Article by Larry Jock
It was a rough weekend for fishing in Ocean City. The weekend saw windy conditions and rough seas, even in the bay. The forecast was bad enough that the Ocean City Marlin Club extended fishing days for their Labor Day Tournament to Monday, which turned out to be a smart move since nobody ventured offshore on Saturday and Sunday. Because this issue went to press before the scales closed on Monday, we will have full coverage, including pictures, in next weeks Coastal Fisherman.
Billfish
On the first day of the Labor Day White Marlin Tournament, he “DA Sea” jumped out to an early lead when they returned on the first day of the Labor Day Tournament with 13 releases. Right behind was the “Billfisher” with 950 points after releasing 7 whites, a spearfish and a blue marlin in the Norfolk.
Since nobody fished on Saturday and Sunday, the vast majority of boats headed to the Baltimore Canyon on Monday based on a report that a Cape May boat released 8 white marlin and a blue marlin there on Sunday. Although the good bite on Friday, before the blow, was in the Norfolk Canyon, some captains worried that the northeast wind may have pushed the water to over the 100-mile line, making it out of reach for tournament anglers. Over the weekend, reports did come out of Virginia that boats were finding white marlin, but further south than our boats could travel. Therefore, Ocean City boats opted to head to the Baltimore where several recorded 1-4 releases. Only 1 boat headed to the Norfolk and they returned with only 2 white marlin releases.
In addition to the “Billfisher” blue marlin release on Friday, we saw several others released throughout the week. On Monday, the “Pumpin’ Hard” had one in the Washington Canyon and the “No Limits” released a blue in the Poor Man’s. Congratulations to Patty King for knocking an item off her bucket list when she released a blue marlin on Wednesday while fishing on the “Fugitive”. Also on Wednesday, the “DA?Sea” released a blue marlin in the Washington Canyon during an overnight trip. Finally, on Friday, “First Light” released a blue, estimated at 200 lbs., while trolling in the Norfolk.
We don’t see too many sailfish hooked in our waters, but we received a report of anglers on the “Ramsi” releasing one on Thursday outside the Rockpile.
Wahoo
We received a report last Thursday that 8-year-old Madison McGinnis caught an 82 lb. wahoo, with minimal help, while fishing at the Rockpile. Madison’s catch just missed being the heaviest wahoo caught this year. Congratulations, Madison!
Dolphin
Mahi are literally everywhere, and as expected, they are thick around any floating objects. The majority are smaller, bailer dolphin with a few gaffers, in the 14 to 20 lb. range, mixed in. Casting cut bait on spinning rods is a fun and productive way to spend the afternoon.
Tuna
Although a few bigeyes hit the dock last week, the return of yellowfins had most tuna fisherman excited. Having been absent for quite some time, the tuna were mainly found in the Washington Canyon, but some were caught in the Poor Man’s as well. The fish are not large, averaging in the 20-25 lb. range. Some have been caught on the troll, but chunking has become more effective.
As mentioned, we continue to see bigeyes being caught during overnight trips to the Washington Canyon. The eyeballs we have been seeing lately have all been in the neighborhood of 170 lbs. and have been caught on the troll.
Early last week, Steve Zarick on the “No Limits” caught a longfin albacore tuna in 166 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
On a side note, take time to read the news brief on page 44 that deals with the State of Maryland considering making changes to regulations that would allow Maryland Natural Resources Police officers to enforce the federally-established limits through the Maryland regulator and enforcement process. I wasn’t aware that there was a problem with boats bringing back undersize yellowfins or more fish than legally allowed, so I don’t understand why the State would feel the need to check boats. Seems like a waste of time to me.
Flounder
No sense sugarcoating it. Flounder fishing in the bay is horrible, and has been for a number of weeks. However, on the bright side, this is the time of year we start to see them staging up for their migration offshore, so hopefully the deep holes in the East Channel and around the South Jetty will start producing some good catches of flatties. Live bunker or spot is the best bait to use this time of year.
Last year around this time, we saw an excellent flounder bite in the Middle Channel and in the Fishbowl, located smack in the middle between the East and West Channels, north of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Keep an eye on this area. Maybe lightning will strike twice. This is also the area where anglers will quietly look for speckled trout, which is a great fish to catch on light tackle.
Fishing on ocean reefs and wrecks couldn’t be better for those seeking flounder. This bite has been great all season, and all you need to do is look at the pictures in the Coastal Fisherman and realize that you are making a mistake if you don’t belong to the Ocean City Reef Foundation so you can get a copy of their charts. The Old Grounds, Bass Grounds, Jackspot, Winter Quarter Shoal and the African Queen have all been top producers all season long. Dropping cut bait, especially mahi belly or cut bluefish or sea robin has proven deadly, but anglers are also seeing results with 3 or 4 oz. bucktails tipped with 5-inch Gulp! Swimming Mullets.
Croaker
With not much action in the bay lately, we haven’t heard of many croakers being caught. If they are here, you can usually find them at the mouth of the Commercial Harbor.
In the Surf
Surfcasters are finding the suds loaded with kingfish with sharks and skates dominating the nighttime action. A few flounder are also being caught off Assateague.
Upcoming Tournaments
This Friday, September 11th is the 15th Annual Ocean City Fishing Center Spot Tournament. This event is a blast, especially for kids. All of the action takes place right at the dock and the atmosphere is very party-like. Definitely a good time! Fishing is from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM followed by the awards presentation.
The Bahia Marina Flounder Pounder is scheduled for Sunday, September 13th. Fishing is from 10:00 AM?to 4:30 PM with scales closing at 5:00 PM. Cost is only $25 per angler and Bahia Marina always puts on a great event. Last years winner took home a check for $2,365!
See you at the scales.
