WASHINGTON — When Capt. Austin Ensor and his three crew members set sail Sunday, they knew they were in for a fight catching swordfish. The first bite resulted in a nearly 80 pound swordfish on the boat, but it was what bit after they cast their next line that caught the crew by surprise.
At first, they thought they had another swordfish that was putting up a tough fight in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Ocean City, Ensor said.
“An hour and 15 minutes into the fight, I would say this is when we started to realize it was something different,” he said. Unlike a swordfish, Ensor said what was on the line was fighting like a tuna, but with its unique color pattern, he knew it wasn’t one.
“In that greenish water, fish kind of look dull, not much to them, but that orange fish was just glowing coming up; it’s very cool,” the 24-year-old said.
After an hour and 30 minutes, they pulled the fish, which is the size of a large truck tire, onto the boat. Ensor said since he follows fishing-themed Facebook and Instagram accounts from the West Coast, he soon realized they just reeled in a rare catch: a 105-pound opah, or moonfish.
“It was about the surprise of a lifetime,” Ensor said.
According to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the fish can be found in open waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but catching the fish, which lives mainly in deep waters, is rare off the East Coast.
Another interesting fact: In 2015, NOAA researchers discovered the opah to be the first known warm-blooded fish.
Some believe the crew’s catch may be the first moonfish caught off the Ocean City coast.
Gregg Bortz with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said they are looking into the catch, but cannot currently confirm it, or if this is the first time an opah has been caught in Maryland.
Ensor is confident he knows what he caught, and he and his crew plan to enjoy the fish, which is known for a rich and creamy taste, best described as a cross between a swordfish and a tuna. The only slowdown in doing that, Ensor said, has been that none of the seasoned fisherman in Ocean City have seen the fish, much less know how to cut it up and prepare it.
“Ended up having to watch a YouTube video of how to cut them up because no one in Ocean City has ever seen one,” he said.
For Ensor and his young crew, he added, “To see some of the older guys that have taught me everything I know reach out and be pretty stoked about it, that’s really cool to see.”
