As Day Three of the 2019 MidAtlantic dawned much of the fleet took a Lay Day after fishing back-to-back the first two days of the tournament. Day Three found 48 boats heading out in a light breeze under partly cloudy skies hoping the billfish bite of the first two days continued. On Day Two a total of 199 billfish were released including 177 white marlin and 22 blue marlin. Though the fleet of boats fishing today was considerably less than the two previous days several major changes to the leaderboard occurred.

In the white marlin category we now have a new leader after Brooks Smith’s Uno Mas from Stuart, Florida weighed a 71-pounder for angler Jeremy Cerdas at Sunset Marina in Ocean City. Marty Judge’s Upper Marion Township, Pennsylvania-based Judge is now in second place with his 68-pounder. Nick Eubank’s Double Barrel based out of Boca Raton, Florida weighed a 67 pounder for angler Andrew Schwartz today in Cape May to move into a tie for third place with John Raimondo’s Sea Mistress from Avalon, New Jersey. No blue marlin was weighed on Day Three and that category continues to be vacant.

Though numerous yellowfin tuna have been weighed through the first two days of the tournament big eye tuna have been noticeably absent. That changed today when Curtis Macomber of Berlin, Maryland pulled his Stalker to the scale at Sunset Marina to weigh a pair of big eyes weighing 226 and 207 pounds. That brace of big eyes now gives Stalker the heaviest and second heaviest tuna. Tommy Hancock’s Dem Boys hailing from Isle of Palms, South Carolina currently has the third heaviest tuna with his 96 pounder.

The dolphin division continues to be led by Laytonsville, Maryland’s Todd Dickerson aboard his Top Dog and Baltimore, Maryland’s Curtis Campbell on his Reel Estate as both have weighed 33 pounders earlier this week. Ed Russo of Carlstadt, New Jersey on Big Deal and Jamie Diller of Stone Harbor aboard Canyon Lady are tied for second heaviest dolphin with 27-pounders.

The wahoo division continues to be led by Ross Clubb of Newmanstown, Pennsylvania aboard his Chain Reaction with a 33-pounder. Thomas Quhoun’s Ocean City, Maryland-based Special Situation still has the second heaviest wahoo with a 29-pounder. Hilltown, Pennsylvania’s Andy Schlotter on his My Time owns the third heaviest wahoo at 28-pounds, also caught on Day One.

Boats with significant billfish releases on Day Three include Brooks Smith’s Uno Mas with 10 white marlin released. John Bayliss’ Tarheel and John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy each released two white marlin and one blue marlin. Tommy Hancock’s Dem Boys let go one white marlin and one blue marlin while Joe Posillico’s Torta released a blue marlin today.

Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event. Tournament venues are not open to the general public and require credentials for entry.

For further information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177. Be sure to visit the tournament’s official web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about this year’s event including a complete rundown of calcutta payouts, rules, points and an event schedule. There’s also a link to purchase official tournament merchandise. Each night you can follow the weigh-in session with live video feed from both marinas via a link on the tournament’s web site. You can also follow all the action on Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament; on Twitter; @midatl and on Instagram; @themidatlantictournament.