Weather is always the wild card with any big-game tournament. That looks to be the case again with the long-range forecast for the Outer Banks by next weekend. Hurricane Debby came ashore in Florida’s Big Bend on Monday morning, August 5, but the storm is expected to slowly march northeasterly and dump buckets of rain as it makes its way up the Eastern seaboard. How that affects the sea conditions and the bite remains to be seen. The last couple of seasons haven’t been typical, though.
“There have been a tremendous amount of white marlin off Ocean City the last few weeks,” says Capt. Bull Tolson, skipper of Sea Toy, a 59 Spencer based at Pirate’s Cove Marina. “The very cold winter here may have mixed it up, but I’m 100 percent convinced the increased numbers of sailfish the last couple years has been due to warmer water. It’s a better sign with the number of whites off Ocean City, but only God knows what it will be like off North Carolina in August.”
Capt. Charles Foreman, who runs Country Girl, a 57-foot charter boat built by his grandfather Buddy Cannady, says predictable patterns aren’t in play just yet.
“There weren’t a lot of charter boats out looking lately because of the winds,” Foreman explained about July reports. “A few sails and blues were caught and spotted. But it doesn’t seem like the white marlin are hanging around here as much. Maybe that’s just a cycle.”
As of late July, Foreman said offshore water temperatures were running from the upper 70s to the low 80s. Weed lines weren’t common but bait had started showing up.
“Hopefully the fish will follow the bait and we’ll see some sails and blues. Maybe someone will find a big one. There hasn’t been a big blue weighed in a few years.”
Capt. Barry Sawyer, skipper of Waste Knot, a 56 Sunny Briggs, has also been seeing some sailfish offshore. He says the water is cleaner to the east and northeast of the Oregon Inlet.
“We haven’t had the best weather lately [pre-Debby],” Sawyer explains. “It’s been blowing out of the southwest. We really need a good northeast wind and cold front to bring in the whites. There are some fish around and it should get better. It always does normally this time of year.”
So did you hear that, Debby? You aren’t invited to the party, but if you do crash it, your rains may cool the Gulf Stream a bit and usher in the whites. To be determined…
The 35th Annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament kicks off Saturday, August 10 with registration. The solo day of fishing will be Sunday, August 11. The 41st Annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament starts with registration Monday August 12 with fishing through Friday, 8/16.
