White marlin fishing off the coast of Virginia has been unbelievable during the last few weeks, with most of the action occurring around Washington Canyon. Boats from as far away as Virginia Beach have been making the trip to the deepwater canyons off the Virginia coast to catch white marlin and other offshore species.
Beginning August 23, the Ocean City record for catch and release white marlin was broken by multiple boats on multiple days culminating on August 30, when Captain John Duffie and his crew on the Billfisher out of Sunset Marina caught and released 57 billfish. On the same day, nine boats combined for 267 released white marlin.
“This is the best white marlin bite I’ve ever experienced,” said Steve Linhard of Annapolis, Maryland’s representative on the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and Captain of the Hot Tuna.
“Fishing with Captain Sylvain Cote and Karl Bieberich onboard Espadon out of Ocean City last week, we raised 30 and had 11 bite. At one time we counted seven fish in the spread. Ocean City continues to prove itself to be the White Marlin Capital of the World.”
The fishing was put on hold temporarily as Hurricane Earl passes by the Virginia Coast. On September 3rd, waves heights off Virginia Beach reached 18 feet as the storm approached.