C. Boyd Pfeiffer, The Examiner
2008-05-02 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

It’s not quite time to buy bait or stock up on Ocean City deep-jigging rigs, but it will be shortly and definitely by midsummer. Maryland, according to Department of Natural Resources biologist Marty Gary, has penned a deal to receive up to 630 stainless steel subway cars from New York City for reefs off Ocean City.

These are being barged to Ocean City May 9, where they will be sunk to serve as housing and restaurants for sea bass, tautog, cobia, amberjack, croaker, spot and other reef fish. Deep jigging and good catches should follow shortly.

As added structure, these new reefs should attract fish almost immediately. “We should get fish on them within days,” said Gary, who dives on reefs to check out DNR efforts.

“It could be just a few hours,” said Capt. Monty Hawkins, who runs his Morning Star headboat to reef sites for his deep-jigging customers.

It won’t take long for marine life — mussels, anemones, barnacles, starfish and other life — to settle in on these cars to create good fishing by midsummer, and better fishing by fall.

“The DNR has been doing a lot of things with the Ocean City Reef Foundation,” said Steve Yuhas, manager of the DelMarVa Sport Center on Route 50 in Ocean City. “The more structure we can get out there, the better. It’s a good thing.”

Hawkins agreed. “To me, reef building is the most important thing that we can do to restore our fishing,” he said.

The initial two barge loads that are Ocean City-bound from Manhattan will hold up to 46 cars per barge. The barges will be dumped at four places off Ocean City.

Two of these sites are deep water, two inshore and shallower. In addition to reef residents, the deep-water sites can also attract marlin, tuna, dolphin and wahoo — pelagic species passing through and stopping off for lunch. The inshore shallow sites will hold stripers and weakfish in addition to normal reef residents.

These sites are the Jackspot (22 miles out), Bass Grounds (12 miles out), Isle of Wight (10 miles out) and the Great Eastern Reef (20 miles out).

Just how many of the 630 cars Maryland gets depends upon available funding. Transportation costs about $400 per car.

“All states are competing for them,” said Gary, noting that there are only 1,600-plus available in a two-year program in which New York City is decommissioning cars for reef use.

The Ocean City Reef Foundation, along with the associated Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative, is scrambling for funds. For information or to help, contact OCRF’s Marta Beman at 410-208-0064 or check www.ocreeffoundation.com.

The states are going in a rotation basis, with New Jersey and Delaware having received their cars and Maryland next in line. Once the barges arrive on site, the cars will be pushed off.

“The cars are like cats — they all land upright,” said Gary, explaining that the cars land wheels down.

That makes it easier for fish and visiting divers to explore. Windows and doors are removed and seats gone, with just the bare-bones stainless steel as structure.

These will provide fishing for decades. Carbon steel cars — originally expected to last about 15 years before salt-water corrosion takes over — are now lasting up to 25 years. Stainless steel models are expected to be around until mid-century.

And it gets better. Maryland, along with New Jersey, Delaware and the Navy, is working to finance the sinking of the Radford, a 600-foot-long decommissioned Navy destroyer. Work is expected to start in late May to remove the superstructure.

The Radford will be sunk in waters almost equidistant from Ocean City, Indian River Inlet and Cape May for equal fishing opportunities from all three states. It will be sunk in 130 feet of water with the top of the remaining structure about 60 feet down. It will be the largest ship sinking and ship reef on the Atlantic Coast. It should offer some fishing opportunity by late fall.

Come to think of it, between the subway car reefs and the Radford, maybe it is time to start checking and restocking deep-jigging outfits and rigs. After all, you don’t need a token for this subway.