Big Stripers in The OC Inlet

By Scott Lenox

Big Stripers in The OC Inlet

Hit the vid for the Daily Catch at Sunset Marina!

Beautiful day in and around Ocean City with sunny skies, very warm temps and almost zero wind all day.  It was a great day to be on the water…..I know because I was working in the yard. 🙁

Captain Jason Mumford of Lucky Break Charters had a great couple of trips today.  This afternoon Captain Jason found a couple of keeper flounder for his crew, and this morning it was some really, really, really, really, really good rockfishing in the OC inlet.  Mark Debinski of Bluewater Advisory Group and his folks had several released striped bass to as big as 37″.

Anglers on board the Judith M out of Bahia Marina enjoyed a nice day of weather and a nice day of fishing with some good sea bass and flounder action.

Stephan Kaganzev

Josh Lecates Seaford, DE

Sean McArthur, Havre de Grace MD

Lamont Hilbert had some fun on his boat Sea Bum heading to the Bass Grounds for some sea bass and flounder fishing.


Owen West and Mike DePalma had an awesome day at the route 50 bridge catching their limit of legal rockfish and some big bluefish of 27” and 34”.

Wesley Ritterman caught this flounder with an orange Deadly Tackle Deadly Double fishing with Rich Ritterman.

Captain Monty Hawkins had some bad luck today, but he still got his folks on some good fishing.

Oh man.. Not sure if this is a “rains it pours” – “no good deed goes unpunished” or “no rest for the wicked ” sort of event. Having dropped 15 or more tog trips to do that big reef project in March & April – now I’m going to lose a few June trips to an engine rebuild..
My port engine started losing RPMs about an hour out. A moment later, at 7:23 am, it was blowing thick black exhaust.
Sakes. There goes this summer’s income.
Wasn’t making oil, wasn’t burning oil; wasn’t running the least bit warm and have had no issues with coolant – oul changes finest kind – everything was tight and right. Once the RPM began to vary – something (a piston I expect) let go. Only 17 months since a rebuild too.
Darn.
A boatload of regulars, I figured they’d rather fish on one screw than go home. Fish counters Taylor & Constantine did the deed with today’s 4 pyramid drop at Capt. Bob’s Memorial Reef. That makes 4538 blocks & 98 reef pyramids at Bobby’s Reef.
Fishing began with long unsubdued yawn.
Man.
Then, fortunately, came a somewhat steady pull – working for em – but a pull.
I know what’s wrong with sea bass production – have been telling management about it since 2006. With science and management firmly bound to recreational catch data that is never true, our best path forward is forever eclipsed behind unending computer screens of really bad recreational catch estimates.
Not making it up. I know of what I speak.
There’s just no way to serve fisheries science and management crow until they have first laid eyes on good data.
The biggest push I’ve seen since 2003 for correction is happening now. The 2012 release of MRIP was a farce that has only grown gravely worse.
NOAA: Run em through the management process anyway – and if you don’t like these catch numbers we’ll make em worse.
They did.
Anyway, picking at a few keepers with some sign for the future in shorts – even saw our first under 9 inch male for the year.
There were days in the late 1990s when we’d have better than 1,000 under 9 inch (age one) males.
That’s why the sea bass population climbed ever upward despite no bag limit when we had self regulation and early (small size limit) regs from 1992 to 2001.
Today’s reefs are all ‘protected’ from the “scourge of tiny males” by age 3 males of 11.75 to 13.5 inches. As any bull/harem spawning in nature; these larger males will not tolerate the presence of little guys. With 80% of the spawning population on standby?
Yeah.. Poor results.
Really needs fixing. Now more than ever before.
Cheers,
Monty

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