Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• Despite the pandemic the Ocean City Marlin Club’s Kid Classic saw 220 anglers register. The “Fish On” took top honors in the Billfish Release Division with 4 white marlin releases and the “Old Hatt” won with a 25.4 lb. mahi. Top tuna slot was taken by “Reel Fin Addict” with a 56.2 lb. tuna and the top flounder was 5 lbs. from the “C-Boys”.
• Tuna fisherman were switching to chunking with hot spots being the Hot Dog, Elephant Trunk and 19 fathom lump. Limit or near limit catches were reported at the Hot Dog.
• The 7 billfish released in the Kid’s Classic Tournament all came from the Norfolk Canyon.The past week has been just plain hard offshore. High temperatures and southern winds have put a hurt on the bite, but this did not deter everyone from heading out trying to put a bend on a rod.
The Ocean City Marlin Club hosted the 17th rendition of the Kid’s Classic this past weekend, hosted at Sunset Marina. Around 180 anglers registered for the 2 day event to fish from private boats, charter boats, headboats, rented boats and from the docks! The offshore forecast was questionable for Saturday, so many boats fished the bays or the inshore reefs & wrecks. A few boats did brave the canyons like the “Reel Fin Addict” who weighed in the top tuna for the event at 47.4 lbs from the Poor Man’s Canyon. They went 2 for 2 on the bites they had that day. The “Reel Fast “ also went out Saturday and found a 3rd place winner in the Baltimore Canyon with a 29.2 lb. yellowfin. The majority of boats to the scales were inshore and bay trips, however the very last one was the “Southern C’s”. Her anglers found a 18.6 lb. mahi near a lobster pot buoy that put them securely into first place in that Division. Day 2’s weather offshore did not look great either. Several of those that did venture out waited until daylight so they could see what was up before giving it shot! The “Fishbone” found 4 nice gaffer dolphins in the Poor Man’s Canyon by lobster pot buoys as well to secure 2nd and 3rd Place in that Division.
Our coverage of the tournament starts on page 66 with details and pictures of the back and forth on the inshore action, especially sea bass and spot!
Outside the tournament we saw decent tuna action for those that worked at it. Tuesday and Wednesday last week saw more double digit catches spread out from the Baltimore Canyon to the Hot Dog down to the Poor Man’s Canyon. Capt. Joe Drosey on the “Rhonda’s Osprey” started early bringing 9 yellowfin to the dock last Tuesday. Wednesday saw action in the Baltimore Canyon and saw some boats seeing success chunking at the Hot Dog. Better stock up on your butterfish! The bite stayed in the Baltimore and some success was also found in the Poor Man’s as we moved through the weekend. Sharks continue to be the worst we have seen from the lower Washington to the Norfolk.
Two notable catches were reported to us. The first was a new Heaviest Bigeye for Delaware. Fiore Celano III from Newport, DE reported a 171 lb. eyeball he caught on 7/11 and our first longfin tuna was also sent in. Sisters Morgan and Kayler Michael had a double hook up in the Baltimore Canyon last Saturday that turned out to be longfins. Morgan was first to boat a 52 lb. fish making first of the season. Sister Kayler soon got her’s in the box, besting Morgan’s tuna by 9 lbs. making it the Heaviest for Maryland so far.
Billfishing is still spotty and scattered from the Baltimore to the Washington Canyons. Several sailfish were released last week in 0-100 fathoms at the Washington and the Sushi released a roundscale spearfish in the Baltimore last Saturday.
Wrapping up with mahi, beyond the details in the tournament review, the hot spots were the Poor Man’s, Hot Dog and the Jackspot. Top fish were in the mid 20 pound range.
Upcoming Tournaments;
Two big tournaments are on the immediate horizon!
• This week brings us the 2021 HUK Big Fish Classic held at the Talbot Street Pier running from July 23rd - 25th. Always a lively event with big fish coming to the dock and offering the Big Fish Village! Scales are open at Talbot Street from 4 - 9 pm on Friday and Saturday with Sundays hours at 4 - 8 pm. Details at BigFishClassic.com.
• The 13th Annual OC Marlin Club’s Ladies Tournament, “Heels and Reels”, hits the scales at Atlantic Tackle on July 30 & 31. Sure to be fun with categories for billfish release, tuna and mahi. Check out ocmarlinclub.com for details.
• The big show of the White Marlin Open starts on Monday August 2 and runs through the 6th. Scales will be at Harbour Island as usual, however we recommend checking out the Marlinfest, a new free outdoor viewing experience at the 3rd Street Bayside Ballpark that will coincide with the 48th annual fishing tournament. The event will feature a festival-like atmosphere as well as real-time, unobstructed live stream viewing of the tournament weigh-ins via large LED screens.
• Follow our Tournament Schedule in the paper and online to keep up to date!
Until next week, I will see you at the scales! §
