Team Pure Lure Leads After Day 1 of the 30th Annual Poor Girl’s Open
By Scott Lenox
Posted on August 15th, 2024
We had yet another beautiful day in and around Ocean City today with warm temps, sunny skies and nice August temperatures. It was a great day to be on the water, or to have some scales action at Bahia Marina!
Today was day 1 of the 30th Annual Captain Steve’s Poor Girl’s Open and it was a very busy day at the scales. I was working at Bahia Marina in 1994 when Steve Harman got the idea to start the Poor Girl’s Open and was involved with the planning and setting up of the first ever event. I’m not sure if Captain Steve thought that the tournament would get to where it is, but I’m sure he’s looking down awfully proud of what he started. I’m honored to still be a small part of it as Emcee. Congratulations to Steve’s brother Shawn, his daughter’s Jocelyn and Taylor and all the rest of the Bahia Marina family on an awesome 30 years! Here’s who’s leading after the first day of fishing.
Marlin Release
1st Place Sea Hag 8 White Marlin Releases
2nd Place Boss Hogg 1 Blue Marlin Release 1 White Marlin Release
3rd Place Pipe Dreamer 2 White Marlin Release 10:00 AM Tie break
Tuna
None
Mahi
1st Place Espadon 53.3 Lbs
Wahoo
1st Place WOP 49.2 Lbs
Junior Angler
Clara Collins 4.9 Lb Mahi
Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star enjoyed smooth sailing today and some real nice sea bass.
SmoothSmooth sailing yet again: I’ll take it!
Got on off to Al Berger’s Reef North where my old OC Princess decky, Brian and daughter Alyssa, sent a block unit with bamboo to the reef below.
Next we loaded a pair of pyramids on the ramp and made bamboo fast to them as well before OCReef volunteer extraordinaire, Sandra, and friend Doreen, sent those to the bottom also.
From there?
East
..where I discovered I’d centered myself in a fiasco.
Water there was 69.5 – Down 6.5 degrees from Tuesday.
Unreal.
With that water temp I didn’t even try mahi. Sea bass, however, looked amazing. A huge school was far up current of the reef – a situation that’s usually fun.
Instead, I think Hurricane’s taking his new “Skunk Life” lifestyle apparel a bit too seriously. Dropping into a huge cloud of sea bass from a drift and on anchor yielded only three red hake (ling for you old timers..)
Whuuuut???
With all those cbass on screen, we caught 3 red hake and not one sea bass. What on earth that was about I couldn’t guess. Cold shock?
Oh man. The day was quickly falling in a heap.
Picked up anchor and headed further east. Found 74 degree surface water and looked for mahi a while.
No Joy.
Anchored again and again – now catching sea bass well and still with an occaisional red hake.
At my third cbass spot ling came on a bit better. We even had a double of red hake. I honestly don’t remember that since 1994?!?
John & John had 9 ling – (Hey Ted!!) Ray was High Hook for cbass – and, so help me, Hurricane Murray won the pool!
Had a few brief glimpses of a fin whale today too.
Cheers, �Monty
Wrote this a while back – info on scallops.
Perhaps we were closed off here owing ‘graying disease’ – perhaps fishers simply left the area alone because of poor meats.
Net effect? More red hake!
*****
Urophycis Chuss (aka ling or hake – red hake – among DelMarVa’s anglers) (wiki has a picture of a spotted hake where it should be a red hake!) ..ling were once prolific – seriously numerous! – even into 60ft of water just 4 miles offshore before my time. Ugly fellows, they were adored by some who fried fish though.
I did witness the inshore fishery on occasion. In my early years as skipper (1986/7) however, clients would catch red hake in 120 to 150 ft in grand number.
Then Georges bank was closed in 1993 and scallop effort moved south in force. As a red hake’s life cycle involves early months sheltering during daylight in a live scallop (up to 5.5 inches as I recall) – that fishery completely collapsed off DelMarVa with the sudden hammering of scallops.
Aside some of my oldest clients; bluefin tuna, at least, must surely miss them..
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