Article by Larry Jock
Hot weather turned into hot fishing this past week. We really didn’t see one species getting hammered, but we did see a lot of different fish hit the scales.
The Ocean City Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament was held over the weekend with 34 boats entered. Complete results can be found on page 23. Fish were weighed in every category except for the Shark Division.
The M.S.S.A. Tuna-Ment was also held this past weekend. With 3 different weigh stations, we don’t get the final results until after this issue goes to press, so you will find them in next week’s issue.
Dolphin
With water warming up in our canyons, it’s not surprising that we saw a bunch of dolphin hit the docks this past week. Friday and Saturday were the big days with action centered mainly in 60 to 100 fathoms in the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons. Most of the mahi-mahi caught were small bailer dolphin, but a few came in around 20 lbs. and higher. The largest was the 24 pounder caught by Tyler Smith in the Washington Canyon.
A tip for new anglers just getting into fishing and want to bag some dolphin, after you hook your first dolphin, keep the line in the water. Other dolphin will be attracted to the fighting fish and you stand an excellent chance of additional hook-ups. This tactic is used by all of the top offshore anglers.
Marlin
White marlin and blue marlin were both released by anglers trolling ballyhoo this past week.
On Wednesday, the “Marli” and the “Miss Jane II” released white marlin in the Washington Canyon. On Thursday, the “Marlin Magic” released a white marlin in the Baltimore Canyon. On Saturday, the “Marli”, “Cyntinory” and the “Marlin Magic” each released a white marlin in the Baltimore Canyon while the “Tide Up” and the “Bimini” released whites in the Washington Canyon. Also on Saturday, the “Lady Luck” released a blue marlin, estimated at 400 lbs., in 100 fathoms in the Washington Canyon.
On Sunday, the “Reel Chaos” and the “Crush Em” each released 2 white marlin in the Poor Man’s Canyon with the “Crush Em” also recording a blue marlin release as well.
Tuna
Very early in the week, reports rolled in about Virginia anglers getting into bluefins at the 26 Mile Hill south of Wachapreague. Those bluefins are working their way north along the 20 fathom line and local anglers were able to snag a few this past week while fishing in 15-30 fathoms at the Lumpy Bottom, the Parking Lot and up to the Fingers.
The largest bluefin we saw came in on Sunday when Charlie Totaro boated a 117.8 lb. bluefin in 30 fathoms, south of the Hambone.
Some nice catches of yellowfin tuna came in throughout the week. The bite is in deeper water, all the way out to 500 fathoms. Most of the fish we saw being weighed were in the 45 lb. range.
On Wednesday, the “Marli” returned with 3 yellowfins from 500 fathoms outside the Washington Canyon and followed that up with 3 more on Friday in the Baltimore Canyon where the “Marlin Magic”, “Get the Net” and the “Always Late” also threw some yellowfins in the box. Some boats also got into yellowfins in the Washington Canyon where the bite continued into Saturday.
The most exciting news of the week was the “Marli” hooking into a bigeye tuna on Thursday and fighting the estimated 400 pounder for 7 hours before “going for broke”, and ended up busting it off deep in the Baltimore Canyon. The fish spooled the angler 3 times and was at the leader twice, but couldn’t get close enough to gaff.
Striped Bass
The striper bite around the South Jetty and the Rt. 50 Bridge is showing no signs of letting up with bigger stripers arriving this week. The good news is that these fish are sticking around, probably as a result of all the bait that is in our bays right now. Clouds of peanut bunker can be seen thoughout our bays, and in the canals and local marinas.
Capt. Skip Maguire told me that they have caught multiple stripers that still had his rigs either still in its mouth or in its stomach, telling him that these fish aren’t going anywhere.
The incoming tide has definitely been the best time to catch a linesider with spot, peeler crabs and bucktails tipped with curly tails doing the trick.
Flounder
We continue to see anglers frustrated by a large number of flounder being caught under the 19-inch minimum. However, on the bright side, there is plenty of action for anglers in our bays and the good news is that ocean wreck (African Queen) and reef bottom bouncers are also snagging a few flatties as well. Most of the keepers have been in the 20 to 22-inch range.
The East Channel, north of the Rt. 50 Bridge, the Inlet at the north end of Assateague and the Sinepuxent Bay down to the airport were all the top spots this past week. The big catches were Travis Meiklejohn’s 26-incher in the East Channel on Friday and Doug Jackson’s 7 pounder early in the week.
Anglers are starting to find some spot in the canals and in local marinas. Catching this bait fish either on a Sabiki rig or with a cast net will provide you with the top bait to catch a keeper flounder. If you can’t catch them, some local tackle shops have them for sale. Other baits such as squid and shiner combinations, bull minnows and Gulp! artificial baits are also producing nice catches as well.
Sea Bass
Inshore wrecks and reefs are producing some nice catches of sea bass, although the action is hit or miss. Capt. Chester Sadowski on the “Jezebel” and Capt. Monty Hawkins on the “Morning Star” both reported good action at the Great Eastern Reef. The “Ocean Rebel” on Saturday ventured down to “Winter Quarter Shoal” and snagged a few sea bass and some tautog as well.
The best baits for sea bass continue to be clams and squid.
On a side note, it seems to me that the sea bass we are seeing are not as large as we are accustomed to. Not sure why. If you have a theory, I’d be interested in hearing it.
Sharks
With most anglers switching their attention to marlin and tuna, we didn’t see many sharks hit the scales last week.
Early in the week, the “Reel Naughty” caught a mako and released a mako, a large tiger shark and a hammerhead in 40 fathoms inshore of the Baltimore Canyon. I heard of a few other tiger and hammerheads released during the week as well.
Bluefish
We didn’t see many choppers hit the docks this week, but anglers were able to catch small snapper blues, especially around the Rt. 50 Bridge and off Gudelsky Park on the west side of the bay. You can pretty much toss anything at these fish and they will snap. It’s an excellent fishery for kids and these little fish will really give a kid a nice fight on light tackle.
Surf
Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle reports, “We heard of the usual sharks and rays in the surf with a kingfish here and there during the week. Then, later towards the weekend, we had more and more reports of kingfish (whiting). Anglers fishing for kingfish and spot should use small hooks and bloodworms or Fishbites artificial bloodworm combined with a little strip of clam, mullet, bunker, or squid fillet. We had a couple reports of "short" stripers, a few snapper blues, a croaker here and there, and one or two flounder.
Upcoming Tournament
This weekend is the Marlin Club Canyon Kick-off with anglers able to fish 2 of 3 days, July 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Weigh-ins are from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Sunset Marina.
This is an offshore tournament so you are sure to see some tuna and dolphin hit the scales. Who knows, maybe we will see our first wahoo of the year.
See you at the scales!
