Posted on August 7th, 2023
Check out some of the new tech available at Sunset Provisions in West Ocean City.
I just got back from day 1 scales action for the 50th Anniversary of the White Marlin Open and it was an exciting opening day. We started seeing fish an hour or so after scales opened and it didn’t slow down for quite a while. With 378 boats fishing today we had a feeling that it was going to be a busy day at Harbour Island and we were right. We were also lucky enough to miss the storms that headed into the area this evening so it was a win-win. There were no billfish weighed today, but we did see tuna, wahoo and mahi hit the board. Here’s who’s leading what after the first day of fishing with current approximate payouts.
Tuna
1st Place – Instigator – 199 Lb Bigeye – $1 Million
2nd Place – Bow Down – 118 Lb Bigeye – $429,000
3rd Place – Skid Row – 64.5 Lb Yellowfin – $38,000
Wahoo
Captain Deadly – 55 Lbs – $32,000
Mahi
Hey Buddy – 21 Lbs – $32,000
Results are in for this past weekend’s Heels & Reels Ladies Tournament by the Ocean City Marlin Club.
Shaun “Nature Boy” Flaherty found a nice weakfish and a nice flounder on the south jetty today.
Caleb Powell found three keeper flounder in the back bay this afternoon.
Andrew and Chloe Benson caught a nice 20″ keeper flounder on the Deadly Tackle Double Trouble in chartreuse.
Dave Neumeyer and his mom Judy found some keeper flounder on live spot near Harbour Island today. Judy was high hook with a 19″ fish while Dave netted a 16.75″ keeper.
Captain Marc Spangnola of Dusk to Dawn Bowfishing was all over the rays last night and again this afternoon.
Capitan Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star had a short flounder trip today that produced for some of his crew.
These dagone flat things, cbass too; they’re makin me crazy.. Ah well, August bottom fishing has a long history of that with me. Today I thought the wind was going to be a bit sportier than forecast; (and why not given recent accuracy?) so I cut my XXL flounder trip to a much shorter excursion – then got to stay on a bit in sea conditions that only worsened slightly after lunch. Was a nice day. Donna & Maniya dropped our reef blocks on a reef we’re improving. At this particular site I can see each block drop we’ve made on the sounders. A few more drops maybe I’ll try to get a picture of the work on my sounders. Before the month is over I hope to have some serious photographic talent on the bottom – looking for a lot of coral growth on blocks. We began fishing straight away and continued to kick around inshore some – would mark fish and catch none. And I do mean none. I would have expected a lot of short fluke per keeper, but even they wouldn’t chew. Downright unAmerican I tell you! Was 5 spots in with just one beautiful sea bass aboard when I threw in the towel and headed offshore. (Oyyy.. So much for the short day.) There, at last, we got to see our quarry; but, mostly I had mounds of fish on screen with little interest in our baits.. Just plain fussy. Guy from Oklahoma had the right one though. Real nice flounder about 23/24inches..Laying in tomorrow. Looking forward to sea bassing in a calm on Wednesday. Cheers, Monty
