Posted on March 11th, 2021
We had a beautiful day today in and around Ocean City and to the west where I was fishing on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. There were lots of folks out enjoying the weather and there was a definite feeling of spring in the air. We do have some yuck weather for next week, but the pattern is definitely moving in the right direction and we should be seeing more signs of life and better fishing as we move further in the spring.
I had the pleasure of fishing with my long time friend Eric Sexton today over on a “tributary of the Chesapeake Bay” and we had an absolute blast. The yellow perch were biting as soon as we dropped our baits in and there were some big fish in the mix. Live minnows on top and bottom rigs on the incoming tide was the ticket. We had some quality fish and ended up with about 12 in the box after just a few hours. It should be a great new episode of Hooked on OC in a couple of weeks. Thanks to Dave Messick for the pics!
Gino Rainaldi was fishing some fresh water the other day when he landed this spring largemouth on a minnow that weighed in at over 6 pounds.
A nice shot of sailfish has arrived off the southern coast of Florida recently and the crews fishing out of Singer Island have been taking full advantage. Captain Andrew Dotterweich and the crew of Fish On have had some great sailfishing with mahi, wahoo and kingfish in the mix as well. Fish On is chartering out of Singer Island and can be reached at 678-372-8818.
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star has been doing some great work for the Ocean City Reef Foundation during this week’s nice weather. OCRF dropped this huge barge that will definitely be a fish magnet in the very near future.
Sure was a gorgeous day for sinking a 200 foot barge..
After months of preparation & waiting, our tow got underway from Curtis Bay, Baltimore at 8am, March 9th. Crocker’s Reef arrived at the Bass Grounds just after sunup on Wednesday the 10th. I put out a mooring with four one-hundred pound anchors on 1.25 inch nylon. Tug Trident crew made her fast at 8am. She put up a good fight, but finally had wash across her bow at 3:18 & succumbed to Maryland Coast Towing’s pumps at 4:05.
All our contributors pitched in on this very expensive project. It was especially Dan and Laura Crocker with Sage Financial who helped make this reef a reality with their generous donation.
The reef, a 200 foot hopper barge previously with McLean Marine Contracting, also has 220 tons of concrete pipe aboard. It should have fantastic coral growth within 12 years; and, beyond a doubt, will be targeted this coming summer by numerous anglers & divers fishing for sea bass & flounder.
Maryland has no marine reef program. The Ocean City Reef Foundation is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to restoring corals & improving fishing and diving opportunities off our coast.
We have many other projects going on. I’m hopeful our 2021 reef charts will be out late next week. Today’s sink will surely be on the charts as well as other 2020 projects including an 85’ tug which, so far, remains unnamed.
The more generous sponsors are, the more reef we can build.
ocreefs.org
More Coral, More Fish!
Cheers!
Monty
