Spring mix heralds start of fall fishing season

This past weekend Ocean City, Md., hosted the 4th Annual Big Fish Classic Tournament, an angling competition where the fleet heads offshore in quest of tuna, marlin, shark, wahoo, or any other species that might best all others at the tourney scales. “I think a blue shark will probably win it this year,” speculates Captain Chris Watkowski at the helm of the Spring Mix II. I’m one of four hopeful anglers aboard the 43 foot Alex Willis Custom Carolina Express as Watkowski pilots the vessel some 58 miles across the Atlantic toward Poor Man’s Canyon. And although we aren’t entered in the weekend’s pricey tournament, we still have high hopes of getting into some big fish of our own. Outdoor writers Harry Guyer, Terry Brady, Mark Demko, and Tatum with their catch of dolphin on the Spring Mix II .

This is my second venture offshore this year in an attempt to boat a few tasty tuna. My first try, back in July aboard the Talkin’ Trash, while accompanied by my brother Dan and his grandson Quintin, failed to put a single fish in the box. The only action was Dan’s battle with a yellowfin that ended with the fish being lost at the boat. On Friday’s trip I am joined by a cadre of outdoor writers, all members of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association (POWA) including Mark Demko of Allentown’s Morning Call who has arranged this outing through the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. Also along is Harry Guyer whose outdoors column runs in a number of Bedford County, Pa., newspapers, and Terry Brady whose column on saltwater fishing appears in Pennsylvania Outdoor News.

None of the other three writers aboard has ever caught a dolphin (aka mahimahi) including Guyer whose “life list” of fishing includes 119 different species of both freshwater and saltwater fishes. If he manages to boat a dolphin, it would round out his list to an even 120. Since I’ve spent a lifetime fishing in and around Ocean City, my saltwater resume is much more extensive, lacking only a mako shark and a wahoo when it comes to the big game fish that roam the Atlantic.

Also along on this trip is boat owner Paul Lebling, age 51, of Selbyville, Md. The name of his boat, Spring Mix, was derived from the produce business he once owned. Lebling’s stepson, Ayrton Pryor, serves as mate. Pryor is just sixteen years old, the same age as Watkowski was when he began his career as a mate. “This is my 30th summer out of Ocean City as captain or mate,” Watkowski, now age 46, tells us while throttling up the boat’s twin 480 Cummins diesel engines and pointing us toward the breaking sunrise on the eastern horizon.

After a three hour jaunt over rolling seas we arrive at

the fishing grounds around 8:15. Our first stop will be at a collection of lobster traps where we hope to entice a few dolphin to bite on our squid baits, tossed unweighted toward the buoys that mark the pots’ locations. Within a few minutes the first dolphin, a small bailer, takes the bait. Demko grabs the rod as the fish lights up a brilliant green and leaps into the air. But before Pryor can lift it over the rail, the dolphin throws the hook and disappears into the brine.

It’s a propitious start to the morning, but after almost an hour or so of lobbing squid baits at lobster trap locations, not another dolphin takes a hook. “Most times, most years, fishing for dolphin is a no-brainer,” sighs Lebling, who shares some mating chores with Pryor. “We’d normally have schools of, like, 50 dolphin at these pots, but this year they’re hard to come by.”

Even with no dolphin in the box it’s time to start trolling for bigger game, namely tuna or billfish. Pryor sets out eight lines: two long riggers and two flat lines target white marlin; two short lines and two spreader bars target tuna. Ballyhoo is the bait of choice for most of the rigs. “We use circle hooks on the marlin rigs and J hooks for tuna,” explains Lebling. “We want to hook the marlin in the corner of their mouths so we can release them unharmed, but since we plan to keep the tuna, J hooks are the way to go.” The terminal rigs for the marlin are attached to 40 pound test line spooled onto Shimano Tyrnos reels. For tuna it’s 80 pound test spooled onto beefy Penn Internationals.

As we begin trolling we spot a cruise ship heading north. “Never see cruise ships out here,” notes Lebling. “Probably trying to get away from the Caribbean and Hurricane Irma.” The sun rises bright in a cloudless sky and Watkowski remarks that the 74 degree water is clean as we troll at speeds of 7 knots over 900 feet of water. “One big problem we’ve had this year,” adds Watkowski, “is that we never got any Gulfstream water this year. It’s been like one big bathtub with all the

same water circulating. Not good for the fishing.”

Many of the other boats we spot trolling in the area are entered in the Big Fish Classic. “I think there are like 44 boats entered,” says Watkowski, “with around $244,000 in prize money.” A few hours pass without any action. Some chatter crackles across the radio with most captains reporting very slow going along with precious few reports of tuna and dolphin being boated and a white marlin catch and release.

Captain Dale Lisi, fishing nearby on his boat Foolish Pleasures, reports boating a mako shark, an unusual catch for this time of year. We had spoken to Lisi, who is featured on the TV show “Wicked Tuna,” the day before. He lamented that tuna had been hard to come by recently and that we were more likely to hook up with dolphin and marlin.

Now Watkowski scans the

horizon through polarized lenses, gnawing the crumpled stub of cigar lodged between his lips. “This aint been the worst year we’ve ever had fishin’,” he confesses, “but it’s been the hardest.”

And yet, after a few hours of trolling, the tuna show up. Suddenly, we get a hit and a rod bends. Pryor lunges for it, but just as quickly the fish is gone. Not long after, the same scene repeats itself as another rod curves down and a split second later the tuna vanishes. Finally, a third tuna shows up, a rod groans, and minor chaos ensues. Pryor grabs the rod as Lebling frantically begins reeling the other lines in. “Somebody get in the chair!” Pryor pleads as a long minute rolls. Guyer takes a quick puff on his pipe, sets it aside, and scrambles into the fighting chair, reaching for the rod. But before Pryor can hand it off, the tension lets up and the tuna is gone. Close, as they say, but no cigar, but Guyer still has his pipe.

And despite the best efforts of captain and crew, that moment is as close as we will come to catching a tuna that day, closer than most other boats in the fleet will come. We pack it in around 2:30 when Guyer asks Pryor if we can try the lobster traps for dolphin again on the way back. “Plan to do just that,” Lebling assures him. As luck would have it, this time the dolphin cooperate. Everybody catches fish and at the end of the day we have nine delicious mahi in the box. Nobody is happier than Guyer who has, at long last, added a dolphin to his lengthy life list of piscine conquests. “That’s number one hundred and twenty,” he grins, and lights up his trusty pipe in celebration.

IF YOU GO

For more info on Spring Mix Charter opportunities go to springmixfishing.com.

I’d have to say that these folks are among the most reliable and dedicated when it comes to offshore fishing exploits. Incidentally, the next major Ocean City event is Sunfest and runs from Thursday, Seept. 21 through Sunday, Sept. 24. For more info go to http://ococean. com/sunfest online.

BIG FISH CLASSIC

Restless Lady weighed in the largest fish and took $61,935 in prize money. Captain Watkowski’s prediction was on the mark since the Restless Lady’s big fish at the tourney scales this year turned out to be a 145.5 lb. blue shark.

ARCHERY DEER SEASON

Our local hunting seasons here in the southeast gear up this weekend with the opening of archery deer season on Sept. 16. Look for more on that in next week’s column.