Article by Larry Jock
What a week of fishing! The White Marlin Open action was off the charts and some nice fish were caught by anglers in our bay. Let’s get into it...
White Marlin Open
It seems like every year we talk about how exciting the White Marlin Open was. Last year the first “grander” blue marlin hit the scales, which had everyone talking. This year we had excitement on many levels.
First, on Monday, almost 60 fish hit the scales setting a single day record for most fish weighed. We weighed a few fish from 4:00 to 5:30, and after that the action never stopped until “That’s Right” came to the scale at 11:00 PM.
The second highlight was on Tuesday, when local angler Tommy Fowler hit the scales with a 92 lb. white marlin that had everyone thinking the tournament was “over”. Nothing was going to beat that fish, or so everyone thought. Well, a couple of hours later, Brian Roberts on the “Shelly II” arrived at Harbour Island and threw a 97.5 pounder on the scale and the crowd erupted. This was the second heaviest white marlin ever caught in the 37 year history of the tournament. The fish was caught deep outside the Poor Man’s Canyon where Brian saw the fish come up, pitched a dink bait to it and hooked it himself. Pretty work!
The third highlight that comes to mind occurred in the Blue Marlin Division. You probably saw the 790 lb. blue marlin on the cover of last week’s Coastal Fisherman, caught by Trey Little on the “Scandalous” during the first day of the tournament. Again, everyone thought that this fish was the winner... nobody was going to beat it. Wrong again! On Tuesday, James Kontos on the “Let It Ride” caught a 1,010.5 pounder in 400 fathoms outside the Spencer Canyon and held on to win 1st place in the Blue Marlin Division. This was the second “grander” ever caught off the coast of Ocean City. Who would have ever thought that we would see two blue marlin over 1,000 pounds caught in the last two years? I know I didn’t.
Trey Little had more excitement up his sleeve when, on the final day of the tournament, he threw a 77.5 lb. yellowfin tuna on the scale to beat out Travis Boone on “That’s Right” by a single pound. Most of the yellowfins caught during the tournament were hooked in the Wilmington, Spencer and Lindenkohl Canyons. Surprisingly, there were no bluefins or bigeyes weighed during the tournament. There were no sharks weighed either.
Another big fish weighed was the 53.5 lb. dolphin caught on the first day by angler Cory Bubb on the “Top Gun”. Cory’s fish beat out Timothy Warner’s big bull dolphin by only two pounds.
The only wahoo caught during the tournament was landed on the final day by Zak Gelacek on the “Banshee 2”. This was another surprise to most at the scales, figuring that the warm ocean water would bring a few more speedsters to the scale.
Overall, 255 boats competed for over $2,130,000. Even though a lot of fish were weighed, we still saw 93.5% of white marlin released and 92% of blue marlin let go. It was just an incredible tournament!
Billfish
Outside of the White Marlin Open, we saw some nice billfish caught during the week and especially over the weekend. On Saturday, the “Cyntinory” released 5 whites near the Rockpile where the bite continued on Sunday with several boats recording releases. “Rhonda’s Osprey” released 3 whites and 3 blues and ”That’s Right” released a white marlin and a blue marlin estimated at 250 lbs.
All of this is just in time for the Mid-Atlantic $500,000, which starts on Monday.
Tuna
There’s no doubt about it, tuna fishing right now is tough. Some yellowfins were caught in the tournament, and just a couple by non-tournament anglers this week, but overall we aren’t seeing the numbers we saw just a couple of weeks ago. Water is just too darn warm.
Croaker
Much to everyone’s surprise, we haven’t seen many large croaker caught so far this summer. The ones that are being caught are mostly under the legal size limit of 9-inches. Usually, when you start to see the red May worms swimming around on the surface you will start to see some larger croaker being caught. I know I always see these worms when I am waiting for fish to be weighed at the Mid-Atlantic $500,000, which starts on Monday, so hopefully all the hardhead fishermen out there will get some keepers for their cooler. It seems that anglers always do well fishing for hardheads at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor. This is also a great fishery for kids, since the action can be fast and furious at times.
Flounder
We saw some beautiful flounder caught this week, highlighted by the 29.5-inch, 9 lb. 10 oz. flattie caught by Ben Gillen on Saturday in the West Channel. On the same trip, Steve Hudgins caught a 24.5-inch, 6 lb. flounder and three fish that measured 19.5-inches. Steve told me that they were using the hot flounder bait, Gulp! Swimming Mullets but once they flipped to the 6-inch Gulp! Grub, they started to bang the larger fish.
Also on Saturday, Bob Kosydar landed himself a 28-incher that tipped the scales at Ake Marine at 8 lbs. 2 oz.
The bite in the bay continues to center around the East Channel, the West Channel, around the South Jetty and in the channel off Gudelsky Park. This channel is a sleeper for flounder fishermen, with some nice fish being pulled from the deeper holes. You also might luck into catching a striper in this spot.
The best tide has been the last couple hours of the incoming, especially when the tide starts to slow down.
We are also starting to see some larger fish being caught on ocean wrecks and reefs. Super Mate Rich Silvani on the “Morning Star” caught a 6 lb. 2 oz. flattie on Friday at a natural reef. This is a good sign for anglers who want to venture out to the Washingtonian, the Old Grounds or any other reef or wreck off the coast.
Sea Bass
The “Morning Star” has been returning with some nice catches of sea bass, with fish between 3 and 4 lbs., although Capt. Monty reports that the bite is “mixed... different each day.”
The “Jezebel” had a nice trip on Friday when they returned with sea bass and tog from the Great Eastern Reef.
Tarpon
On Monday morning as this report was being written, Capt. Mark Sampson on the “Fish Finder” called and told me that he saw something he had never seen before off the coast of Ocean City, a school of tarpon swimming under his boat. Capt. Mark was anchored 5 miles off the beach around Great Gull Shoal shark fishing when he spotted the first tarpon while setting the anchor. Capt. Mark said they threw the tarpon some bait they had set aside in case a cobia showed up, but couldn’t get the Silver King to eat.
Dale Timmons, founder of the Coastal Fisherman, told me that he had seen only one tarpon caught off of our coast, back in the 1980’s when Paul Daisey caught one on a deep rolled spoon at the Bass Grounds. I guess when the water gets as warm as it is right now, you might just see anything show up.
Cobia
During the same trip, Jared Manbetk caught a 34 lb. cobia near Great Gull Shoal on a live spot. This was the only cobia we saw during the past week.
In the Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reports, “Surf anglers are catching kingfish, spot, and some croaker with small hooks and bloodworms or artificial bloodworm combined with a little strip of clam, mullet, bunker, or squid fillet. Some bluefish were caught this week on finger mullet, but all after dark. Lots of rays and skates were caught this week on box squid. "One after another...." one angler reported! There's still some big sharks out there and lots of little sand sharks too.”
Upcoming Tournaments
The Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls’ Open will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week at Bahia Marina. Weigh-ins are from 4:00 to 7:30 PM each day. This tournament is a blast and is definitely one of my favorite tournaments to cover. The lady anglers bring some nice fish to the scale and are always excited about their catch. This is also a great tournament for spectators, with Bahia Marina letting folks get really close to the action.
On Monday, the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 starts and runs right through until Friday. This is a big, East Coast tournament with weigh-ins held in both Cape May, NJ and at Sunset Marina. Weigh-ins are each day from 5:00 to 9:00 PM each day, so head on over to Sunset Marina, grab a bite at Sunset Grille and watch the weigh-ins.
See you at the scales.
