Posted on May 13th, 2020
Check out the Daily Catch video at the Ocean City Fishing Center above to see WRECKER’s big swordfish!!
It was a nice day today in and around Ocean City with sunny skies and temps in the 60s. The wind did blow up pretty good out of the southeast this afternoon, but most of us were done fishing by that point and the fish were being cleaned. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced today that his “Stay in Place” order will be lifted as of 5 PM this Friday, May 15. That’s good news for some businesses that can open back up and it’s better news for some restrictions that have been lifted. There was some buzz around the marina facilities this afternoon and you can tell that folks are excited to be fishing and are looking forward to the season moving forward.
Captain Jeremy Blunt of the Wrecker out of the Ocean City Fishing Center had a shake down trip today and it was a very successful one. Anglers Stephen Humphrey, Josh Willet, Dale Christensen and Joe Rogers joined mates Bobby Layton and Cody Smith for a trip to the canyons on board the Wrecker where they bottom fished and deep dropped for swordfish. The crew ended the day with several very nice blueline tiles and the first swordfish of the OC season. The big sword weighed 177 pounds and took about an hour to get to the gaff. Captain Jeremy reported “extremely rough” conditions this morning…..sike. Thanks to Dave Messick of Unscene Productions for the shot!
Paul Reyburn of JPR Rods enjoyed a trip to the canyons for some deep dropping today. Paul and crew filled a wheelbarrow with nice tilefish at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
I was able to get out for a bit of flounder fishing today and I was once again blessed with some terrific luck. I used the Fish in OC Dale Timmon’s Deadly Double in chartreuse and the Double Trouble in green and had a limit of reel nice fish. I had fish of 17 1/2″, 17 1/2″, 20″ and 22 1/2″ and three of the four keepers ate the Double Trouble baited with a 5″ Gulp in salmon red.
Captain Jeff Coats and his bride Karen took advantage of Karen’s day off and headed to Wachapreague, VA with some of the Fish in OC Double Trouble rigs. Karen and Jeff also had a good day putting keepers of 17″, 19″ and 20″ in the box.
The black drum have reely been snapping in the Delaware Bay recently. Last week Matthew Harrison and Kyle Wildrick of Manolia, DE and Matt Coleman of Middletown, DE had an exceptional night when they caught over a dozen 50+ pound black drum.
I got this photo from Captain Chris Dollar of a HUGE rockfish that was caught on the Chesapeake over the weekend with the following report.
On May 10th, Dave Guerra [on left] from Millersville, MD, pictured here with first mate Ryan Dean [right], landed this true trophy striper that weighed 52 lbs. and measured 52 inches long. The cow rockfish, which had spawned out, took Guerra about 40 minutes to land, no small feat considering ther four-foot seas and strong winds that day. They hooked it at Bouy 83, and the huge fish hit a 12-ounce, Bloody Point white spirehead parachute tipped with a nine-inch shad.
