Posted on November 21st, 2022
Captain Chris Mizurak of the Angler reported that sea bass fishing was a little slow to start, but picked up nicely by the afternoon. Keith had some crazy good flounder fishing with his limit of four fish all over 5 pounds with the biggest at 6.25 that took the lead in the season long flounder pool.
Jeff Weeks and Dave Weller fished the OC inlet today and caught and released over 30 rockfish. Dave also caught one keeper at 28.5″.
John Hyams and crew hit the canyons this week where they had some good November swordfish action.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star continues to do some awesome work for the Ocean City Reef Foundation.
We began Kinsley Construction’s Reef Saturday 11/19/22 & had three reef raffle winners tonight!
Capt Stormy Harrington delivered & deployed 200 pyramids aboard the Tiki Fourteen to the Bass Grounds on Saturday, 11/19/22.
And, just like that, there was a new reef. The beginning of Kinsley Construction’s Restoration Reef at the Bass Grounds, more accurately. Just this start is plenty big enough for any contributors’ boat to fish. Soon it will begin to add to our region’s fishery production; shall for centuries, if not millennia. First mussels and bryozoa/hydrozoa will colonize, then our corals will begin to take over. The units were deployed at a reef site known to have been demolished by the surf clam industry in the 1960s & 70s – they’re 9 miles out at the Bass Grounds.
Party/charter skippers of yesteryear rarely had to go any further for sea bass. In that era, it was after the scup/porgy run at Fenwick Shoal where boats would be rafted off stem to stern in great number, that they’d switch to sea bass at the Bass Grounds. Just a half mile or so further offshore skippers into the 1960s could catch white marlin.
Hard to imagine any of that today. But, save scup which prefer cooler water, I believe restorations of all these lost fisheries are coming.
We still have white marlin, we still have sea bass; just not inshore where they once thrived. Repair of localized extirpation is work “Catch Restriction/Regulation” fisheries management policy alone can never fix. We cannot restore marlin to an area where they can no longer feed because the water has turned green. We can, however, endeavor to turn nearshore waters blue again!
And are.
We’ll almost certainly take tautog to a greater population than has ever existed – may have already; we’ve already restored sheepshead, a fishery lost so long ago no one knew it was missing!
Here’s is a fascinating article on sheepshead’s history in the Chesapeake. I’ve shared it before but has to be new to someone..
https://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/clues-to-early-maryland-24-fishing-in-early-maryland/
 |
Fishing is a very popular activity for Marylanders today, enjoying the bounty found in the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers and streams of the state. Was this also the case in the seventeenth century? If so, what fish were popular … Fishing in Early Maryland Read More »
www.hsmcdigshistory.org
|
All this work takes funding though! Maryland has no State marine reef program – it’s just the Ocean City Reef Foundation, our tiny 501C(3), that’s building out front.
Though surely on a low budget, we ARE building Maryland’s coastal fisheries’ future; making it better for centuries to come.
The raffle itself may be a gamble, but your donation isn’t — donations are absolutely going to help build reef!
Matt E won the Savage 30-06 rifle donated by Ben; John K won a $200.00 gift certificate from the Harbor Island Fuel Dock, & Rusty won a reef book donated and authored by Wayne Young plus a reef T-shirt for tonight’s prizes.
Grand Prizes New Year’s Day; next Sunday we have a beautiful pair of blue sapphire earrings from Afghanistan donated by Gerald Meadows – a really nice St. Croix rod donated by St. Croix themselves, and a Wayne Young reef book, a custom measuring board, and a reef t-shirt..
This raffle is it – this is most of our fundraising for the year. The more we raise, the more reef we can put on the bottom!
Particulars!
OCRF’s 2022 Benelli/Park Place Jewlers Annual Reef Raffle. One ticket for $10 – six for $50 – fourteen for $100 – plus an additional ticket for every additional hundred.
A buyer of $200.00 worth, for instance, would be getting 15 tix per hundred; at $300 it would be 16 tix per one hundred so 48 tickets.. $500.00 would be 90 Tix!
Buy tickets online at ocreefs.org at the ‘donation’ tab. Courtney and I will fill the name and phone number in on all your tickets, then send a pic via email. If you don’t have a pic within 48 hours? (First Check Your Spam Box!!) ..then Email us!
Raceway Citgo by Crabs to Go has tix behind the counter (at last!)
Also coming up there’s a framed & remarqued George Kalwa mahi print; two pair of precious stone earrings from Afghanistan, a pair of Hook sunglasses, another $200 Fuel GC from Harbor Island, more fantastic rods including an all time favorite stick of mine, a St Croix donated by Sea Bass Bob – even a custom wrapped rod with a nice reel donated (along with the earrings!) by Gerry Meadows. Grand prizes are a Benelli semiauto in 12ga from Benelli USA; a Seiko watch and diamond covered circle hook necklace from Park Place Jewelers, and a full day charter on my rig any time we’re fishing..
You can’t lose! Donations build reef!!!
Block Update! As of 11/20/22 we have 38,460 Reef Blocks & 747 Reef Pyramids (170lb ea or an equivalent) deployed at numerous ACE permitted ocean reef sites – there are also 786 pyramids deployed by MD CCA at Chesapeake Bay oyster sites working to restore blue ocean water… (and, boy are those pyramid numbers about to rise!)
Currently being targeted oceanside: at the Brand New Rambler Reef 260 Reef Blocks & 10 Pyramids – Tyler Long’s Memorial Reef 548 (+18 Reef Pyramids) Virginia Lee Hawkins Memorial Reef 406 Reef Blocks (+72 Reef Pyramids) – Capt. Jack Kaeufer’s/Lucas Alexander’s Reefs 1,968 Blocks (+46 Reef Pyramids) – Doug Ake’s Reef 4,174 blocks (+16 Reef Pyramids) – St. Ann’s 2,867 (+14 Reef Pyramids) – Sue’s Block Drop 1,642 (+24 Reef Pyramids) – TwoTanks Reef 1,303 (+ 15 Reef Pyramids) – Capt. Bob’s Inshore Block Drop 912 – Benelli Reef 1,552 (+ 118 Pyramids) – Capt. Bob’s Bass Grounds Reef 4,091 (+ 88 reef pyramids) – Wolf & Daughters Reef 734 – Dr. Berger’s Reef 1,505 (+33 Reef Pyramids) – Great Eastern Block Drop 1,528 (+25 Reef Pyramids) – Two more brand New Drops Begun at Cristina’s Blast 80 Reef Blocks & 2 Pyramids – Unnamed Site South Side GEBD 160 Reef Blocks & 2 Pyramids – Capt Greg Hall’s Memorial Reef 222 Blocks & 2 Pyramids — And 325 Castle & Terracotta Tog Blocks & 10 Pyramids 81 feet Bass Grounds Unnamed ..
