Report - First trip out of OC

[Mumford]

Went Thursday out of OC. Got a speeding ticket on the way down while passing through the suburbs of Bridgeville, DE. Made it to the ramp $80.75 lighter in the wallet (what's up with the 75 cents???). I backed the boat in, only to realize the handle from my winch was missing (maybe the policeman took it). How the hell and I going to load when I get back to the ramp??? Oh, well, we'll figure that out later.

Got to the Baltimore around 0900. It didn't take long to hook up, but it didn't take long to lose it either. We trolled around the 50 fathom line for about a half hour, then everything broke loose. I turned and saw a marlin cutting through the spread. WOW! This is only my second time ever fishing offshore in my boat, and I had never seen such a sight. It was like a scene from one of those ESPN or Versus shows. Those suckers can sky, and as I found out on #3, they can really sound, too. We ended up hooking up with 5 whites over the next couple hours, all around the 50 fathom line.

We finished the day by pulling some meat off the polys in the canyon. We made it back to the ramp about 4:30. Between power loading and using vise grips and a tire iron, we got the boat on the trailer. It was a pain, but it worked.

All I can say is that this was the best $80.75 I ever spent. Oh, and I think I'm becoming addicted...

[TerpHeels]

5 whites 2 the boat on your 2nd time out is going 2 b hard 2 beat! Nice work.

[rocksteady]

Congrats ! Very nice .:thumbup:

[Mumford]

Thanks guys! I had my father, an old friend from HS, and a long-time fishing buddy, and none of us had ever seen a live marlin before, let alone hooked one. I'll take luck any day.

TerpHeels, we actually hooked 5, but lost two during the fight after a couple series of jumps and runs. Of the other three, one had a CFL around 6'2" or 6'3" based on marking her on the side of the boat. An on-line calculator shows this to be in the 73-77# range. The second was about the same length. The third looked bigger, but she "released" herself before we got her close enough to measure.

Does the length to weight ratio sound about right?

[sloth]

Thanks guys! I had my father, an old friend from HS, and a long-time fishing buddy, and none of us had ever seen a live marlin before, let alone hooked one. I'll take luck any day.

TerpHeels, we actually hooked 5, but lost two during the fight after a couple series of jumps and runs. Of the other three, one had a CFL around 6'2" or 6'3" based on marking her on the side of the boat. An on-line calculator shows this to be in the 73-77# range. The second was about the same length. The third looked bigger, but she "released" herself before we got her close enough to measure.

Does the length to weight ratio sound about right?

You have to measure the girth, as well, or you're just guessing. Nice work.

[granpafish]

That is a great story! (better than a mere report) Congratulations on having fun. All the little towns between DC, Philly and the the beaches are on high alert to fill the coffers before the summer is over.

[tunafisher21]

Honestly you might want to quit while you are ahead.

I have been offshore probably about 75 times, and have seen several marlin, but have never landed one.

Great Job,

Tuna

[murf man]

Tunaafisher sounds like me been offshore lots of times and never landed one. Always someone else......MAYBE ONE DAY!!!

[johnrogers]

Pretty work hope to get out there soon

[David]

Too bad about the ticket But you had a Stellar trip brother... Fantastic.:yes:

[Fishboy OV8]

great fishing.... congrats :thumbup:

[Pogyboat]

Wow! big congrats! Hope you can keep up the run---just tell us where youre going first!!

[tunafisher21]

MurfMan - ONE DAY.... before I :death:

[Mumford]

Thanks guys. Between work, my daughter's soccer, and having to do extra chores to work off the speeding ticket, my next trip probably won't be until October. I'm just hoping some yellowfin make a showing between OC and VA Beach this fall. What are the odds that we'll be so lucky?

[jnelson]

you picked the one day to go...i was down all week on vacation...only marlin I saw were in Marlin mag.

[LeftOar]

Mikey,

Excellent trip report. Glad you had great action on the first try- only you and Dale could pull that off!! :clapping2::clapping2:

I've got some experience with with blue suits, black suits, and plenty of sails, and got the gear to put in the water and in the gunwales, be glad to help out on the next trip.

LO

[10ounce]

Here's a pic of one of the whites. Just so you know Mike isn't lying!

[sbieshelt]

Thanks for the invite?? I can always ditch work.

[10ounce]

2 more pics.
And two questions from the offshore equivalent of a chicken necker.

1. We left the group of marlin still feeding (Mike forgot to mention the bait ball with the white's still crashing it when we left). After the first 5 hits, they tired of our offerings. Mike changed several baits out in the spread, but to no avail. We trolled through the fish 7 or 8 more times and couldn't get them to hit. What could we have done to spur another bite?

2. We also hoped to get some dolphin on light tackle. The meat that Mike mentioned was all caught on the troll. Some of the bouys we visited later had gaffer dolphin swimming around, but we couldn't get them to hit casted lures. I'm sure we might have had better luck if we had some cut bait to cast to them, but we didn't. We tried casting what we had, bass assassins, spoons, etc, but we only got one hit. What were we doing wrong? Is there a good type of lure/retrieve that we should have tried? The fish we saw were decent sized. Would chickens have been more willing to hit our artificials? We are certainly inexperienced and probably just suck, but any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!
:jackthread:

[reelrelaxation1]

Ballyhoos man! Never leave home without them! Sometimes we bring squid or minnows. Just throw a handfull in at the ball and wait and see what happens. If they are hungry , they will eat. Never caught one on artificials - always some kind of meat. Good luck next time!

[Reel Draggin Tackle]

Nice work on the Whites!