Posted on September 29th, 2019
Today started off reely nice with sunny skies, warm temps and calm seas, but by the time the afternoon rolled around it was rough as a cob in the ocean. The Hooked on OC crew and I livestreamed the Ocean City Grand Prix offshore power boat races today and both races were cut short due to the rough seas. A couple of offshore trips that I know about were cut short as well.
Rhonda’s Osprey with Captain Joe Drosey at the helm had a good day trolling offshore today with two white marlin releases and a bunch of gaffer mahi for the box.
Captain Andrew Dotterweich on the Fish on was daytime swordfishing today where they went an impressive 4 fish for 4 bites keeping two great eating swords for the grill.
My buddy Shawn Bohlen had the crew out for a short trip thanks to the weather today, but they didn’t return before his 7-year-old son Christian caught his first wahoo. The fish was taller than he was and weighed in at 48 pounds.
Brendan Hanley of Pure Lure RFG fished with Kevin McCabe and crew on the Double Trouble and landed some mahi and two yellowfin tuna of 73 and 76 pounds.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star is doing tremendous work with the Ocean City Reef Foundation, but he couldn’t do much without the help of many nice volunteers.
Volunteers showed up in force for our block deployment today (Sunday 9/29/19.)
We loaded 229 heavy blocks, about 7 tons, and got underway at nine.
Winds calm early in the AM; started to puff up out of the north about 8 when a fog rolled in. Ocean still plenty calm in a young wind, we made our way to Sue’s Reef – about 6NM NE OC Inlet. Set up on two anchors stretched taut & then built numerous block units. Dropped em all in one tight pile.
The spot is called “Sue’s Block Drop” on the charts. There are two NYCTA Rail Cars about 70 feet apart. We’re using blocks to stitch the two existing reefs together – make a nice large site out of it.
We’d already deployed 919 blocks there just on fishing trips. Today’s run takes the tally to 1,148 at Sue Foster’s Block Drop – and 27,468 blocks since the program about 10 years ago.
Surely a small part of our reef building, yet forward progress nonetheless.
Soon the Ocean City Reef Foundation will deploy a 500 ton bargeload of boulder at the Bass Grounds. We also have numerous small tugs and barges in the pipeline.
Donations make it all happen!
As we build our reef system up, more & more corals colonize. Slowly now, but in the future – with enough substrate grown in and spawning rates improved – corals will colonize future constructions more swiftly.
Once Morning Star’s decks were clear of blocks, we set up on nearby artificial reef and caught triggers plus a couple nice sea bass — Dinner!
Pictured are OC locals Megan & Maggie McConnell – Robert Melton of Parsonsburg – James Cathell of WOC – mate TaNNk & Michelle Moore of Palmyra NJ – & Jay Bergey of Berlin MD. Julie Maugins of OC helped load too.
The Judith M had a great sea bass trip to the Great Eastern Reef on Saturday September 28th. Over 100 keeper sea bass, 5 flounder, and a bluefish were caught using squid and shiners as bait. The fish pool winner, Tim Brown from Thurmont MD, won with a 19 inch sea bass. Pictured below are Nelson Burhman, Phil Shankle, Tim Brown, Wilton Whims and Tommy, Jim and Jim Johnston Jr.
Chad Tulak of East Coast Marine Electronics fished over on the Chesapeake Bay today where he landed a great speckled trout.
Bear down at the Oceanic Pier reported that Anatoli Georgiev is back in town so the inlet fish are in deep trouble. Anatoli continued his carnage today with a keeper flounder and a keeper weakfish.
Mark Anthony and his crew braved the rough conditions today and had a good inshore trip with the bottom fishes. The group combined for 8 snapper blues, 8 sea bass and 4 tasty triggerfish.
