Article by Larry Jock
Who would have ever thought we would be thankful for bluefish? Well, that’s the case right now. But it was a tough week with the wind just not wanting to die down and nasty weather on 5 of the 7 days made fishing difficult and some days impossible.
Offshore action was very minimal with weather keeping almost all of the boats at the dock on every day but Wednesday. A half dozen boats took advantage of the break in wind conditions to venture close to 90 miles offshore into 1,000 to 1,200 fathoms, east of the Washington Canyon. Those that took the trip found yellowfin tuna in the 30 lb. range, some dolphin and a few makos. One of those boats was the “Nontypical” with Capt. Terry Layton behind the wheel. Terry said that water temperatures gradually increased from 59 to 65-degrees until he hit a hard break around 1,200 fathoms where temperatures spiked to 73-degrees. They stayed on the warm side where Terry said that they found a lot of bait. Water was also very clean once they reached the 30 fathom line. They ended up boxing a couple of small tunas and released a mako estimated at around 100 lbs.
Most of the boats in the area were able to hook-up with smaller yellowfins, so it was worth the trip. No billfish sightings were made, which surprised Terry, since all of the smaller yellowfins could easily attract a nice blue marlin.
Interestingly, when the “Nontypical” crossed the Bigeye Hole, it looked like it was prime season with whales milling about in 58-degree water. I know that the commercial guys returned with good catches of bigeyes early last week, so hopefully it will be another good year for eyeballs.
Inshore, anglers hitting the wrecks looking for tautog had a good day on Wednesday. As you saw on the cover of this issue, the charter boat, “Fish Bound” headed to ocean structure in 75-feet of water. Capt. Kane’s group ended up catching their boat limit of 32 tog before spending the rest of the day releasing nice fish. Victor Feleccio led the way with a 16 lb. 2 oz. fish that he released. There were also a couple others caught in the 10-11 lb. range. The hot tog bait has definitely been white leggers with green crabs coming in a close second.
Inshore hot spots will be hopping this week with the opening of the black sea bass season on May 15th. Anglers are allowed to keep 15 fish that are 12 1/2-inches or larger.
In the surf, anglers continue to stay busy battling big bluefish, although that bite does seem to be down a little from prior weeks. It’s been coming in waves, with a slow period making way to an insane blitz. A few nice size stripers were also caught in the surf, led by Lee Savage’s 47-incher that tipped the scale at 39.5 lbs. Lee caught the fish last Wednesday while soaking peelers. Kevin Briddell caught a 44-incher earlier in the week that weighed an even 33 lbs. Kevin fooled this big linesider with a chunk of bunker. Unfortunately, I have seen reports of absolutely monster striped bass being caught off the coast of New Jersey, which isn’t a good sign for Delmarva surfcasters. The nicest black drum we saw last week came in from Zach Nagler who caught a 43-incher that weighed 40 lbs. Zach caught the black drum on a peeler crab during the outgoing tide while fishing off Assateague.
Surfcasters looking for good red drum, black drum and striper action usually head to the barrier islands off Virginia, like hot spot Hog Island where this time of year is usually very productive.
Mid-week, reports came into the Coastal Fisherman office about hundreds of small, 20-inch stripers congregating around the Ocean Pier, just north of the Inlet. Big Bird Cropper got in on the action and said that it was non-stop for those tossing shads into the 61-degree, extremely clear water.
In the bay, bluefish are all over with good action at dusk around the bridges and the Oceanic Pier. Flounder are definitely in the Thorofare for anglers hitting the skinny water with Gulp! artificial baits, or better yet, trolling belly meat. Windy conditions made it difficult for boaters, but those who ventured up to the flats found keepers. This week should be interesting, since calm weather should get more boats up on the flats where we are sure to see good catches of fatties.
Upcoming Tournament
The first tournament on the schedule is the Ocean City Marlin Club Memorial Day Tournament on May 27th or May 28th (fish one of two).
The following week, on June 2nd, 3rd & 4th is the 21st Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament at Bahia Marina. If you have never attended this tournament, you really owe it to yourself to head over and check it out. You can get very close to the action and Bahia Marina is always a cool place to hang out and watch the weigh-ins.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales!
