Tight Lines

Frank Criscola of Bedminster, N.J. did it again at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City. Maryland, following his win with Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club last year in the tuna division, by boating a 77-pound white marlin that was initially tied for first and ended up winning $206;000.

Crislola pitched a bait to the big white after it came up on the teaser, but it then looked at another bait before disappearing. Criscola is a veteran billfisherman, and dropped a lot of line back where the white found it. She only jumped once and went wild when alongside. Capt. George Steller called for the gaff to be used on an obviously large white in order not to have it get under the boat and cut off. That saved the fish, but it turned out that the rules provided that a gaffed entry would be dropped back in a tie. Drillin & Billin ended up with the big chunk of money at $1.762 million for their 77-pounder.

There was no question about the first place when Canyon Blues boated a 96-pound white for $1.85 million. That was the third largest in WMO history, but still smaller than my wife’s only white. Before we were marriied, Kathy fished for sharks with me in my Mako 21 at Montauk when she hooked into a 99 1/2-pounder that won a national magazine first place that year. It hit a small frozen bunker.

The white marlin and tuna categories payed off more than expected when there was was no blue marlin entry. I never thought the early tuna entries would stand up, but the bigeyes couldn’t be located even by such specialists as Canyon Runner and MJ’s. Travis Ort from York, Pa. was the biggest beneficiary of that blue marlin money as he was in the right Calcuttas to win $1.414 million on Restless Lady 2 out of Ocean City with a 114.5-pound bluefin. Sentient had the largest tuna at 121 pounds, but wasn’t in the right Calcuttas and won only $148,000.Capt. Mark De Blasio was in the right entry levels with his Blue Runner from Manasquan, N.J., and won $165,000 for the 106-pound bluefin caught by Jarrord Keeley from Centerville, Ohio even after it dropped to third.

I’ll have more winners and the final species count tomorrow,

The last big money event is coming up Aug. 17-21 with the Mid-Atlantic out of Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland. The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant has a few openings for individual anglers at $2,666 a day, which includes a share of any earnings even if the fish is caught on another day.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots, with possible afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

Scott Leadbeater is back in action with his old Aquasport at Atlantic Highlands — now powered by a new Suzuki. He got started Sunday by casting for stripers and catching a 32-incher plus two shorts. Fluking between the channels added a 19-inch fluke.

Also at that port, Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen noted that recent morning fluking has been tough with little wind for drifting. However, Mark Hrubic took the lead in the Big Pool on Saturday with an 8.1-pounder.Tank Matraxia could do no wrong last week when he fished with friends in Tagged Fish from Highlands. Fluking was slow at Sandy Hook Reef, but he was catching steadily, including two 24-inchers in a row. Some large sea bass were also added,

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported a 27-inch striper was caught in the surf on metal, but small blues are the best bet.

I’ve been fishing the backwaters for a very few small stripers on Z Man paddletails, but tried the Sea Girt surf this morning with only two fluke of 14 and 15 1/2 inches hitting a teaser fly.

There’s an exceptional run of yellowfin tuna going on off the Jersey Shore right now. Capt. Arthur Stokes said the yellowfins haven’t moved in some time, and Long Island boats joined the crowd Sunday. Yet, he had no trouble trolling up five yellowfins from 30 to 65 pounds plus two skipjacks on Side Job from Belmar for John Clark and his crew from Pa. by staying on the outside of the 150 boats. Some of those boats were jigging tuna, but others were complaining about the action.

Bob Correll joined the crew on Mike Heaney’s 42 Cabo, October Sky to overnight in Hudson Canyon where they were catching squid all night, but only a 6-foot mako. A move to the south this morning put them into a hot trolling bite under tuna birds, with all multiple hits before they ran home to Point Pleasant early. Bob also boated a 58-incher which was probably a bigeye.

Paul Haertel reports ” The JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament concluded on Sunday, August 9^th.  It was a three-day event although participants were only allowed to fish on only one day. Eighty-five boats were entered and most fished in very nice conditions on Saturday and Sunday. While fishing was slow for some boats, other boats had outstanding catches. The tournament was based on the total weight of the three heaviest fluke caught on each boat. The big winner was Matt Sorrentino who fished with Capt. Tony Pacitti aboard his Parker that does not have a name. The crew also included Tony’s Dad, David and their friend Joe Damiano. Their three-fish total had a combined weight of 24.42 lbs. Matt led the way with his personal best 9.92 pound fluke and also won the single prize that was awarded for the largest fluke in the tournament. The team also swept all the Calcuttas and won a whopping total of $14684!

                 Dennis Machamer continued his hot streak in tournaments while captaining his new boat the Mistress. His crew’s three fish total was 20.40 lbs. Just behind them was Anthony Pansini’s crew with a total of 20.4 lbs.. Their catch included an impressive 9.64 lb fluke. The top three finishers in the tournament all weighed in their fish at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar. That might be an indication that the best fishing was out of Shark River Inlet but how far they ran is unknown. Fourth place went to Robert Murdza and crew with a total of 19.26 pounds and the fifth place went to Rick Paglivco and his crew with a total of 17.79 lbs. The tournament also had a single prize for the largest sea bass which was won by Robert Dalgish with a 3.26 lb bass. However, Robert did not enter the sea bass Calcuttas. Therefore, both sea bass Calcuttas were won by Paul Haertel and his crew with a 2.48 lb sea bass that was caught by Ryan Loughlin. Their winnings totaled $3413, not too shabby for a sea bass.”

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good weekend action with chub mackerel plus some bluefish and sea bass, There were more and somewhat bigger blues Sunday along with sea bass and some mackerel, fluke and a bonito. They’re out on a tuna trip tomorrow. The last mid-range exotic trip produced a few yellowfins with many more lost.

The forecast for Tuesday is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots, increasing to 10-15 with higher gusts later.

I’ll have a wrap-up of the WMO open in tomorrow’s blog.                                                

The White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland was exiting to watch yesterday as the white marlin standings kept changing, but this last day has been a dud with relatively few weigh-ins by 249 boats fishing. The only real excitement was when Mojito arrived with the first blue marlin of the contest before it was measured at less than the 144 inches required and not even weighed. All scoring places seem to be the same with little time left before the 9:15 close of the scale. I’ll add a blog later if there’s a change — and publish final results tomorrow.

The morning inshore forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon,

The Jamaica from Brielle reported lots of chub mackerel yesterday along with some blues and sea bass. Carlos Robles of Philadelphia won the pool with a 6-pound bonito. All mid-range tuna trips this week are sold out.

There was big excitement after my blog went in about the WMO as Jersey Boys took advantage of a change that allows ceep-droping for swordfish in a trolling tournament. After a 3 1/2-hour battle they boated a 273.5-pound sword that leads for about $375,000 in the Big Fish Calcutta. More about this as the WMO concludes Sunday,

Capt. George Steller brought Frank Criscola’s Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club to the White Marlin Open scales at Ocean City, Md. shortly after they opened at 4 p.m. with a white marlin that had some heft to it. That white tipped the scale at 77 pounds to tie for first with yesterday’s 77-pounder on Drillin & Billin that had them in place for a payoff well over a million dollars. However, there was much more excitement to come as Canyon Blues blew that tie to the rear with a 97-pounder — the third largest in WMO history!

Though there have been many other fish weighed in, there is still no blue marlin , and there have been no other significant changes so far by the 343 boats that fished today. The scales remain open until 9:15, and I’ll add a blog then if anything changes before tomorrow’s last day.

The offshore weather forecast remains remarkable. Today it was for variable winds less than 10 knots. On Sunday it “calms” to variable at less than 5 knots!

As noted in the previous blog, there were major changes in the big money white marlin division of the WMO today — and I suspect there will be more to come as the contest wraps up with the two days added on due to the uncertainty as to how long the tropical storm would last.

Drillin & Billin was the big winner today as their 77-pound white pushed Hook & Settle’s 74-pounder out of first and sets up a $2.9 million payoff if they can hold on. The latter won’t be hurting either with a $2.5 million check. Mama C. tied them at 74 pounds and is in line for $130;000. However, Sea Toy’s millions for their 72.5-pounder yesterday dropped to $30,000 along with another 72.5 on Reel Estate for the same money.

There were no significant changes after the early blog before the scales closed. I’ll have more details in the morning.

It’s long before the scales close at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland, but the white marlin category is already filled with eight entries from 70.5 pounds up to the new leader of 77 pounds by Drillin & Billin,

There still hasn’t been a blue marlin weighed, and there have been no large tuna today, but the one leader I thought might last to the end on Sunday was blown out as yesterday’s 54-pound dolphin was bested by a WMO record 73 1/2-pounder on Backlash.

I’ll bring everything up to date in another blog after the scales close.

Very light east winds are predicted for Saturday both inshore and offshore.

There was some wild canyon fishing during yesterday’s White Marlin Open competition at Ocean City, Maryland. My late night Word Press report transmission got screwed up, so I’ll try to get it straightened out as the competition continues through Sunday.

With no bottom line established in the white marlin category, there was a flood of barely eligible by length whites brought in for weighing that didn’t make the 70-pound minimum. While 360 boats out of 433 entered released 207 whites, there were 24 boated for a total of 231. However, there were enough qualifying whites to fill that big money category.

John Morton’s Reel Estate from Ocean City started it off with a 72-pound white, but ended the day in a tie for third. Adam Fye of Pasadena, Md. brought in a 74-pounder on Hook and Settle that’s in line for a $1.1 million payoff, but another Md. angler, Timmy Collins, is in more Calcuttas and his 72.5-pounder on Sea Toy can win $1.7 million. Reel Estate and John Verzalena’s Reel Steel from Mountain Lakes, N.J. each can earn $115,000 for third place 72-pounders.

Though the blue marlin category remains unfilled with a 114-inch minimum, but there was finally some sign of them as 17 were released. There were also two releases each of spearfish and sailfish.

The tuna category got a new leader as Sentient boated a 121-pounder in Norfolk Canyon. Five big dolphin were weighed, and the last was the most likely leader to survive as Ian West of Hershey, Pa. boated a 54-pound bull on Security.

With 270 boats out today, there are bound to be many changes by tonight. I’d be surprised if all leaders except that dolphin aren’t knocked back as long as the weather holds through Sunday.

Canyon fishing exploded today at the Ocean City, Md. White Marlin Open. Lots of whites were released and many weighed as the previously vacant category was filled.

Ocean City boats dominated on their home turf. Hook and Settle ended up the day on top at 74 pounds for a potential $1.1 million, but Sea Toy at 72.5 pounds could make $1.7million. Reel Estate is tied for third at 72 pounds with Reel Steel from Mountain Lakes, N.J.

The new tuna leader is a 121-pounder on Sentient from Slaughter Beach, Md. There are still no blue marlin. Wrecker had a 40-pound dolphin, but Security weighed a 54. Weigh-ins continued to about 10. I’ll have details in the morning.