Article by Larry Jock
After what seemed to be an eternity, it looks like we finally have a fishing season starting in Ocean City.
Flounder
It was a very bad week to be a flounder in the bay behind Ocean City. Throughout the week, we saw excellent catches of flatties from anglers fishing near the duck blinds behind Assateague Island and from those drifting and trolling over the Thorofare flats. You really had to guess right though, with the best bites alternating between the two locations.
Wednesday was the best day of the week. We saw several boats returning with high, single-digit catches from all over the bay, as far south as the duck blinds and all the way up north near the Rt. 90 Bridge. We even saw some flounder caught in the West Channel by Hooper’s Crab House.
Right now, it would be safe to say that white and pink Gulp! Swimming Mullets are the top producers, but anglers hedging their bet by adding a minnow to their hook are catching some nice fish.
Heading into the weekend, the weather turned a little nasty resulting in dirty water that dampened the flounder bite. Fish were still caught and the better bite was definitely over the Thorofare flats.
It is great to see that the quality of fish being landed is on the rise. The fish are definitely getting thicker. I saw one flattie caught in the MSSA/OPA Flounder Tournament that was so thick it looked like a mutant. It measured 24.5-inches and weighed almost 6.5 lbs!
Weakfish
The weakfish bite in the bay has been the untold story of the spring. Anglers have been very quietly catching weakfish around the Assateague Bridge, the South Jetty and more so, north of the Thorofare near the Hole in the Wall.
The largest weakie so far this year was caught last Thursday by Kate Yarzutkina while tossing a bucktail tipped with a grub around the pilings of the Assateague Bridge. The 29.5-inch fish weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz.
Better action has been around the Hole in the Wall, where anglers have been catching good numbers of weakfish at night on dark bucktails tipped with dark curly tails.
Over the weekend, Addison Timmons landed a 24-incher at the Hole in the Wall on a 4-inch Gulp! Swimming Mullet and earlier in the week, Ollie Powell nailed a 26-incher at the same location on a Zoom minnow.
Bluefish
There are a lot of snapper bluefish roaming all around the bay, particularly around the bridges and up in the Thorofare. Larger bluefish are being caught by surfcasters off Assateague and north Ocean City beaches.
The largest bluefish we have seen so far this year was actually caught in the bay by Dustin Dell. Dustin captured the 11 lb. 8 oz. chopper while fishing off the pier at Northside Park on 125th Street.
Striped Bass
Although some stripers are being caught off the beach on Assateague Island, it would be safe to say that it hasn’t been a spectacular spring so far for surfcasters. Most surf fisherman I have spoken to have not had a good season and have complained about the large amount of skates and the sharks. That being said, the stripers we have seen caught have been beautiful, with several over 40-inches.
Elsewhere, a few linesiders were caught around the South Jetty. The King landed a nice 35-incher late in the week while tossing his famous septor rig around the rocks.
Sea Bass
The 2013 sea bass season reopened on Sunday, May 19th. The new regulations call for a 12.5-inch minimum size with anglers only allowed to keep 20 fish per trip (down from 25).
Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the headboats to venture out to their favorite sea bass haunts. The “Morning Star” came back with a nice catch of knotheads, led by a pair that weighed in at 4 lbs. 10 oz. and 4 lbs. 11 oz. Both were caught on strips of squid.
Tautog
With the sea bass season reopening, I don’t expect to see a lot of blackfish action in the coming weeks, with inshore boats focusing on knotheads.
On Friday, Capt. Monty took members of the Berlin Intermediate School Fishing Academy out for some fantastic tautog fishing. Madeline Bacon caught the largest fish on the trip, releasing a 27.5-inch tog after hooking it on a green crab.
Anglers on the headboat, “Angler” also brought back some big tog from the Bass Grounds with Capt. Chris Mizurak leading the way with a solid 10 pounder.
On a side note, Maryland Fisheries Service did submit a proposal to the ASMFC?Tautog Technical Committee, requesting a reduction in the minimum size from 16-inches to 15-inches. Due to concerns expressed by the Technical Committee, and the likelihood that they would not recommend it to the ASMFC Tautog Management Board, the proposal will not move forward and the 16-inch minimum will remain in effect.
Offshore
With the warmer water heading further offshore, anglers weren’t as enthusiastic about venturing that far out for tuna and sharks last week. However, that didn’t stop the “Muff Diver” from taking an overnight trip on Friday where they found 62 to 68.5-degree water in the Baltimore Canyon. They ended up catching a yellowfin, a bluefin, 2 juvenile mako sharks and 4 blue sharks in 500 fathoms. On the way home, they trolled from the Hot Dog to the Hambone and loaded up on bluefish.
On Friday, Aaron McAdoo reeled in a 39.5 lb. bluefin after hooking it in 66-degree water, deep in the Baltimore Canyon.
The charter boat, “Restless Lady” also headed to the Baltimore Canyon on Friday where they released 20 blue sharks.
On Saturday, Adam Sutton caught a 42-inch bluefin tuna in 200 fathoms while trolling a Puller Lures Canyon Candy Splash Bar. The tuna was caught on the north end of the Baltimore Canyon in 63-degree water.
Also on Saturday, the crew on the “Reel Desire” decided it was time to look for some golden tilefish and they found them in 80 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon. Sam Gass, Capt. Kevin Cheetham and mate Travis Brown power-reeled 7 goldens into the boat with the heaviest tipping the scale at 44 lbs.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the 4th Annual Ocean City Marlin Club Memorial Day Bluefish Tournament. Weigh-ins are Saturday and Sunday from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM at Sunset Marina. Anglers are allowed to fish 1 of 2 days.
See you at the scales!
