The MidAtlantic begins its 30th year with captains meetings Sunday at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. Originally it was called the Mid Atlantic $500,000 because it offered the biggest pay-out along the northern coast. Last year the tournament purse came to $4,074,470. I’ll have more about this tomorrow.

Kevin Kloza got a big surprise while triggerfishing Friday at Shrewsbury Rocks on the Mary Louise as he tangled with a 57-inch black drum that had a 40-inch girth and was estimated at 102 pounds before release.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good bluefishing on jigs this morning before adding sea bass and fluke to the catch. Some of those abundant blues finally moved into the surf yesterday morning as Greg Tirpak was casting at Monmouth Beach and caught 10 ranging from 2 to 10 pounds.

The forecast is for north winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before east at 510 in the afternoon.

Paul Haertel of the JCAA passed along the results of last week’s Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament as follows:

2021 JCAA HEAVY HITTERS FLUKE TOURNAMENT FINAL STANDINGS

The final results are in and the big winners in the tournament were Walter Fisher’s team who won the tournament with a three fish total of 22.05 lbs. However, it was actually his wife Kim who led the team to victory by catching the largest fluke in the tournament at 10.05 lbs. They swept the fluke Calcuttas and won a total of $7,851. The other big winner was Eric Engard who caught the biggest sea bass in the tournament at 3.05 lbs. His team also swept the sea bass Calcuttas and won a total of $2101, not to shabby for a sea bass. Below are the complete results. Thanks to all our sponsors, weigh in stations and participants! 
Three Fluke Total1st Walter Fisher 22.05 lbs.2nd Danny Nykoforuk 17.22 lbs3rd Tony Pacitti 16.13 lbs4th Jason Rawa 15.44 lbs 5th Jeff Jones 14.5 lbs.  Largest Fluke – Walter Fisher 10.05 lbsLargest Sea Bass – Eric Engard 3.05 lbs.

The Beach Haven Marllin & Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational is winding up this evening. So far the only report I was ,able to find was of yellowfin tuna on Highly Leveraged the first day,but will keep searching for the results;

Though the overall jigging for blues on the Golden Eagle from Belmar was rated just O.K., there were bigger ones of 8, 9 and 10 pounds mixed in. Sea bass once again provided some action later in the trip along with “plenty of ling”. They have room on the Saturday and Sunday mornng trips.

The Jamaica from Brielle had good bluefish and sea bass fishing today, and is also fishing at 7:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow for blues.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had poor drifting sonditions again, but still recorded several limits and fluke up to a 5 7/8-pounder by Bill Goorman. They are chartered Sunday.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots. Showers are possible early — and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Chuck Many took a break from stripers to fish in upstate New York for lake trout with Kurt Hoefig for lake trout, and enjoyed great jigging on 4-pound tackle in Cayuga Lake. Kurt is guiding in the Finger Lakes area for trout, Atlantic salmon and bass — and can be contacted at 908 442-3656.

CThis week’s Southern Canyons Tilefish trip of the Jamaica from Brielle was successful after a slow start. As a result, another sailing has been scheduled for 10 p.m., Aug. 30. Call 732 528-5014 for reservations. An attempt to break the state record for the smaller blueline tilefish came up just a bit short for Ed Pax of Palmar, Pa. as his 22-pounder on certified scales was short of the 23 1/4-pound state mark. In addition to the larger golden tiles, there were some rosefish and white hake boated.

TV personality George Poveromo fished out of Brielle Yacht Club yesterday with Ryan DeGraw as they got into yellowfin tuna.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another fine morning of jigging blefish before switching to sea bass for the two per day presently allowed.

At Atlantic Highlands, Capt. Ron Santee said there was so little drift this morning that he had to power drift the Fishermen. Conditions improved as a few fares managed two or three keepers plus sea bass.

The forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Though bluefish are officially in recovery mode, you’d never know that based on the fishing off the North Jersey coast. The choppers get fussy at times, but the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported they weren’t far from the inlet and were attacking jigs this morning. When that action slowed, some sea bass were added. Chub mackerel were also picked. The Golden Eagle had good action with yellowfin tuna during Monday’s Exotics mid-range trip, though they were running large and many were lost. Two were in the 85-90-pound class, and the others around 50 to 60 pounds while a 20-pound dolphin was also boated. There is room available on next week’s Monday night trip.

The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands had decent fluking today, though sea bass weren’t hitting well. There was one fluke limit, and the pool fluke was 7 pounds..

Capt. Jim Freda couldn’t find the inshore bluefins Tuesday, and had to wait out a squall before moving off for yellowfins before hooking up and ended up heading back with his Shore Catch by 1.

The forecast is for 10-15-knot southwest winds.

The offshore tournament season continues as the Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational begins Wednesday with registration and the captains meeting at the Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club before boats fish two out of the next three days. That will be followed by the big money 30th MidAtlantic at Cape May and Ocean City, MD from Aug. 15-20.

Hopefully, canyon trolling will be better than it was at the White Marlin Open. Though that contest ended on a high note, fishing was tough most of the week. That’s reflected in the species count for the contest which came to 502 released white marlin plus 13 weighed; 66 blue marlin releases and 3 weighed; 8 spearfish, 3 sailfish; 22 tuna,9 dolphin, 4 wahoo, 2 boated sharks and a swordfish.

That sounds like a lot of fish, but 440 boats each fished three days and didn’t come close to catching just one fish of any kind per boat day.

The Fisherman magazine’s Dream Boat contest will soon have a new fluke leader as Marc Blazek leighed a 15.8-pound doormat at True World Tackle in Bayonne on Friday. It was boated just south of Ambrose Channel.

There was no mention of rain in yesterday’s marine forecast, but it sure came down this morning. Vinny D’Anton braved it in the Monmouth County surf without success for stripers, but a switch to fluking produced five which included a keeper.

South winds at 10-15 knots are forecast for the morning.

The White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland sent along this explanation of how that contest concluded Friday with dramatic last minute changes that saw millions of dollars changing hands as fish were being weighed.

AUGUST 9, 2021

In the most dramatic finish in the 48- year history of the White Marlin Open, over
$6 million dollars changed hands in the final hour of weigh-ins at Harbour Island
Marina on Friday.
Mike Atkinson off the “Fender Bender” (both from Virginia Beach, VA), weighed
the first fish of the tournament. Until the last 30-minutes, his 82.5-pound white
marlin was winning $5,000,000! As the line of boats with fish to weigh dwindled
to the final three, there was one boat flying a white marlin flag. It was the “Sushi”
out of Ocean City, MD with angler Butch Wright from Arnold, MD aboard. Wight’s
white marlin tipped the scales at 85.5 pounds, taking $3,200,000 from the
“Fender Bender,” leaving them a very respectable $1,800,000. Rounding out the
white marlin division the “Billfisher”, also out of Ocean City, MD weighed a 78.5-
pound white caught by Billy Gerlach from Jupiter, FL worth to take third and
$105,000.00.
The blue marlin division saw the same change of fortunes. The second fish
weighed on Monday was a 559-pound blue marlin taken by Chris Perry aboard
“Mama C”, both also from Virginia Beach, VA. Like the “Fender Bender”, Perry’s
fish was winning $1,000,000 until the last hour. Late Friday, Scott Zurawski from
Avalon, NJ fishing aboard the “Canyon Lady” out of Cape May, NJ weighed a 511-
pound blue marlin that shaved $250,000 from the “Mama C” winnings but left
Perry in first place, for a while. Then things got crazy. The “SEVEN” out of Jupiter,
FL had made a successful trip to the scales earlier in the week. Angler Lawrence
Morejon from Stuart, FL had weighed a 137-pound tuna on Monday that took first
place and the $1,200,000 that came with it. On Friday, they showed up to the
scales again flying a boated white marlin and blue marlin flags. Their white marlin
weighed in at 72-pounds and took over third place. It was their blue marlin that
electrified the crowds. The fish caught by David Cash from Palm Beach Gardens,
FL strained the scales at 775-pounds, vaulting into first place to add another
$1,100,000 to their winnings! No boat in 48 years had ever won two divisions.
Their white marlin was pushed out of the top three when the “Sushi” showed up
at the last minute, but the boat still ended up with $2,220,000 and the respect of
all the other teams. The final blue marlin winnings were the “SEVEN” with

$1,100,000, the “Mama C” netting $240,000, and the “Canyon Lady” taking
$95,000.
There were some big winners in the tuna division. In addition to the $1,100,000
taken by the “SEVEN”, “A Few G’s” out of Furnace Creek, MD took $270,000, the
“Cookie Monster” from Dover, DE earned $100,000, and three boats tied with
$80,000: “Kilo Charlie” from Ocean City, MD, the “Real Chaos 62”, and the “Reely
Chaotic” out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
In the wahoo category a monster 84-pounder off the "El Azul" took first, the
“Island Hopper” took second with a 48.5-pound fish, but the big winner was the
third-place fish. The “Oysta Gangsta” out of Seaford, DE was also in the small
boat division and their total prize money of $90,000 was earned by Tim
Richardson from Easton, MD for his 46.5-pounder.
There were five $18,000 plus winners in the dolphin division lead by 31.5-pounder
taken aboard the “Kilo Charlie” from Ocean City, MD. The other $20,000
included: “Point Runner”, the “Due Course”, the “Boy’s Toy”, and the “Catch 23”
Rounding out the gamefish leaderboard was the shark division were the “Go Fish”
out of Middle River, MD weighed a 132.5 and a 131-pound to take $4,500 for the
two catches.
For a full list of all winners visit our website: whitemarlinopen.com

Chuck Many normally has no desire to fish for fluke when he could be catching stripers, but he put together a crew on Tyman from Highlands in Saturday’s Fluke Masters Tournament out of Leonardo and ended up in third place with five fluke totaling 27.52 pounds — including a 10.62-pound doormat that he hooked.

The forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots plus gusts to 20 before increasing to 20 knots in the afternoon.

The steady bluefish jigging was tougher today in rain and wind, but the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that those who stayed at the rail did all right — and sea bass were aded to the catch. The forecast is much better for Monday with north winds at 5 to 10 knots before going east in the afternoon — which bodes well for the bluefish bite.

The Jamaica from Brielle has room on its last tilefish trip of the year at 10 p.m. Monday. The cost is $330, and reservations are available by calling 732 528-5014. They’ll be trying to find a tilefish bigger than the one Dennis Muhlenforth boated on the Voyager this year.

The White Marlin Open promised full results on Saturday, but I’m still waiting.
 

Though I’m still waiting for official results. the White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland has handed out millions of dollars to winners as noted in their last release:

“When the 48th annual White Marlin Open ended their 5-day event on Friday night, August 6th, there were many big claims on the world record fishing tournament purse of $9.2 million dollars.  Out of the 444 registered boats, one boat proved the class of the tournament.  The “Seven” out of Jupiter, Florida netted the top blue marlin (worth $1,100,000) and the top tuna, (good for $1,220,000) with a total winnings of just under $2,400,000.  In addition to their final achievements, it needs to be added that, until the final hour of the event, they also held the 3rd place white marlin.
No boat in the half century history of the White Marlin Open has achieved such a mastery of fishing prowess.  
Where their bigger money winners?  Yes. Butch Wright, from Arnold MD, fishing abord the “Sushi” out of Ocean City, MD took the top white marlin at the last minute and the $3,200,000 prize that came with it. Wright’s fish may turn out to be a world record for catching a fish!
We’ll have a complete breakdown of all winners in all gamefish categories and the world record payouts after the dust settles on Saturday.  “

I’ll get that info out as soon as received.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another good morning of bluefishing until the bite slowed around 11 and they went offshore to add sea bass as most fares limited on both species.

Capt. Ron Santee reported better fluke fishing than yesterday on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands until the south wind came up against the current. The Sunday forecast is for east winds at just 5-10 knots, but with gusts to 20 and possible showers.

Capt. Jim Freda had a great inshore bluefin tuna trip on Shore Catch for the Tim Murphy party as they caught 14 up to 44 inches by 9 a.m.

 

The 84th White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland had been plodding along all week with the early leaders secure and fishing very poor..That all changed today as the Seven from Jupiter, Florida went in hoping to hold their lead in tuna but also ended up knocking back the seemingly secure 559.5-pound blue marlin by Mama C with a 775-pounder and adding a 77.5-pound white marlin.

Fender Bender had been leading all week with an 82.5-pound white marlin, but was edged out of a huge pay day at 9:30 when Sushi weighed an 85.5-pounder. I’ll have much more tomorrow when official results become available.

Closer to home, the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported another great day of bluefishing with mostly 3-to-6-pounders as the best bluefishing in years continues;

There’s a huge fleet of boats pounding the southern canyons today in hopes of catching a marlin or tuna that could be worth over a million dollars. Those boats are the last of the original 440 which established the standards which have been chased ever since without success in the quest for a $9.2 million purse.

Trolling in the southern canyons has been very poor, but it only takes one hit to change everything!

I’ll have an update late in the afternoon, and final results later tonight.