Saltwater action heats up
It’s July. Summer is in full swing and, courtesy of this weekend’s sweltering heat, it definitely feels like it. Thankfully, along with our simmering summer heat wave comes a flood of angling opportunities for saltwater angling buffs. Offshore fishermen hold the hot ticket right now as boats up and down the mid-Atlantic coastline are loading up on tuna out at the canyons.
I stopped by the docks in Ocean City, MD, one afternoon last week to be greeted by exhausted, smiling fishermen whose rubbery arms attested to a great day of battling muscular yellowfin and bluefin tuna. I specifically wanted to check on the fortunes of a boat I’ve chartered for later this month: Bill$ 4 Bills with Captain Ron Callis. When the 40-foot Ocean Super Sport pulled into the dock it was flying an array of catch flags indicating a successful foray on the water. Their tally for the day was ten yellowfin tuna (the largest a hefty 72 pounds) and two nice dolphin, an awesome performance by any angling standard.
Although Captain Ron’s boat took high hook honors at the marina that day, almost every other boat that hit the docks that afternoon brought plenty of tuna to the scales. I’m hoping that Bill$ 4 Bills’ luck holds up for a few more weeks, especially during the weekend of July 13 through 15 when the 31st Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament is slated to take place. To that end I’ve chartered Bill$ for the tourney and assembled a six man team to fish it. Along with me, the tourney hopefuls include my brother Dan from Brookhaven, Pete and Bryan Werner, and Mike and Mike Maxwell from Chadd’s Ford.
Over the years I’ve participated in a variety of Ocean City’s deep sea tournaments including Mako Mania, the (now defunct) Ocean City Shark Tournament, and the famous White Marlin Open with mixed results. The first time we fished the Open I caught and released the first and only white marlin of my modest angling career and, better yet, our team also boated a 63 pound wahoo that took first place in that category, winning enough prize money to pay all of our expenses and then some. But the second time I fished the WMO the ocean was flat as glass and we never hooked a single fish in three days on the water. Talk about yin and yang.
However, I’ve yet to fish the OCMD tuna tourney and wanted to give it a try at least once. Last year the tournament paid out a hefty $785,000 in prize money and calcuttas. Maybe chartering a boat that has a dollar $ign in its name will be the charm. Now we’ll just keep our fingers crossed in hopes of fair weather and calm seas. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, although yellowfin tuna remain the big story on the offshore scene, dolphin are also plentiful. A number of bigeyes, bluefin tuna, and white marlin are also showing up at the canyons. Inshore the party boats are catching fair numbers of sheepshead and drum. Black sea bass are included in the mix.
Anglers fishing ocean structure (think reefs and wrecks) are starting to pick up decent numbers of keeper flounder but fluke fishing in the back bays seems to have tapered off. I prowled the back bays of OCMD for three days last week and had little to show for it aside from a total of 17 throwback flounder, a skate, a sea robin, and a pufferfish. Some other back bay anglers managed to boat a few croakers, a popular species that failed to show up at all last season. A heavy uptick in boat traffic stirring up the waters on Friday didn’t help matters any, and that’s a trend that will no doubt continue through the long Independence Day holiday this week.
HUNTING LICENSE RENEWAL, HUNTER SAFETY COURSE »
While summertime activities like fishing, clamming, and crabbing have taken center stage in our great out-of-doors, it’s a slow time for the state’s fraternity of hunters -- that is unless you’re a diehard groundhog sniper. In any case, Pennsylvania hunters heading afield for woodchuck or getting ready for our fall seasons are re- quired to purchase a fresh new hunting license. Last year’s license expired on July 1 and the 2018-2019 edition is now on sale. Also, if you’re hankering to purchase your inaugural hunting and/ or trapping license, you’ll need to take a hunter trapper education course in order to be eligible.
To that end, the West Chester Fish, Game, and Wildlife Association will host a Hunter Trapper Education course on July 21 at the East Bradford Township Building, 666 Copeland School Road, in West Chester. This is a one day training class. In order to prepare, participants must read Chapters 1, 4, 5 and 9 of Today’s Hunter & Trapper in PA manual. It will be your responsibility to study this material before attending the class.
The online version of the manual can be found at www.hunter-ed.com/pennsylvania/handbook. Hard copies of the manual are available at Gordon’s Sports Supply, 129 Pottstown Pike, Uwchland, PA 19480 or at The Downingtown Bicycle Shop, 833 W Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown, Pa 19335.
All first-time hunters and trappers, regardless of age, must successfully complete Hunter-Trapper Education training before they can buy a Pennsylvania hunting or trapping license. A training certificate, which is recognized throughout North America, is awarded when you pass the test at the end of the course.
You must be at least 11 years old to enroll in a class. Parents are encouraged to attend with their children. The program is designed to produce safe, responsible, knowledgeable and involved participants. For more information and to register for the class, go to the PA Game Commission website at www.pgc. state.pa.us.