Posted on December 28th, 2019
Chalk us up for another unseasonably warm day with light winds and mostly sunny skies. It’s been so nice the past week that I’m nervous for what Mother Nature has in store for us in January and February. Nonetheless, the weather has been fantastic and fishermen are certainly enjoying it.
Over the past few years we’ve seen a very nice swordfish fishery take shape with quality fish on a pretty reliable basis. Swordfish live and feed in the deep ocean near and around the canyons and they spend most of their time at depths where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate very much. For that reason they can be caught in these areas pretty much year round. Today, Ryan Oberholtzer, Pete Pendleton, Jeremy Bendler and Byran Jones joined Captain Jeff Murdorf on his No Payments and took advantage of the nice weather and found four beautiful swordfish in the Norfolk Canyon.
Today was Captain Monty Hawkins’ of the Morning Star’s las sea bass trip of the year, and though it didn’t go exactly as planned, it was still a good one.
Another stunning sunrise, another 24 block unit & reef pyramid at St. Ann’s Reef, another loooong December run to distant sea bass, another amazing calm with abundant saddleback dolphin riding the bow ..and the dagoned bluefish were so thick sea bass couldn’t grab a bait! After just a handful of nice cbass and lots of destroyed rigs, wasn’t long before the blues ran us off my first stop entirely. Hauled anchor – off to another spot more fishable.
Where yesterday my first client was bagged out in 37 minutes and everyone else followed suite; today I had no one cross the line. Did have one angler in double digits along with as many scup..
Not the day I’d hoped for, and after yesterday? Ouch!
Will spend the winter tog fishing. All trips announced via FB and emailed ‘fish report’ at MorningstarFishing.com ..
Mike Ziegler (Zig!) of WOC MD took the pool with a 4.25 lb cbass.
Stephanie Raha of Fairfax VA shows off a nice keeper double of scup.
Andrew Dziengeleski of West River MD (blk sweatshirt) is holding up a keeper seabass with the largest pinfish I’ve ever seen. A southern species, we don’t see many to begin with.
Mike Steinmetz from Horsham PA (Huk jacket) holds up a MD jumbo scup. Wouldn’t be a jumbo up north though. Have seen more scup this Nov/Dec than ever before. Seem to have migrated further inshore and south than in my 40 years. Was a time, before 1970, when spring scup/porgy made up a substantial part of OC’s bottom fishing total – half even. Fenwick Shoal would often have 40 plus boats anchored..
Danny Iacangelo, among my finest deckhands ever and now running crew boats is a newly proud Dad who managed to sneak in a day’s fishing.
In today’s group snap are also Kyle Gaul of Worcester PA & Bill Bower of Annapolis MD.
