Fish Report 5/24/25
Sea Bass Fishing OK
Opening Reservations 6/2/25 to 7/14/25..
A tale of confidence I've recently reposted to FB..
Thoughts on the Mothball Fleet..
Fishing Sea Bass Everyday Weather Allows - Catching too - usually have at least a few limits aboard..
Reservations Are Now Open From June Second (6/2/25) To Mid-July - (7/14/25.) From May 26 on already open with some room weekdays.
I'll hold late July & all of August in reserve to see how mahi play out this summer.
Sailing Saturdays 6:30 to 3:30 at $165.00 — Weekdays & Sundays 7 to 3 at $145 - All Sea Bass Trips Sell Out at 18 Anglers. I sail 1/2 an hour early on all trips if all are aboard..
My long time friend and reigning Reef Queen (handles reef matters & mail!) - Marisa has taken over the helm on my reservation line.
Truly a sharp gal; she is but a one person operation & with a toddler at that. I'm quite confident of many more live answers and faster voice mail/text responses than in recent years though.
Marisa might be slammed when I hit send (I hope!)(or maybe not!) If she cannot pick up, (she might be putting her 1 yo future angler down for a nap or any other Mom duty!) ..leave her a message or text her.
Reservations at 443-235-5577 - The line closes at 8pm and reopens at 8am. Marisa won’t take reservations for trips that are not announced - but she can note & pass along your desires.
If you want a spot for a summer sea bass trip call Marisa on the reservation line at 443-235-5577.. Emailing me is no good. I have plenty on my plate without following the blow by blow of reservations. I won't have real time info on what's available - Marisa does. I do check email for questions, however, & Facebook messenger from 'friends' too..
***Be a half hour early! We always leave early!! ..except when someone shows up right on time.
Clients arriving late will see the west end of an east-bound boat. Seriously, with a limited number of reserved spots, I do not refund because you overslept or had a flat.. If you’re reserved and are the last person we’re waiting on - you’ll need to answer your phone. I will not make on-time clients wait past scheduled departure because of a misfortune on your part.
Sea Bass Size limit 13 inches - 15 per person.
I try to always leave a half hour early (and never an hour early!) I rarely get in on time either. If you have a worrier at home, please advise them I often come home late. It’s what I do.
Trips Also Sometimes Announced on Facebook at Morning Star Fishing
https://www.facebook.com/ocfishing/
I post after action reports (or lack thereof) (and sometimes detailed thoughts on fisheries issues) for every trip on my personal FB page and Morning Star page. Posts including OC Reef Foundation work will be included on those pages as well.
Bait is provided on all trips. Jigging is always welcome - sometimes doesn't work, but when it does? Fun and productive - we'll have jigs you can borrow. If sea bass are not taking the jig? Don't Wait, Switch to Bait!
No Galley. Bring Your Own Food & Beverage.
If fishing toward the stern it's best to wear shoes/flip flops/summer boots you don't mind getting wet.
If You Won't Measure & Count Your Fish, The State Will Provide A Man With A Gun To Do It For You. We Measure & Count — ALWAYS — No Exceptions!
It's Simple To Prevent Motion Sickness, Difficult To Cure. Bonine seems our best over the counter because it's (supposed to be!) non-drowsy. It's truly cheap & effective insurance. If it makes you a bit sleepy - but not suffering extreme reverse digestive disorder? That's a great trade!
"The Patch" -Scopolamine- however, is an anti-nausea prescription that beats all comers.
If the ocean still wants to get the better of you? Zofran (anti-nausea frequently given by physicians and especially under anesthesia in surgery) Zofran can be a day saver if you have it left over from a prescription. We sometimes have a few aboard also.
Honestly - If you get to go on the ocean once a month, once a year or even less; why risk chumming all day?
Ahhhh, then there's the ebullience of youth! Of course you can party hard all night and go on a moderately rough ocean..
No you can't!
If you howl at the moon all night? Chances are good you'll howl into a bucket all day.
To Enjoy Your Day At Sea - Get Rest & Take Preventative Medicine!
Please Bring A Cooler With Ice For Your Fish – A 48 Quart Cooler Is Fine For A Few People. Do Not Bring A Very Large Cooler. We have some loaners - you'll still need ice. I want your catch memorable even after the dishes are washed! Should you catch some monstrous fish, we’ll be able to ice it.
No Galley! Bring Food & Beverages To Suit. A few beers in cans is fine for the ride home.
Our daily fish pool is a $20 Split Pool - half goes to the heaviest sea bass (or advertised species announced in AM. Perhaps also summer flounder/fluke, for instance) - and half goes to our daily 50/50 reef raffle. Reef building works wonderfully off our coast; we're growing amazing coral colonies. I do all I can to fund it.
Reef Blocks - As of 5/24/25 we have 43,300 Reef Blocks (mostly in units) & 2,343 Reef Pyramids (170lb ea) deployed at numerous ACE permitted ocean reef sites. There are also 1,336 pyramids deployed by MD CCA at Chesapeake Bay oyster sites working to restore blue ocean water. Counting those awaiting deployment at cement plants, there have been about 6,000 pyramids made since my crew and I fashioned a prototype mold in late August 2019.
Currently being targeted oceanside with reef block units: Ryan & Shari's Bay Breeze Reef 208 Pyramids - Uncle Murphy's Reef 284 Reef Blocks; Rambler Reef 468 Reef Blocks & 13 Pyramids - Pete Maugan's Memorial Reef 136 Blocks & 14 Pyramids - Calder's Reef Improvement 224 Blocks & 12 Reef Pyramids - Virginia Lee Hawkins Memorial Reef 570 Reef Blocks (+98 Reef Pyramids) - Capt. Jack Kaeufer's/Lucas Alexander's Reefs 2202 Blocks (+57 Reef Pyramids) - Doug Ake's Reef 4,194 blocks (+16 Reef Pyramids) - St. Ann's 3,035 (+14 Reef Pyramids) Fowler's Reef at Jackspot (very new) 280 Blocks & 12 Pyramids (many w/bamboo added) - Sue's Block Drop 1,810 (+30 Reef Pyramids) - Kathy's Cable 318 blocks (11 pyramids) - Rudys/Big Dad's Barges 140 Reef Blocks (+9 Pyramids) - Benelli Reef 1,552 (+18 Pyramids) - Capt. Bob's Bass Grounds Reef 5,122 (first reef to cross 5K) (+ 119reef pyramids) - Al Berger's Reef 2,018 Reef Blocks (48 Reef Pyramids) - Great Eastern South Block Drop 260 Reef Blocks (+10 Pyramids) - Cristina’s Blast 140 Reef Blocks & 2 Pyramids - Capt Greg Hall's Memorial Reef 362 Blocks (+2 Pyramids) - Kinsley's Reef 964 Pyramids - Bear Concrete Reef 512 Pyramids, 44 Blocks plus 16 pipes..
****
Fish Report 5/24/25
Greetings All,
Sea Bass season began well enough, I suppose. While skippers & clients alike wish for one stop shopping with a boat limit and getting in early; the reality, however, has been working hard to catch a few limits and staying a bit late.
And, of course, with some clients limited, generally everyone's done well.
Generally..
Did have a day when a new (to the boat) lady angler, Ms. Julie, trounced all aboard. Shades of Sue Foster, Cathy & Ms Holly; Julie was first to limit, high hook & won the pool.
Now, aside a damaged sense of male fishing superiority and weakened testosterone production, I thought everyone had done fine overall.
Wasn't so.
Escaping my notice was a long time client, himself frequently first to limit or the pool winner, who only boxed 3 sea bass.
Ouch!
Now shades of Hurricane Murray when ol'man Murphy has had enough of his business, it was too late to fix this nameless angler's luck.
If you're not keeping pace there's a good chance my crew can change something on your rig or give you a different rod - do something to get you catching.
He having suffered an absolute smackdown by a lady angler; this from a recent FB post and much older Fish Report is worth a repeat:
***
I joke about it, but some fellows just can't handle being outfished by a lady - let alone several of them. Seriously, I've seen men close to tears, especially back when Sue Foster fished with me, but also with Cathy. I've been accused of giving girls special bait; had clients absolutely livid when outfished by a lady - or worse still, ladies.
((Here from a very old report - fits!))
*****
Well, why not. I'll again tell the tale from 1985 when I was working deck on the old wooden Angler - this the experience that cemented my belief a 'can do' attitude is vital in fishing {and everything else!}
Now, long time friend Mark bartended at the Angler Restaurant. He got the owner, Tuffy Bunting, to let him start the "Lady Anglers Club" with some 8 or 9 of the waitresses. Unsure his intention but he did marry one of em; my skipper & I sure didn't mind these gals getting a free pass.
At first they weren't too succesful. As they did more trips though they sure got the hang of it. We were constantly accused of giving them special bait and all manner of cheating in their favor.
Nope.
Just fishing..
When sea trout season came the girls were dialed in tight. (In those days we'd have had a mutiny on board to sea bass fish after mid-August!)
Meanwhile, the beverage truck had delivered the same exact order all season long. I had little Coke or Budweiser on hand but a slug of orange and grape soda. Pain in the neck - the storage room was all jammed up.
I sure miss trout fishing. It was all two strips of squid and sometimes cut bait drifting for weakies/seatrout - spike trout. Little guys. (size limit regs killed the fishery about 1990 but didn't help rebuild the weakfish population. Always struck me that stripers/rockfish were dining mercilessly on em all winter) ..Sometimes catching seatrout was cotton candy, other times technique was paramount.
In high summer the Lady Anglers Club was often uniformly dressed in a way that, ahh, while maximizing tanning opportunities, distracted most of my clients. This ensured when one of the gals caught a trout - the guys knew it. Though I had surely tried to get everyone catching, my anglers would routinely become convinced I was giving the girls some magical advantage. Nope. Same rental rods, same rigs - same bait: just paying attention & practice kept em catching.
Got it in my head one day to let everyone see their top secret special advantage. Gave the gals a grape or orange soda - had cases stacked over my head in storage - and had them 'sweeten their bait' before dropping. They'd pour just a tad on their bait and catch a trout.
"Give me one of them damn sodas!"
"Fifty cents sir"
..and, after a few weeks, ran out of grape & orange.
Clients all catching fine; they were convinced they'd only get bit using soda that washed off instantly as they dropped.
Ran the boss's supply of soda down, that's for sure. He was tickled.
Absolutely true.
All of it.
(end of old report)
*****
To my way of thinking, building artificial reef is always worth the effort. I've seen it too many times: when we build a reef we soon find lots of life where there was none before. Whether a few cement blocks fashioned into a unit, a few hundred pyramids, an outdated tug or barge that's made its final run; or, for larger state programs sometimes, a huge vessel otherwise headed for a ship-breaking yard: new substrate on the ocean floor grows coral which makes fish feeding and spawning habitat.
Think about the money boat/ship owners spend on anti-fouling bottom paint. Even with the very best products; any size hull left in a slip or along a wharf long enough will become a floating reef of sorts in time - all manner of growth will colonize as its anti-fouling paint loses potency. So long as a new substrate on the ocean floor doesn't scour under (like your feet on the beach when a robust wave recedes) new reef on the seafloor (hopefully w/o bottom paint!) will grow in much faster
..and in that growth? Coral & Fish Flourish.
Along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Massachusetts to Texas, Maryland alone has no state marine reef building program. Our very small non-profit, the Ocean City Reef Foundation is all of it. (OCRF can be found at ocreefs.org)
Though quite succesful with concrete and small steel boats/barges; cleaning and sinking even a modest ship would be far beyond our budget.
But what if the US Maritime Administration decided to clean out the last of our country's mothball fleet - those ships stored locally near Norfolk & Philadelphia are supposedly at the ready should they be needed by Uncle Sam (but probably aren't..) Would it save money both in maintenance and wharfage fees to clean and sink them spread them out among the states?
What if our armed forces, the Navy in particular, were to use them as target practice? Bet some folks in uniform would sure like that.
The Virginia Spaceport at Wallops Island could make use of real target practice too. They already close huge patches of ocean for testing munitions and rocket launches. We fishers would mind the inconvenience far less if these closures resulted in new reefs soon loaded with life.
The Navy has sunk many ships off Puerto Rico in extremely deep water - each would have promoted better fisheries and, in more southern climes especially, enhanced diving opportunities had they been sunk in coastal waters.
I hear it told too that every major port has a large collection of damaged steel shipping containers. Add some heavy precast concrete and, in number, they too would make incredible artificial reef..
It's also true that every precast cement manufacturer has test pieces and miscast materials - sometimes in abundance. We use OSHA-failed crane cable had for free to bind concrete pipes together. Cabled together and in large number, off-inventory precast units could become excellent coastal city storm surge protection while becoming productive nearshore reef too.
Whether making valuable land or wharfage available again for more productive use, building artificial reef is an excellent solution.
I have in mind a letter writing campaign to especially use mothballed ships as target practice that becomes reef.
Now that life is back to normal, I'll press ahead with it.
Cheers
Monty
Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@morningstarfishing.com
Reef Restoration Makes Fisheries Restorations Simple!