Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• The results were in from the inaugural Tuna & Tiaras Ladies Tuna Tournament. The “Hocus Pocus” took 1st Place for Heaviest Tuna with a 98 lb. yellowfin from the Washington Canyon.
• The first wahoo for the 2021 season was reported by Gary Welch, caught in the Washington Canyon.
• The first cobia was found just 5 miles south of the Ocean City Jetty by Shannon Pickens using a bucktail.
• Most of the offshore action was for yellowfin tuna with catches in the upper single digits. The action was centered on the 100 fathom line mostly south in the Norfolk and Washington Canyons.
It still feels like a slow start to the season offshore with the late arrival of warmer waters and now wind. Last weekend was mainly a blowout and even forced the 2nd Annual Tuna & Tiaras Ladies Tuna Tournament to be postponed to next weekend. There were however a few nice days early last week where the seas in the canyons were beautiful, but not the most productive.
Marlin
Notable last week was the report of the first blue marlin to be released for the 2020 season. While several captains had reported sightings and a couple hook ups in the Poor Man’s and Baltimore Canyons, none had been ‘caught’. That honor for 2022 goes to the crew of 495 Trucking who released a blue in the Poor Man’s on Monday of last week while fishing on the charter boat “Rhonda’s Osprey”. Like the first white marlin, there is an award available for the first blue marlin caught offered by the Ocean City Marlin Club to its members. The “Osprey” is not a member so that $5,000 award is still out there!
We have reports of two whites being released, both from Delaware based boats. The first white from a DE boat was on the “Bill Slayer” from a trip on the 12th. Angler Bill Mason released this one while fishing in the Baltimore Canyon. The other report was also from the Baltimore where the white hit on a Magictail Side Tracker.
Tuna
While we are seeing warmer waters in the canyons now, the tuna bite slowed down last week and weather kept most boats at the docks for the weekend. Prior to the blow the Poor Man’s Canyon was productive, however anglers were catching mainly yellowfins with a lot of undersized fish in the mix. Keepers were modest in size and catches were in the mid single digits. The “ShoreBilly” had a notable trip in the Poor Man’s catching 29 fish to get 6 keeper yellowfins. The “Rhonda’s Osprey” found 5 tunas, one by one on a slower day. Yellowfins were also reported a little further south. The “Game On” had luck at the 000’s and the “Pumpin’ Hard” found 6 keepers at the Rockpile, including a sizable one. The Fallen Outdoors program braved the weather Friday to take some veterans out tuna fishing for the first time and brought back 5 yellowfins from the Poor Man’s with the largest at 50 lbs. Most were caught on spreader bars and skirted/Sea Witch ballyhoos. Water temps ranged from a cool for tuna 64.5° to temps in the low 70’s°. Last Monday hopefully was a sign of better fishing. As I was writing this I got a call From Capt. Joe Drosey who was back at the slip by 1 PM with 8 chunky yellowfins in the box from the Baltimore. Other than yellowfins, a few skipjacks found their way to the docks.
Mahi & Others!
Tilefish were abundant in the Baltimore Canyon and some were found in the Poor Man’s. Mainly golden tilefish, but some bluelines were brought to the docks as well. These deep water fish were reported at a 600-800 ft. range with some this week tipping the scales at over 40 pounds. Many of the fish that are caught are not weighed, but if I had to guess I would put the average range at 20 to 25 pounds. The heaviest blueline we saw was 17 lbs. and the bait of choice was squid.
Similar to last week we are only seeing very limited dolphin catches, and again, they have been found by boats trolling for tuna. The few we saw were gaffers from the Poor Man’s Canyon and hit on skirted ballyhoo.
Lastly, we saw a few notable catches because they are unusual. First was a barracuda caught by the crew on the “Game On” at the 000’s in 100 fathoms. In his many years offshore, Capt. Scott Stapleford could only remember seeing 1 or 2 in our waters. He did recall one sighting while he was mahi fishing. They could not get it to bite and it seemed to be keeping the mahi from biting as well. The other notable were the three barrelfish that Zane Winkler found in the Baltimore Canyon. Two weighed over 14 lbs. A deep water fish like the tiles, this one is praised for it flavor and for the way it attacks the bait.
While offshore remains challenging, the inshore and bay action was pretty good. Also, the cobia season opened up with some nice fish. Check out those details in our Maryland, Delaware and Virginia fishing reports.
Until next week, I will see you at the scales! §
Upcoming Tournaments
• UPDATE - The 2nd Annual Tuna & Tiaras Ladies Tuna Tournament was moved to June 24th & 25th due to weather. Scales are open both days from 4PM to 7PM at the Ocean City Fishing Center. More at TunaandTiaras.com.
• The South Jersey MidAtlantic Tuna Tournament is June 22nd thru 24th in Cape May, NJ. More at southjerseytournaments.com/midatlantic-tuna-tournament.
• The 7th Annual Indian River Kids Catch All Tournament is June 24-26. More about this family fun event at the Indian River Marina can be found at KidsCatchAll.com.
•The 43rd Annual Small Boat Tournament hosted by the OC Marlin Club is June 25-26. You do not have to be a member of the club to participate. Weigh-ins are at the tournament scale at Sunset Marina and details are at OCMarlinClub.com.
•The 4th Annual Fish N Paddle Saltwater Slam Kayak Tournament returns to Atlantic Tackle on June 25-26. Weigh-ins are from noon to 4PM.
