Article by Larry Jock
Some heavy storms rolled through the area, making seas a little nasty, but fishable on Saturday and fairly nice on Sunday.
The 13th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Kid’s Classic was held on Saturday and Sunday with over 400 junior anglers participating. It really has turned into an extraordinary event.
In the Billfish Release Division, the “Roncito”, had 2 releases on Saturday after trolling between the Wilmington and Baltimore Canyons. Right behind them was Fisher Zimmerman on the “Absolut Pleasure” with his very first white marlin release. Fisher hooked his in the Baltimore Canyon, the same area as Tyler Knight’s white marlin that took 3rd place in the tournament.
The quality of the winning tuna in the tournament was consistent with what we have been seeing so far this season with the “Reel Vibrations” weighing a 54.8 lb. yellowfin to take 1st place and “Talkin Trash” and “No Limits” coming in right behind with 53.8 and 53.4 lb. yellowfins. “Reel Vibrations” caught their winning fish while trolling at the Chicken Bone while “Talkin Trash” headed to Massey’s and caught 5 on the chunk.
As you saw on this weeks cover, the charter boat, “Reel Chaos” took 1st and 2nd place in addition to tying for 3rd place in the Flounder Division. Capt. Anthony Matarese made the wise decision to head to the flounder hot spot, Old Grounds and returned with 21 quality flatties in the box. Their 3 heaviest fish weighed 3.6, 4.6 and 6.4 lbs. All were caught on squid and cut bait. The charter boat, “C-Boys” also went to the Old Grounds and came back with some good size flounder, including a 3.6 pounder that tied the “Reel Chaos” for 3rd place.
Boats that decided to fish in calmer, bay waters mainly targeted spot, croaker and flounder. Most of the spot we saw was caught in the bay behind Assateague Island on Sabiki rigs tipped with Fishbite bloodworms. Croaker were found in good numbers around the Rt. 90 Bridge and in the Thorofare. Flounder mainly came from the bay behind Assateague Island.
Outside the tournament, we saw a couple of big wahoo weighed at local scales. Sam Homick caught an 81 pounder while trolling at the Hot Dog and Tim Proffitt took his first offshore trip last Thursday and muscled in a 75 lb. speedster while trolling in the Baltimore Canyon on the “G-FORCE”.
Throughout the week, most boats searching for tuna came back to the dock with less than a handful. Anglers were giving it their best, chunking on inshore lumps or trolling deeper in the canyons. Water temperatures are incredibly warm right now with reports ranging from 76 to 80-degrees at most stops. The top catch of the week came in on Sunday when anglers on the charter boat, “That’s Right” returned with 15 quality yellowfins in the box after spending the morning chunking in Massey’s Canyon.
Anglers looking for dolphin have been finding them everywhere from the Twin Wrecks/Fingers to the Jackspot and out in the canyons.
With the tuna bite on the slow side, a number of boats turned to tilefishing to fill their day. Last Friday, the “Reel Chaos” headed to the Baltimore Canyon and ended up with 44 blueline tilefish and 3 golden tilefish, weighing up to 30 lbs. Oddly, one of their drops resulted in a doubleheader consisting of the big golden tilefish and a blueline as well.
Inshore, anglers continued to look for sea bass and big flatties on ocean structure. As mentioned earlier, heading 20-mile to the Old Grounds looks to give you the best shot at catching some quality flounder. It’s a big area, so you either need to get some good numbers from some friends or just look for other boats bunched together in a specific area.
Sea bass fishing hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been bad either. Most of the fish we have been seeing have been caught on clams over an artificial reef.
Snapper bluefish are all over Fenwick Shoal, so if you are looking for some good, consistent action, head that way with some cut bait or simply troll spoons. Anglers have been finding a few larger fish mixed in as well.
In the bay, keeper flounder for most anglers are hard to come by, but if you are looking to simply bend the rod, there are plenty of throwback flounder to keep you busy. Most boats are fishing along the East Channel, in the Thorofare, behind Harbour Island and in the bay behind Assateague not too far south of the Inlet. Flounder pounders Preston Walls, Les Givens and Glenn Rothchild caught 6 keepers in the East Channel on Saturday while fishing with Gulp! artificial baits. Anglers fishing on area charter and headboats have been having luck in various areas. Those on the “Tortuga” and the “On the Run” had luck last week in the Thorofare and behind Harbour Island while those on the “Get Sum” seemed to have luck in the East and West Channels. Capt. Jason Mumford on the “Lucky Break” put his anglers on flatties in the bay behind Assateague Island.
Lastly, an influx of croaker into the bay is good news for anglers, especially those just starting out. As mentioned early, hardheads were plentiful around the Rt. 90 Bridge, at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor and in the bay behind Assateague Island. Very small hooks tipped with Fishbite bloodworms will certainly do the trick.
Anglers fishing around the Rt. 50 Bridge have been able to tangle with a good number of bluefish along with a few striped bass and some flounder.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 4th Annual Huk Big Fish Classic at the Talbot Street Pier in downtown Ocean City. As the title suggests, the biggest fish wins, no matter what species. Last year, anglers on the charter boat, “Marli” took top honors with a 407 lb. blue marlin. The weigh-ins will be held from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Friday and Saturday and 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Sunday.
Until next week, I’ll see you at the scales.
