really shook up the Dolphin Division when they arrived with a 20.7 lb. dolphin and a 36.3 pounder to jump into 1st and 3rd place. They caught the dolphin on dink baits in 700 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon. The 2nd place dolphin was a 32.9 pounder caught by Lindsay Stanton on the “Buckshot” while trolling deep outside the Baltimore Canyon.
The only wahoo weighed in the tournament arrived on the first day of the tournament when Lucy Muhlenbruck on the “Blood Money” caught a 30.2 lb. speedster.
The big winner of the tournament was the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research that received a check for $130,000. This pushed the total contribution received over the last 25 years to over $1,051,900, a real tribute to the Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open, the Harman family and all of the volunteers.
Deep droppers continue to find golden and blueline tilefish interested in their offerings of squid in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
If you are looking to hook some king and Spanish mackerel, heading to the Jackspot will give you a good shot at them. Capt. Franky on the charter boat, “Last Call” told me that for mackerel, gold spoons seem to be working the best with silver spoons being better for bluefish.
Inshore, the flounder bite on ocean structure remained strong, although we really aren’t seeing the really big flatties that we typically see this year. That was evident in the 5-day Paradise Grill Flounder Tournament held last week where the winner was a 9.8 pounder that was caught off the coast of Barnegat, NJ. We are seeing fish in the 7 to 8 lb. range being caught on strip baits and Gulp, but nothing over the magical 10 lb. mark.
We saw a couple more cobia caught by anglers fishing not far off the Delaware coastline. The fish are moving south, following schools of bunker. If you can take some time to snag some bunker before searching for the “man in the brown suit”, it could be time well spent. Chris Albright from Mechanicsburg, PA used a live bunker to hook a 40-incher while fishing south of the Indian River Inlet.
Be careful when fishing for cobia since the regulations are confusing. In federal waters, fish must be 36-inches (fork length) and anglers can keep 1 per person or 6 per vessel, whichever is more restrictive. In Maryland, however, there is a 40-inch (total length) minimum and a creel limit of 1 per person or 3 per vessel if there are 3 or more anglers on the boat. So what happens if you catch a 36-incher in federal waters that doesn’t hit the 40-inch total length requirement for Maryland waters? The Maryland DNR told me that as long as you don’t stop and fish in state waters you will be fine following Federal regulations.
Around the South Jetty, there were a couple of sheepshead caught over the weekend by anglers fishing with Capt. Dave Caffrey on the charter boat, “On the Run”.
Anglers are continuing to peck at flounders in the bay behind Ocean City. We also saw a few come in from near the duck blinds in the bay behind Assateague Island, but most are being caught in the East Channel and the Fishbowl. Drifting around the Rt. 50 Bridge where you can find deep holes with cooler water has also been a productive strategy.
A few croakers are being caught in the bay around the South Jetty and at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is silent for tournaments in Ocean City, so the next one on the schedule is the Ocean City Marlin Club Labor Day Tournament running from August 31st to September 2nd.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales! .
