It’s Day Three and we’ve reached the midway point of the 2024 MidAtlantic tournament. The cool breeze of the past couple days continues and although refreshing, a more favorable offshore forecast for the remaining two days of the tournament kept much of the tournament fleet tied to the host marinas in Cape May and Ocean City today. That being said, 50 boats, including 15 from Cape May and 35 from Ocean City headed out on Day Three. Reports relayed from offshore indicated sea conditions had improved dramatically from yesterday afternoon’s rough ride home. With nearly the entire tournament fleet fishing the remaining two days of the tournament, there was plenty of work to do dockside today. A walk around the docks of the host marinas found crews rigging baits, spooling reels with fresh line, loading provisions, fueling their vessels and completing other routine boat and gear maintenance. By late afternoon, guests and other crew members were returning to their boats from a trip home, shopping or spending the day at the pool or on one of the beautiful beaches of Cape May and Ocean City.
Though both billfish and the tuna categories remained unchanged, we now have a qualifying dolphin and the wahoo category has been filled as two were weighed today. The evening’s weigh-in session got underway when Charleston, South Carolina’s William Garmany wheeled his Reel Current to the scale at Sunset Marina and weighed a 22-pound dolphin for angler James Pruitt to lead the category. Second and third place are vacant. In the wahoo division, Christopher Little of Pasadena, Maryland aboard his Talkin’ Trash weighed a 29-pounder today for angler Keith Culler and sits in second place. Shane Moore of Jarrettsville, Maryland weighed a 25-pounder today for angler Luke Reeder on the Moore Bills and currently sits in third place. Jupiter, Florida’s Mary Naylor remains atop the leaderboard in the category with the 76-pounder caught on her Lil’ Crum and weighed on Day Two. Worthy of note, no qualifying blue marlin has been weighed through three days of fishing.
The white marlin leader continues to be the 77-pounder Anthony Alves’ of Millstone, New Jersey weighed on Day Two from his Kaarmaa. Mark Murphy of Trappe, Maryland is in second place with his 74-pounder caught on Day One aboard his Leslie Ann. Royersford, Pennsylvania’s Wayne Franks remains in third place with the 67-pounder weighed on Day One from his Wayne’s World.
The tuna category is still lead by Steven Pilipauskis of Harwood, Maryland with the 180-pound big eye weighed from his Reel Tight on Day One. Val Fichera of Cape May, New Jersey remains in second place with his Warden Pass with the 174-pound big eye weighed on Day One. Dan Fabri’s El Jefe from Cape May, New Jersey remains in third place with his 57-pound yellowfin weighed on Day One.
Some of the boats with notable billfish releases on Day Three include Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady with six white marlin let go while Michael Tickle’s Waste Knot released three white marlin and one blue marlin. Charlie Vanderbeek’s Following Seas released two white marlin and one blue marlin. Ronnie Fields Mama Seata released three white marlin.
As a reminder, you can follow all the weigh-in action via live stream from Cape May and Ocean City by visiting the tournament’s web site www.themidatlantic.com. beginning at 5 PM each night.
Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event. Nightly weigh-in sessions at Canyon Club Resort Marina and Sunset Marina as well as other tournament venues are not open to the general public and require credentials for entry.
For more information on this year’s MidAtlantic contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177 or visit the tournament’s web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about the event including a complete breakdown of calcuttas, rules, points, and a Tournament Week schedule. You can also follow along on social media Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament; on Twitter @midatl and on Instagram @themidatlantictournament.