Article by Larry Jock
Before we get into the Fishing Report, I want to send congratulations out to local angler, and founder of the White Marlin Open, Jim Motsko. Jim finished in 4th place in The Invitational Masters Angling Tournament, started over 40 years ago and held in Isla Mujeres, Mexico on May 18th to 21st.
With a maximum of 20 lb. test line and fish having to be fought from a non-moving boat, the emphasis of the tournament is on skill and speed. The faster the sailfish or white marlin can be released, the more points the angler earns. Points are deducted for line breaks.
Jim led the tournament after the first 2 days and caught 9 sailfish during his 3 days of fishing, accumulating 415 points, only 80 points behind the winner.
Another local angler, John Simmonds finished in 10th place with 220 points.
Congratulations to them both!
Mako Mania Shark Tournament
The 20th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament was held last weekend and the first 2 days saw some exciting action at the scales.
The “Teaser” arrived just as weigh-ins opened on Day 1 and threw a 318.7 lb. thresher on the scale. The big shark was caught on a whole bluefish at the Fingers and obviously took the early lead in the Thresher Division. A few big makos followed, including a 176.7 pounder caught on the “Outnumbered” that took the lead in the Mako Division, but ended up in 4th place on the final day. The crowd really went crazy when Mike Moss on the “Capt. Ike II” arrived with a 407.8 lb. thresher that easily took over 1st place in the Thresher Division. Mike hooked the thresher on a bunker fillet in 20 fathoms inshore of Massey’s Canyon. The “Reel Nauti” jumped into the lead in the Mako Division when they weighed a 182.5 pounder caught on a whole bluefish in 500 fathoms in the Washington Canyon, but the lead didn’t last very long. The last boat to arrive on Day 1 was the “Jade II” with a 220.8 lb. mako that moved into 1st place and held onto that position for the entire tournament. The fish was caught on a yellowfin tuna fillet in 500 fathoms outside the 461 Lump..
Anticipation was high on Day 2 of the tournament and the first leaderboard change was made when Jeff Green on the “Stripteaser” showed up with a 455 lb. thresher caught on a whole mackerel. The guys were fishing on a 29-foot Regulator and had to tow the big thresher for 3 hours back to the scales because it wouldn’t fit in the boat. Jeff won last years Thresher Division with a 500 pounder caught in a 26-foot center console. It was all makos the rest of the day, highlighted by a 199.2 pounder caught on the “Reel Nauti” that was good enough to end the tournament in 2nd place and moved their 182.5 pounder into 3rd. The mako was caught on a whole bluefish, in 500 fathoms in the Washington Canyon where they found 77-degree water.
On the final day of the tournament, only 25 boats were eligible to fish and the only fish weighed was a 154.4 lb. mako caught on the “Wrecker”.
Three bluefish were weighed during the tournament with Bo Rites’ on the “Talkin Trash” taking 1st place with a 12.2 lb. chopper caught in 30 fathoms inshore of the Washington Canyon. Second place was won by Sonny Snodgrass with a 10.3 pounder caught at the Hot Dog on the second day of the tournament.
The W.W. Harman Award for most mako shark releases recorded in 1 day was won by anglers fishing on the “Marli” who recorded 6 releases while fishing inshore of the 461 Lump on the first day of the tournament.
Overall, it was a record setting tournament with 270 anglers on 58 boats winning over $103,000.
Outside of the tournament, action at the docks was dominated by yellowfin tuna and mahi, at least for the back half of the week.
Some boats headed down to the Norfolk Canyon but returned disappointed. The best action was around the 461 Lump with several returning with incredible catches. The water temperature break was 69 to 73-degrees and the best bite moved between the hot and cold sides of the break, sometimes even throughout a single day.
On Thursday, the “Jade II” took an overnight trip to 500 fathoms and returned with 24 yellowfins and 11 mahi. They also caught a 184 lb. mako during the night.
On Friday, the “White Lightning” had 17 yellowfins, the “Spring Mix II” boated 11 and “That’s Right” ended their day with 14 in the box, all while trolling near the 461 Lump.
Saturday was also a good day for many boats near the 461 Lump, although only a few had double-digit catches of yellowfins. “My Special D” went 12 for 13 and “That’s Right” returned with 10 in the box.
Mixed in with the yellowfins were good catches of mahi, and the good news is that they are definitely getting larger. The largest one we saw was Mike Magee’s 35 pounder caught on the “Reel Fin Addict”.
In addition to a blue marlin that was released on Wednesday by Cory Lednum near the 461 Lump, we also saw a few white marlin released as well. The “Marli” released a pair at the Lump on Wednesday and on Saturday, anglers on the “Bella” released a pair and the “Bill Collector” released a single.
Closer to shore, tautog fishing has been pushed aside with anglers more concerned with catching sea bass. Ocean structure produced good catches for anglers fishing on local charter and head boats. We saw several anglers return with their limit of 15 sea bass and several more with 10-14 knotheads. Squid and clams continue to be the baits of choice.
As the waters continue to warm up, we are starting to see some flounder show up on inshore ocean structure and along coral bottom. Unfortunately, flounder fishing in the bay continues to be poor with bad weather causing dirty water conditions. The best bite seems to be on the flats, north of the Thorofare, especially by those bump trolling the channel edges. White Gulp! Swimming Mullet combined with live minnows has been working well. Lamont Hilbert bucked the trend and hooked 7 flatties while drifting Gulp!, minnows and flounder belly behind Castaway’s Campground in the South Bay over the weekend. He also hooked into 7 stripers around the South Jetty where keepers up to 36-inches were mixed in with good numbers of short fish.
Chopper bluefish were hooked around the Rt. 50 Bridge at night along with some striped bass.
Upcoming Tournament
We have a rare weekend off for tournaments in Ocean City. Some boats will head to the South Jersey Marina for the 36th Annual South Jersey Shark Tournament on June 8-11. There are usually some local boats that head down to Morehead City, NC for the prestigious Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament that starts with a Ladies Event on June 11th and the regular tournament on June 12th.
The next local tournaments on the schedule are the MSSA Tuna-Ment on Jun 17th and 18th and the Small Boat Tournament on June 18th and 19th.
See you at the scales!
