The Morning Star is the sea bass head boat we rank first in Ocean City, and the reason is the captain and the crowd he refuses to carry. Captain Monty Hawkins has 45 years of bottom fishing behind him and caps his 55 foot boat at 25 anglers, half or a third of what the bigger head boats sell, so the rail stays open and the mates can actually work with you. Out of the Ocean City Fishing Center he runs 8 hour trips six days a week for black sea bass, flounder, and tautog, and the review record behind him is the most consistent of any head boat in the port.
The verdict and where it ranks
At 8.1 the Morning Star is a strong choice and the top ranked boat in Ocean City. What carries it is the captain and the consistency. Reviewers do not just like this boat, they rate it the best head boat in town and come back season after season, and that volume of steady, recent praise is worth more than a single good year. The honest limits are the price and the focus. The fare runs a little above the bigger boats because you are paying for a quarter of the crowd, and this is a dedicated bottom fishing boat, so if you want the offshore canyon run for tuna and white marlin, that is a private charter, not this trip. For a bigger, faster boat with a wider menu, the Ocean Princess and the Angler sell more seats at a lower fare. The full field is on the Ocean City ranking.
The boat
The Morning Star is a 55 foot head boat, and the number that matters is not its length but its load: it sells out at 25 anglers, where the bigger Ocean City boats carry 40 to 65. That single decision shapes the whole day. There is room to fish without crossing lines with a stranger, the mates have time to help you, and the boat does not feel like a cattle run. It is not the newest or the largest boat in the port, and it does not try to be, but it is well run and set up for exactly one thing, putting a small group on bottom fish. The honest caveat is that a smaller, older boat with no frills is a different proposition from the big party boats with galleys and sundecks, so book it for the fishing, not for the amenities.
The fishing and what you target
Black sea bass is the specialty, and Captain Monty is known for it well beyond Ocean City. The 8 hour trips work the wrecks and reefs offshore for sea bass through the open season, with summer flounder mixed in over the warm months and tautog the target on the cooler trips into the fall and winter. Sea bass season runs May 1 to December 31, 2026, with a limit of 15 fish per person at a 12.5 inch minimum, and the 2026 federal rule lets the same Maryland measures apply in both state and federal water, so the offshore wrecks fish under one set of rules. This is a bottom boat and proud of it, so the canyon pelagics, tuna and white marlin, are not on the menu here. Confirm the current sea bass and tautog rules with NOAA Fisheries and Maryland DNR before you book.
Trips and prices
The regular 8 hour trip is $110 per person, walk on, and that fare is the whole story of this boat. It sits a little above the $58 to $85 the bigger head boats charge, and the reason is the 25 angler cap: fewer seats means each one carries more of the cost. What you buy for the difference is room at the rail, more help from the mates, and a better shot at a full cooler, which most reviewers judge well worth it. A 10 hour trip runs on Saturdays, and special seasonal trips, including winter tautog, are announced separately, with current prices posted in Captain Monty’s Fish Report. For how a limited load head boat seat compares with a big party boat seat or a private charter, our cost guide and the party boat versus private charter guide set them side by side.
The crew
The captain is the whole reason this boat ranks where it does. Monty Hawkins has fished these grounds for 45 years, is a known voice in sea bass management on the coast, and runs the boat himself, and the sentiment across the reviews is strikingly uniform: anglers say he finds the fish, the mates keep the rail working and the lines untangled, and most people leave with dinner and often their limit. The phrase that recurs is some version of best head boat in Ocean City, period. That kind of repeat, recent praise over many trips is the strongest signal a head boat can carry, and it is why the captain and crew and track record scores are the highest in our Ocean City field.
Booking and what to know
Book through the operator site and Captain Monty’s Fish Report, where the schedule and current prices are posted, and book early, because a 25 seat boat with this reputation fills fast in summer. The boat leaves the Ocean City Fishing Center in West Ocean City, just over the bridge from the downtown piers, with parking at the marina. Arrive early to park and board. Bring food and drinks for the long day, sunscreen, a hat, and a cooler with ice for your fillets, and dress for a cool morning on the water even in summer. The trips run long, often the full 8 hours and sometimes more if the fish are biting, so plan your day around a mid afternoon return.
How we scored it
The Morning Star scores 8.1: the most consistent review record of any head boat in the port, an owner captain with 45 years on the grounds, a deliberately small load that keeps the rail open, and limits of sea bass that show up again and again in the reviews, held just short of the top band by a fare above the bigger boats, an older no frills boat, and a single fishery that does not include the canyon. Captain and crew and track record are its standout factors. See how we scored this boat for the full rubric, and the Ocean City ranking for the field, including the Angler and the Judith M.