Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
It’s been about a decade since the tuna-chunking craze simmered down enough to allow the “old-way” of trolling for sushi to come back into style. Since then, a lot of anglers have reacquainted themselves with the art of rigging ballyhoo and perfecting their “spread.” But this season it would seem that past history is beginning to repeat itself as evident by the number of tuna that have been picked off by anglers who, instead of dragging ballyhoo and birds around the ocean, are spending their time offshore slicing and slinging butterfish and successfully drawing tuna to their chunk-line.
I expect that it’s too early to tell if chunking is destined to become the overwhelming method of choice for local fishermen for the rest of the summer, but I fully expect that there will be times when chunking, rather than trolling, will be an easier and more effective way to hook our local tuna. Therefore, whenever the weather is decent and the chunking bite is “on”, some of the popular tuna hotspots could become loaded up with boats. Offshore anglers who fished back in the 90’s will remember the days when, on a calm weekend in July or August, it was not uncommon to have 100 or more boats jammed into a few acres of water, all plying to draw their share of fish from schools of tuna that would meander around the fleets munching-out on the steady flow of hand cut chunks of fish that rained from the vessels above.
Tuna fishing in tight quarters creates procedures and challenges boaters don’t typically have to deal with in other types of fishing. Unlike fishing a crowded channel in the Chesapeake Bay for stripers or the back bays for flounder, offshore tuna chunkers are faced with the unique challenge of landing 30-100 tuna capable of running off hundreds of yards of line and dragging out battles for over an hour or more.
Such close quarter big game fishing requires that boaters demonstrate extra courtesy to nearby fishermen to avoid unwanted tangles and heated confrontations. Such consideration should begin long before the first hook is baited or handful of chunks hits the water.
When approaching a fleet of chunking boats, it’s only right to SLOW DOWN at least a third of a mile from anyone already fishing. You’ve arrived, there’s no need to come blasting in like a bunch of “Yahoos” rocking everyone else with your wake and driving down fish that might be close to the surface. Don’t make enemies right away (there will be plenty of opportunities for that later). Approach slowly and look to see what the other boats are doing. Are they anchored, or drifting? Is there a hot bite going on right now, or is it just a slow pick of fish here and there? It’s important to know these things before setting up so that you’ll be able pick the right spot to start from and get in on the action as soon as possible without interfering with anyone who is already there.
If the rest of the fleet is drifting – you drift. If everyone else is anchored – you anchor. Breaking this rule only leads to chaos. If you want to do something different, move well outside of the fleet so your activities don’t goof up everyone else.
If you’re going to anchor, it’s important to note how the other boats are laying on their anchor lines and which way their fishing lines are running. This will tell you which way the current is running (which is often different from the wind direction) and where to drop your own anchor so that your lines don’t end up under someone else’s boat.
Don’t anchor too close to other boats. On a small shoal with a lot of boats, it’s sometimes tough to spread out. But when possible, anglers should try and avoid getting any closer than 100 yards for other fishermen.
It’s also important to have adequate grounding (anchoring) tackle. A hefty anchor attached to 6-8 feet of chain, and then 300-500 feet of line is needed to properly get set up over most of Ocean City’s more popular tuna hot spots. Those without proper grounding tackle will often find it difficult, if not impossible to anchor, especially when the water is deep and the current is running hard. Dragging anchor through the middle of a chunking fleet won’t win you any friends!
Finally, anglers should keep in mind that just because a large fleet of boats is congregated in one area doesn’t mean that it’s the only place they can catch fish. Tuna are fast moving and wide-ranging. The same school could be on the Hot Dog in the morning, at the Jack Spot for lunch and the Twin Wrecks by mid-afternoon. Fishermen not wanting to deal with the aggravations that sometimes go along with fishing in a pack shouldn’t think twice about finding a little corner of the ocean all by themselves where they can fish their own way, free of headaches and hassles so often created by inconsiderate “Yahoos”.
Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and Captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
