2009-07-05 - 500 LB Blue Marlin with Yellowfin still biting - OU Report
July 05 , 2009
Ocean City, MD Fishing Report
Another wild week in Ocean City!! The days have not been as easy as last week
but still productive. We spent all week between the South Poormans and the
Washington. All trolling although we did try a little jigging this week but had no luck. We
worked mostly between the 90 fathom and 200 fathom, concentrating in 120
fathoms. The water was pushing very hard to the South by the end of the week as I'm
sure the moon had something to do with that.
Again, all spreader bar and ballyhoo
bites. Bait has become hard to find out in the deeper waters; however, the amount
of bait inside of 45 fathoms is, well, let’s say very plentiful!! Too bad there’s nothing inside feeding on it as we have tried and tried. We managed to catch some throw backs, maybe 4 to10 a day along with several Mahi and anywhere from as little as one to as many as six nice keepers with an average of about 45 pounds.
Here's a great shot of a 500 lb blue marlin caught on an Open Boat Trip this week!
The water temps varied during the week but mostly we found ourselves in about 70 degrees all week. Our highlight of the week was during our makeup trip...a lunker Blue Marlin, lots of fun and put on a great show. Ate a long rigger, ballyhoo with a sea witch...go figure.
The inshore report at this point is dull to say the least as it seems the fish are still held up about 70 miles or so down the beach. There has been a few larger fish caught to the southern and one here and there out front. Areas like the Fingers, Massey’s, Hambone, 19 Lump but nothing to get worked up about...YET. This week I will be spending a fair amount of time inside looking. We have a good blow day coming on Monday so I hope this will stir the pot so to speak.
On Sunday we were trolling in the Atlantic 12 miles east of the Eagle in 8 mph winds out of the south with under two foot waves. The well known fish signs of circling frigates, defined weed lines and flying fish everywhere quickly delivered a large school of mahi. We decided to try stopping the engine and drop a chum bag as the fish quickly decided the cooler was a great place to be. Using live shrimp and chunked up ballyhoo seemed to do the trick. One 25 pound bull and multiple schoolies made for great action on light tackle. After awhile of catching all we wanted, bottom fishing sounded like a great idea. We dropped anchor in about 55 feet on a nice rock pile and proceeded to chum. It didn’t take long and the flag Yellowtail started chewing.
Monday- Tuesday brought us unfriendly weather of scattered thunderstorms and high winds which made the boating conditions less than favorable.
On Wednesday we had a half day tarpon trip with customers Brian and Ibiza from South Florida. Winds were s/sw 10 to 15 mph and overcast with occasional sunshine. Using dolphin bellies on big circle hooks by the channel two bridge, the first fish on was a 20+ inch barracuda in less than 10 minutes. Monster tarpon quickly followed and showed a nice broad side three times before executing a front roll and tossing the hook. Brian was guestimating 80 pounds + but the smile on his face said it all. Slack tide turned to outgoing and 30 minutes later a nice size nurse shark decided to come out and play. It bent the pole and circled the boat then pulled up close for a look at Ibiza and we had a nice release. Then the Tarpon decided to get back in the game and we hooked up 15 minutes later. Multiple breaches and a few runs later, the second tarpon shook itself loose. The third tarpon required a bit more work for hook release.
The days grande finale was several Tarpon releases and a 7 foot plus nurse shark, as well as a very excited Ibiza. The fight to get the fish to the boat was about 5 minutes for Ibiza but under pressure she passed the pole to Brian to finish the deal. We then moved up to Whale Harbor bridge to hook another nurse shark to fish the rest of the day.
Thursday brought us another half day trip on the back side with 5 mph winds out of east. Fishing near Captains Key with artificial shrimps and live shrimp hooked multiple Snook. Interesting catch this time of year because they can't hit the ice chest. Great tugs and smiles all around.
Happy Fourth of July from all of us down here in the Florida Keys!!!
Audio Fishing Reports
Take a listen to this week's reports and listen first hand what's biting!!
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