Article by Joey Marowski
Hello and welcome back to another week of the offshore fishing report. The beginning of the week provided the first real storm system of the summer with tropical depression Chantal churning up the ocean Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday provided a leftover swell but plenty fishable conditions and much lighter crowds with many of the smaller boats staying tied to the dock. Fishing definitely slowed down a little from the pace held the last few weeks but anglers still picked at a few tunas both inshore and over the edge in the canyons.
On Thursday, while exploring for the tuna tournament we were surprised to catch a barracuda, one of several of these unusual fish caught by boats this weekend. The weekend weather provided a beautiful forecast for all three days of the 38th Ocean City Tuna Tournament, where 111 boats competed for a total purse of $1,422,270. Fridays scales were busy with many stringers coming to the dock but the main attraction was the 216 pound bluefin brought in by the team on the Elizabeth Ann , which would hold on to claim 2nd place heaviest fish and a prize of $184,910. Saturday proved to be just as exciting of an evening over at the fishing center with a long line of boats waiting their turn to hang their catch on the scales. The tournament winning 230 pound bigeye brought in by the Following Seas lit up the dock Saturday night as well as the award ceremony on Sunday with a check worth $411,335.
Saturday also provided the first place for both the dolphin and wahoo categories with Hopper’s 27 pound mahi bringing them in $55,200 and Leslie Ann’s 45 pound wahoo bringing in $130,320 worth of rollover money. First place stringer was won by the team on the Fly’n Fish whose two day stringer weight of 408 pounds earned them a check that weighed $357,460. Other notable catches include the junior angler on board the Something Simple who caught a 175 pound bigeye to claim both top junior angler as well as third place heaviest fish along with a total of $63,000. A congratulations also goes out to the lady angler on board the Amarula Sun claiming the top prize of $2,000 with her 46 pound yellowfin.
Thank you to all of the hardworking staff at the Fishing Center and Micky Fins, both behind the scenes and on the docks, for putting on a wonderful event that many people, including myself, look forward to every year. Outside of the tournament, boats to our south continue to reinforce the fact that Oregon Inlet is the tuna capitol of the world as boats are returning daily with boxes full of tuna, as well as mahi and billfish releases. Quite a few marlin were seen this weekend in Ocean City as well with many chaffed leaders while tuna fishing. Attention will switch from tunas to billfish as J hooks will be replaced with circle hooks and anglers prepare for the upcoming schedule of tournaments.
As long as this season seemed to take for its arrival, it is hard to believe that we are now in the heart of the summer. I encourage anyone who may read this to appreciate every day you are able to spend on the water with friends and family as these days are too often taken for granted. The RoShamBo team and I are headed up to Atlantic City to compete in the Jimmy Johnson tournament as charter boats at home begin to chunk and marlin fish.
