Article by Larry Jock
With a slow start to the marlin season in Ocean City, nobody was sure what would happen in the 40th Annual White Marlin Open held last week at Harbour Island.
The tournament, with 262 boats entered and over $2,400,000 on the line, was dominated by bigeye tuna right out of the starting gate with fish being caught in both the Washington and Wilmington Canyons.
On Monday, we didn’t see any marlin hit the qualifying marks (70 lbs. and 65” for whites; 500 lbs. and 105” for blues). The “MJ’s” came close with a 69 1/2 lb. white marlin that just missed the mark. Four bigeye tuna were weighed on day 1. The “Goin’ In Deep” weighed a pair of bigeyes (181 lbs. & 200 lbs.), and the “Tar Heel” (226 lbs.) and the “Over the Top” (188 lbs.) each weighed an eyeball. The “Over the Top” was definitely more interested in white marlin and the boat was loaded with 20 lb. outfits. It took John Janaskie 6 hours to get the 188 pounder into the boat. Local boat, “No Quarter” weighed a 133.5 lb. mako that they hooked on the troll in 150 fathoms in the Wilmington Canyon and ended up winning the Shark Division.
On the second day of the tournament, the “Billfisher” jumped to the top of the White Marlin Division with a 77 pounder caught in 1,100 fathoms in the Norfolk Canyon. Right behind the “Billfisher” was the “Reel Estate”, with a 76.5 lb. white that took over 2nd place and the “Full Pull” with a 72.5 pounder.
The “MJ’s” fished for the 2nd day in a row and boated a pair of bigeyes weighing 233.5 and 248.5 lbs. to take the top 2 spots in the Tuna Division.
Wednesday saw some big moves on the leaderboard. The “Sea Mistress” and the “Sea Toy” both weighed 77 lb. white marlin to tie the “Billfisher”. However, a never before used tiebreaker was invoked, where a non-gaffed white marlin overtakes one that is gaffed. Since the “Billfisher” gaffed their white marlin and the other 2 had not, the “Billfisher” moved into third place. Shortly, thereafter, the “Kingfisher/Odinspear” arrived at the scale with their 83 pounder caught in 200 fathoms in the Norfolk to take over 1st place in the White Marlin Division, a spot they never lost.
Also on Wednesday, the “Billfisher” caused some more excitement at the scales with two dolphin weighing 28 lbs. and 33 lbs. to take over the top 2 spots in the Dolphin Division, but the “Why Not” came in right behind them with a 34 pounder to take the lead, moving the “Billfisher” into 2nd and 3rd place.
With bad weather expected on Friday, 191 boats hit the seas on Thursday. The “Nontypical” had everyone on their feet when they hit the scales with a 108-inch blue marlin. Unfortunately, the fish came up just short of the 500 lb. minimum, tipping the scale at 449.5 lbs. “Lights Out” was the next boat to arrive and they ended up weighing another 77 lb. non-gaffed white marlin that created a first for the 40 year old tournament, a 3-way tie for 2nd place.
The “aquadance” fished in 100 fathoms inside the Poor Man’s Canyon and boated a 57.5 lb. wahoo to briefly take over 1st place in the Wahoo Division, but the “Streaker” wasn’t far behind with their 70 pounder, caught by Jim Simmonds, that ended up winning the Wahoo Division.
The Tuna Division also saw some big changes on Thursday, when Mark Donohue on the “Miss Annie” landed a 261.5 lb. bigeye in the Norfolk Canyon to take over 2nd place. The next boat to arrive was the “Goin’ In Deep” with 3 bigeyes, the largest weighing 255.5 lbs., good enough to take 3rd place in the tournament. These bigeyes were caught in the Wilmington Canyon.
The last 2 boats to hit the scales on Thursday were the “Cotton Picker”, with a 131 lb. mako to take 2nd place in the Shark Division, and the “G-FORCE” with a 30.5 lb. dolphin that was caught deep outside the Washington Canyon, which ended the tournament in 3rd place in the Dolphin Division.
Only 39 boats fished on the final day of the tournament and one of those was the “Kingfisher/Odinspear”, who was presently sitting in 1st place in the White Marlin Division. They added to their winnings by landing a 66 lb. wahoo in 100 fathoms in the Washington Canyon to take 2nd place in the Wahoo Division. As the tournament was winding to a close, the “Sushi” arrived at the scale and jolted everyone with a 276 lb. bigeye that took over 1st place in the Tuna Division. Jim Czaban from Vienna, VA hooked the bigeye on a trolled ballyhoo in 400 fathoms in the Norfolk.
Although we didn’t see the number of white and blue marlin hooked like in the last few years, several exciting days at the scale and over $2,400,000 given away in prize money made it another White Marlin Open to remember.
Yellowfin Tuna
A few boats heading down to the Washington Canyon returned over the weekend with good catches of yellowfins with a few bigeye, but overall it was a slow pick. Anglers on the charter boat, “Restless Lady” boated 21 yellowfins, and the “Moore Bills” had 2 bigeyes, weighing 130 and 216 lbs, in addition to 13 yellowfins. The “Marli” also hit the Washington Canyon for a pair of bigeyes weighing 150 and 179 lbs., a blue marlin release and 5 yellowfins. Not to be outdone by the large boats, the “Jezebel” stuffed their fishbox with 6 yellowfins caught while trolling cedar plugs.
The largest yellowfin caught in Ocean City so far this year came in on the “Slaughterhouse”, when Raymond Shirk hooked a 108 pounder while chunking at the Hot Dog.
Flounder
It looks like we may have had a fresh batch of flounder move into our bays. One angler who caught a handful along the wall on the north side of the Inlet reported cutting open his fish and finding whole squids in their bellies.
Most of the flounder hooked last week came up short of the 16-inch minimum. Anglers really had to put their time in to catch any keepers, but they were there to be caught in the Inlet and the East and West Channels.
It looks like the flounder bite on ocean structure is really starting to improve. We saw some excellent catches come in from the African Queen and by anglers on the “Morning Star” and the “Angler”.
White Gulp! Swimming Mullets along with smaller spot and finger mullet have been the go to baits for flatties.
Upcoming Tournaments
The 20th Annual Capt. Steve Harman Poor Girls Open will be held at Bahia Marina on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with weigh-ins each night from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM. This is a fantastic tournament that benefits the American Cancer Society.
Next week, the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 starts with weigh-ins at Sunset Marina from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Monday through Friday. The last few years, boats fishing out of Ocean City have taken over 90% of the award money, so there is no doubt the New Jersey boats will be gunning for them. Every year, this tournament is exciting, and with tables at Sunset Grille available near the scales there is no better way to watch the action.
See you at the scales!
