Article by Larry Jock
It wasn’t only hot on the beach last weekend but the scales around Ocean City were burning up with bigeye tuna, bluefins, yellowfins and dolphin as well.
It wasn’t all peaches and cream last week with rough seas offshore and dirty water in the bay, but in any case, anglers prevailed and a lot of fish hit the dock.
Tuna
It was a parking lot in the Washington Canyon over the weekend with everyone searching for bigeye tuna. We saw close to 20 bigeyes caught last week, so you could safely estimate that close to 30 were boated since some anglers are photophobic. The largest bigeye of the year came in on Sunday aboard the “Moore Bills” when they decked a 247 pounder in 75-degree water in the Washington Canyon.
With most of the fleet trolling around the Hot Dog for big bluefin tuna the last couple of weeks, rumors came in on Thursday about some Wachapreague boats getting into bigeyes and medium-to-small yellowfins the day before in the Washington Canyon. It didn’t take long for Ocean City boats to head that way and on Friday at least 6 were caught by local boats. The “White Lightning” had a great day, bringing back 2 bigeyes, weighing 146.8 and 203.8 lbs., in addition to 19 yellowfins. “Albedamn” also got in on the action, boating a 209 pounder which also gave them 1st place in the Canyon Kick Off. “Absolut Pleasure” was right behind with a 69-inch, 207 lb. bigeye.
Quite a few boats also had yellowfin tuna on board. Although most were small to medium sized yellowfins, a few large ones were caught such as the 88.8 pounder captured by Danny Gough on the “Billfisher”.
Boats that decided to stick to the area around the Hot Dog on Friday were rewarded with numerous bluefin tuna and even some yellowfins mixed in. Some of the bluefins were very large, with several between 70 and 72-inches.
On Saturday, the bigeye tuna bite really took off with at least 8 bigeyes weighed at Sunset Marina and the Ocean City Fishing Center from boats trolling in the Washington Canyon. Boats also returned with good catches of yellowfins. The charter boat, “Reel Chaos” had 17 yellowfins and the “Marli” ended up with 16 in the box. Most of the other boats had 5-9 yellowfins.
The bluefin bite around the Hot Dog kept rolling along with quite a few coming in weighing between 70 and 80 lbs.
On Sunday, the action remained the same with bigeyes and yellowfins found in 75-degree water in the Washington and bluefins boated around the Hot Dog.
Overall, it was a tremendous long, holiday weekend of tuna fishing out of Ocean City.
Wahoo
The only wahoo we saw last week came in on the “Halcyon” when they arrived at Sunset Marina with a bluefin from the Hot Dog and a pair of yellowfins, a wahoo and a blue marlin from deep in the Poor Man’s.
Dolphin
A good number of mahi were caught by anglers trolling in the Washington Canyon and a few were hooked around the Hot Dog as well. The best catch of the weekend came in on the charter boat, “No Quarter” during the Canyon Kick Off, when they arrived at Sunset Marina with a load of mahi caught in 1,000 fathoms outside the Poor Man’s Canyon. Their largest fish weighed 18.8 lbs. and is the largest dolphin we have seen so far this year in Ocean City. Their next two heaviest weighed 13.0 and 13.8 lbs.
Marlin
A few anglers searching for bigeye tuna ended up with marlin releases during the Canyon Kick Off. The charter boat, “Last Call” released 2 white marlin around the 461 Lump on Saturday, giving them first place in the Billfish Release Division. A couple of other boats had a single white marlin release in the Washington Canyon.
In addition to the blue marlin release mentioned earlier on the “Halcyon”, there was also a blue marlin release on Thursday by the “Siren’s Song” around the Hot Dog, and one released on Sunday on the “Grandé Pez” in the Washington Canyon.
Flounder
Throughout the week, flounder fishermen continued to be frustrated with the lack of water clarity in the bay in addition to water temperatures plummeting into the high 50’s. The good news is that the water cleared up considerably as this issue was heading to the press on Monday and water temperatures are back on the rise. The head boat, “Bay Bee” ended up with 7 keepers on Monday morning from the Inlet and at the mouth of the bay behind Assateague Island.
Flounder fishing improved in the East Channel with good catches coming in from anglers drifting along the Cement Plant with live spot and by those fishing off the 4th Street Bulkhead. We also saw some fish being caught in the West Channel as well. Most of the keepers are between 17 and 20-inches, but a few larger fish ended up in coolers, like the 6 pounder caught by Preston Walls on Friday in the East Channel, south of the Rt. 50 Bridge. The 25-incher just missed out on being the heaviest of the year by 4 oz.
By far, live spot has been the top bait to use for flounder, but anglers are still having good luck with both white and pink Gulp! Swimming Mullets in either the 4” or 6” sizes.
Sea Bass
Headboats continue to come back with tubs filled with sea bass and we did see several over 3 lbs. The heaviest of the week was one that weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz. caught on a deep dropping trip on the head boat, “Morning Star”. Clams appears to be besting squid as the top bait.
Striped Bass
Early in the week, it was tough drifting across the tip of the South Jetty due to rough sea conditions. However, when things calmed down, charter boat, “Skip’s Charter & Guide Service” had several good days catching stripers on live spot. The vast majority of fish measured around 26-inches, making them too small to keep, but those that put in their time came home with linesiders in the cooler.
Red Drum
Anglers drifting in the bay behind Ocean City in search of flounder continued to be surprised to find small red puppy drum on their hook. Fish were caught around the South Jetty in addition to in the East Channel.
In the Surf
We are definitely in the summertime mode for surfcasters. Panfish are dominating the action with kingfish, croaker, spot and small weakfish leading the way.
At night, surf fishermen are hooking into sharks and rays.
Upcoming Tournaments
This weekend is the popular Ocean City Tuna Tournament at the Ocean City Fishing Center. Weigh-ins are Friday and Saturday from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM and Sunday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. On Friday and Saturday anglers will be allowed to weigh stringers (multiple fish grouped together) at Sunset Marina.
If this past weekend’s action is a precursor to what we will see in the tournament, you are not going to want to miss it. Get there early and grab a chair at the rail of Mickey Fins.
See you at the scales!
