Article by Larry Jock
Usually, Mother Nature will cut us a break after a couple of days and let everyone get back to fishing. However, last week the wind blew hard and steady from Wednesday right through the weekend. On top of that, it mainly came from the northeast, so there was no escaping it.
Unfortunately, the 32nd Annual Ocean City Shark Tournament bore the brunt of the bad weather, needing to delay the start of the tournament from Thursday to Friday. Only one boat headed out on the first day and returned early after releasing a spinner shark and a sandbar shark. Day 2 saw 8 boats leave the dock, but none returned with fish to weigh. Seven of the eight boats did report releases with “The Lucky One” (3 blacktip, 4 spinner) and the “Restless Lady” (1 mako, 4 dusky and 1 spinner) sharing the lead with 14 points. Overall, 22 shark releases were reported for the day.
On the final day of the tournament, 8 of the 11 boats left the dock but none returned with a shark to be weighed. The only fish that hit the tournament scale were the small bluefish that ended up sweeping the Bluefish Division. The crew on the “Triple Threat” stopped in the inlet on their way offshore to catch some bluefish to use for shark bait and ended up catching three that were heavy enough (.8, .9 & 1.5 lbs.) to earn them some money.
The boats that were leading the Release Division did manage to catch and release some fish so they could hold onto their leaderboard position. The “Lucky One” released 7 spinners to remain in 1st place, while the “Restless Lady” released 4 duskys, 1 spinner and a mako to finish in 2nd place.
This was the first time in the tournament’s 32 year history that a shark wasn’t weighed.
Very early in the week, before the start of the windy conditions, offshore boats heading to the Baltimore Canyon returned with solid catches of yellowfin tuna. The fish were caught on the troll in 60-70 fathoms. On Sunday, a few boats ventured out in the rough weather and landed handfuls of yellowfin tuna towards the southern end of the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Early in the week, the “Angler” took one of their long deep dropping trips and returned with 15 golden tilefish, some black belly rosefish, a few hake and 2 yellowfins they caught on the troll. All were caught in the Baltimore Canyon.
Around the South Jetty, anglers continued to experience good, light tackle action with striped bass. The throwback ratio was extremely high, but those that put in their time were usually rewarded with one for the cooler.
In the bay, flounder fishing was hampered by the windy weather that caused dirty water and difficulty getting a good drift. Those chasing flatties were still able to pick at a few fish in the East Channel, both north and south of the Rt. 50 Bridge. On Sunday, the water cleared up enough for anglers to catch a few nice fish, highlighted by Michael Merollini’s 26-incher that tipped the scales at over 7 lbs. Michael caught the fish on live spot, although Gulp! Swimming Mullets are still producing most catches that we have seen.
There are 2 tournaments this weekend, both with weigh-ins at Sunset Marina. The MSSA Tuna-ment weigh-ins will be held from 4:30 to 7:00 PM, Friday through Sunday. The Marlin Club Small Boat Tournament weigh-ins will be from 3:00 to 6:30 PM Saturday and Sunday.
See you at the scales!
