Article by Larry Jock
Except for a storm that blew through the area on Saturday night, keeping offshore boats at the dock on Sunday, we were blessed with great weather and some fantastic fishing last week.
Tuna
The yellowfin bite moved from the Baltimore Canyon to the Poor Man’s Canyon last week with most of the action happening inshore of the canyon in 40 to 70 fathoms. Most boats returned to the dock with low-to-mid single digit catches throughout the week, but on Friday things really lit up. The charter boat, “Marli” led the way with 20 nice size yellowfins caught near the 000’s on ballyhoo and spreader bars. Right behind them was “That’s Right” with 14 yellowfins and the “White Lightning” with 12. Making good news even better, we are definitely seeing an improvement in the size of yellowfins being landed.
As good as Friday was for tuna fishing, Saturday was horrible. In the Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament, we only saw 2 yellowfins arrive at the scale, with the “Pole Cat” leading the way with a 59.4 pounder. Most other boats outside the tournament either got skunked or returned with only a yellowfin or two. Pretty dismal.
We did see some bigeye tuna caught last week, mainly in the “Bigeye Hole” in the Washington Canyon. On Wednesday, the “Restless Lady” had 3 bigeyes weighing 111, 168 and 201 lbs. In the M.S.S.A. Tuna-Ment Tournament on Saturday, Jeremy Duffie on the “Agitator” weighed a 200 lb. bigeye caught on a trolled ballyhoo in the Washington Canyon. Jeremy’s eyeball was good enough to win 2nd place in the Heaviest Tuna Division. Also on Friday, up at the Indian River Marina, Capt. Charlie Horning on the “Fish Whistle” returned from an overnight trip to the Bigeye Hole with 3 bigeyes weighing 161, 196 nd 231 lbs. All were caught at night.
We haven’t seen any bluefins caught in quite some time, but on Friday Ed Brown caught a 104.5 pounder while trolling in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
As this report was being written on Monday, green water has moved into the Canyons from the Baltimore down to the Washington Canyon and the tuna fishing was horrible.
Finally, the buzz around the docks about Squidnations Flippy Floppy Thing has really grown. The vast majority of comments I have heard have been positive, but a few folks have reported limited success using the new rig. From reports that I have received, those trolling a green machine behind the rig have had the best results.
Mahi
We saw good catches of mahi come in all week with Saturday being the best day, by far. Most of the good mahi catches came from the area around the 000’s.
Marlin
Although the white marlin bite wasn’t fantastic (remember, it is only June!), we did see several boats throughout the week flying a white marlin flag or two. The best day came on Friday when the “Game Changer” went 5 for 9 on whites in the Baltimore Canyon.
Several blue marlin were released last week with one coming to the scale after it died during the fight.
On Tuesday, anglers on “That’s Right” released a blue marlin estimated at 300 lbs. while trolling in 70 fathoms north of the Poor Man’s. “Rhonda’s Osprey” released a blue marlin at the Rockpile on Friday, the same day that the “Thrillseeker” brought a 396 pounder to the scale at Sunset Marina. The anglers fought the blue marlin for 2 hours after hooking it in 70 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon. On Saturday, junior angler Courtney Grady released a blue marlin estimated at 750 lbs. after hooking it in 57 fathoms in the Washington Canyon. Look for the picture in next weeks issue.
Sharks
Anglers on the “Matetrix II” had a couple of good days of shark fishing last week. On Tuesday, they released 3 makos, 3 duskys, 1 blue shark and a hammerhead at the Fingers. On Saturday, they ventured down to the 000’s where they caught a 72-inch mako that weighed in at 158.5 lbs. The mako was caught on a whole mackerel in 70 fathoms inshore of the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Striped Bass
We aren’t seeing many striped bass being caught except for a trip last Friday by anglers aboard “Skip’s Charter & Guide Service” who ended up with a couple of keepers and a load of throwbacks around the South Jetty. Fishing with live spot was the key to their success.
Flounder
Although, like all fishing, some days can be slower than others, most would have to agree that flounder fishing is excellent right now and the last two weeks have been some of the best this year. Last week, you saw the charter boat “Get Sum” on the cover with 16 flounder caught last Monday in the south bay near the duck blinds. This was the location that was hot all week with many anglers catching their limit while drifting minnows or white Gulp! Swimming Mullets. On Tuesday, both the “Bay Bee” and the “Happy Hooker” had 11 keepers near the duck blinds and the “Get Sum” returned with 14 in the box. On Wednesday, anglers on the “Bay Bee” really tore them up, putting 17 flatties in the cooler during their morning trip.
Beginning on Friday, the flounder bite in the bay slacked off a little, but anglers who ventured to ocean structure had some really good luck. The African Queen, and Russell’s Reef were two hot locations over the weekend.
Whoever says that flounder don’t bite at night didn’t see the 25 1/2-inch, 5 lb. 8 oz. flounder caught by Don Douglas while tossing a Gotcha Plug from the Rt. 50 Bridge on Thursday night around 10:00 PM.
Upcoming Tournament
The next tournament on the schedule is the Ocean City Marlin Club Canyon Kick-off scheduled for July 4th weekend. For more information, call 410-213-1613.
See you at the scales.
