The Jamaica from Brielle ran beyond their usual daily range today and came up with more bonito, blues and little tunny than they’ve been seeing — plus a couple of bluefin tuna and some Spanish mackerel. As a result they are taking reservations for a special 6:30 a.m. trip to that area on Monday.
The inshore forecast remains good for tomorrow morning, with south winds at 5-10 knots. Thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon.
The mid-range yellowfin tuna bite continues. Mark Roy overnighted Thursday and his crew caught three of the 11 they hooked from Release Me out of Raritan Marina in Hazlet while chunking. He said there were 80 boats in the area on a Friday.
Following is the final official report from Jeff Merrill of the 2020 MidAtlantic tournament at Cape May. N.J. and Ocean City, Maryland.
August 22, 2020
For Immediate Release
Huge Blue Marlin, Big Tuna Dominate Day Five Weigh-In
as a Record Setting MidAtlantic Comes to a Close
The final day of the 2020 MidAtlantic dawned sunny though a light breeze kept temperatures cool as the 163 boats headed out on Day Five into calm seas offshore. With a 91-pound white marlin leading the category, admittedly everyone in the tournament acknowledged that number would be hard to beat. In the tournament’s 29-year history only five white marlin over 90 pounds had ever been weighed. However, with second and third place set at 77 and 70 pounds respectively going into the final day there was a chance they could be topped. The blue marlin category was still anyone’s to win since the 489-pound leader was the only qualifying blue to be weighed through four days of the tournament. With a tournament record cash purse of $4,074,430 up for grabs, there were still several other categories in reach. Worthy of mentioning is cash prize awards are based on level of calcutta participation so there will be a notable difference in payouts between fish in each category.
Day Five saw the billfish bite turn on and numerous boats had multiple releases and several large white marlin were brought to the scales. The tuna bite also continued and while big eyes remained scarce, yellowfins were plentiful for those focused on that category. Quite a few dolphin were also weighed, though wahoo remained scarce. However, the story of the day came in the blue marlin category, at what a tale it is! Day Five once again lived up to its “Moving Day” reputation, a phrase first coined by the MidAtlantic years ago because of the significant changes to the leaderboard that have occurred over the years on the final day of the tournament. MidAtlantic tournament staff went to work right away at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland when the scales opened at 5 p.m. and kept busy all night right up to the 9 p.m. closing.
The weigh-in session on Day Five got off to a fast start as John Adams of Juno Beach, Florida had been waiting at the Sunset Marina scale since 2:30 p.m. aboard Griffin with a blue marlin angler Wes Swandt IV had battled. The marlin stretched the tape measure to 126½ inches and had a lot of girth to her as well. It took plenty of muscle for tournament staff at the weigh station to heft the huge blue marlin from the boat to the dock but once set on the scale Weighmaster Frank Ingram yelled out the weight of 815 pounds to put Griffin into the lead in the category! However, there was rumor of another big blue marlin on its way to the scale at Canyon Club Resort Marina and while radio chatter was quiet about the length, the word was out it was definitely a good fish. It was just after 5:30 p.m. when Captain Mike Adkins backed the Is That So for owner Ryan Putman of Doylestown, Pennsylvania to the scale and the size of the blue marlin was finally revealed. Adkin’s, a seasoned tournament skipper, has seen and caught plenty of big blue marlin over his career and knew this girl would be a contender judging by its length and girth but stayed mum about its size during the day. Here too, tournament staffed worked feverishly to safely remove the huge marlin from Is That So and place her on the dock. The tape measure was laid out and amazingly the length was noted at 126¼ inches, a scant ¼-inch shorter than Griffin’s blue marlin. The rope was placed around the tail and the marlin was hefted to the scale. Putman, who was the angler and fought the fish for well over four hours, and the crew of Is That So anxiously stood by and held their collective breath. Moments later Weighmaster Chris Booth yelled out the weight of 803 pounds and the crew celebrated as Is That So moved into second place in the category. Amazingly only ¼-inch and 12 pounds separated the heaviest and second heaviest blue marlin in the tournament. Worthy of note, in the tournament’s 29-year history the only other blue marlin over 800 pounds was the tournament record 847 pounder caught aboard Wade Lober’s Why Knot in 2014. The two big blue marlin rocked the final standings in the category and in the end John Adams’ Griffin took home a tournament record payout for blue marlin of $692,764 for their 815 pounder while Ryan Putman’s Is That So was second at 803 pounds and won $177,352. Third heaviest blue marlin went to Joe Kelly of Holland, Pennsylvania with the 489-pounder he weighed on Day Four and he won $110,772.
The white marlin category also saw changes to the leaderboard as several were weighed to shake up the top three overall positions in the tournament as well as the top three port winners. The biggest move of the day came from the crew of Greenville, Delaware’s Todd Willard on his Fish On with Captain Andrew Dotterweich at the wheel after they weighed a white marlin of 77 pounds for angler Josh Jasper and moved into a tie for second place in the category. Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Brooks Smith aboard his Uno Mas weighed a 76-pound white marlin on Day Five for angler Eric Rojas but was bumped off the leaderboard. Final standings in the white marlin category show Bill Keller of Ellicott City, Maryland aboard his Blood Money the clear winner of the heaviest white marlin prize with his 91-pounder caught on Day Four and he received $267,085. The tie for second place at 77 pounds awarded Doug Allen of North Cape May, New Jersey aboard his Big Oil $538,557 while Willard’s Fish On won $523,987.
There were plenty of tuna weighed on Day Five but finding one to make the board with the third heaviest set at 129 pounds going into the final day was going to be a task. However, it was no surprise when Jupiter, Florida’s Mike Yocco aboard his MJ’s brought another large big eye to the scale at Canyon Club Resort Marina. Yocco was already sitting atop the tuna category with his 189-pounder weighed on Day Two but this indeed would be Yocco’s category this year as his second big eye of the tournament tipped the scales at 195 pounds, this one caught by angler Brandon Kape, and jumped to the top of the pack. No other tuna weighed on Day Five would have an impact on the leaderboard and the final standing have Yocco’s 195 pounder and 189 pounder taking first and second place and a combined payout of $913,883, a tournament record payout for tuna! Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin aboard his The Right Place finished in third place with his 168-pound big eye caught on Day Three and received $147,235.
Numerous dolphin were weighed on Day Five though only one had an impact on the standings. Joe Ward of Westchester, Pennsylvania aboard his Fishbone weighed a 33-pounder and moved into a tie for second place. Gaithersburg, Maryland’s Judith Duffie aboard Billfisher took the top prize with a 46-pounder and received $100,345. Steve Summers of Potomac, Maryland aboard his Christine Marie and Ward’s Fishbone tied for second place and each received $22,983 for their 33-pounders.
There was only one wahoo weighed in the tournament but it was work a pile of cash. Marlboro, New Jersey’s Deane Lambros aboard Canyon Runner swept the top three places in the category and walked away with $135,736 for his 42-pounder weighed on Day Three.
Boats with significant billfish releases on Day Five included Alan Sadler’s Intents with two blue marlin and two white marlin released. Ed “Cookie” Murray’s Auspicious released three white marlin and one blue marlin and Pat Healey’s Viking 80 released a blue marlin and a white marlin. Bobby Rick’s El Cazador released a blue marlin. Peter Cherasia’s Shark Byte released six white marlin. Dave Anderson’s Krazy Salts, Brook’s Smith’s Uno Mas, Adam Youschak’s Reelin’ Feelin’ and Rob Rowe’s Free Spool each released five white marlin. Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady, Ed Dunn’s DA Sea and Christopher Kinsley’s Kilo Charlie each released four white marlin. Fletcher Creamer’s Ditch Digger, Chris Kubik’s Point Runner and Burke Wall’s Trash Man each released three white marlin.
During the evening’s award presentation, which were held in compliance with all local, state and federal policies in place due to the current pandemic, a tournament record cash purse of $4,074,430 was handed out. In all, 11 winners received checks of six figures or more including Mike Yocco’s MJ’s tournament record payout of $913,883. Additionally, eight other winners received payouts of $20,000 or more.
Cash Prize Winners
Heaviest White Marlin – 91 lbs. – Blood Money – Bill Keller – Ellicott City, MD – $267,085
2nd Heaviest White Marlin – 77 lbs. – tie – Big Oil – Doug Allen – North Cape May, NJ – $538,557
Fish On – Todd Willard – Greenville, DE – $523,987
Heaviest Blue Marlin – 815 lbs. – Griffin – John Adams – Ft. Lauderdale, FL- $692,764
2nd Heaviest Blue Marlin – 803 lbs. – Is That So – Ryan Putman – Doylestown, PA – $177,352
3rd Heaviest Blue Marlin – 489 lbs. – Salty Tiger – Joe Kelly – Holland, PA – $110,772
Though it appears all the results I listed in last night’s blog are correct, the official MidAtlantic press release which I indicated would be posted this morning hasn’t arrived as yet. I’ll post that whenever it appears.
There’s a lot of work involved in determining the winners of various categories other than weight, but a check of the standings indicates that Wave Paver won both Most Points Overall and Most Points White Marlin. The big blue marlin weighed yesterday couldn’t overcome the spurt in releases by Impulse V in the Most Points Blue Marlin race. The two bigeyes during the week by MJ’S weren’t enough to best a flood of yellowfins at the end of weigh-ins by Caitlin — which won Most Points Tuna.
The scales closed at 9 p.m., and transmission was lost before I could double check the final results of the MidAtlantic. I’ll bring everything up to date tomorrow morning.
MJ’s did it again in the tuna category. After sitting on a big lead with a 189-pound bigeye, they proved to be the only crew capable of beating that mark by adding a 195-pound bigeye to take first and second — pushing The Right Place to third.
Salty Tiger broke the ice with blue marlin yesterday, but their 489-pounder was blown away when Griffen arrived early with an 815-pound blue. They then had a scare when Is That So arrived with the second place 803-pounder.
There were many qualifying white marlin, but nothing to challenge the leading 91-pounder by Blood Money. Fish On did record a late 77-pounder which ties Big Oil for second. Uno Mas boated a 73-pound white.
Billfisher had no competition for its 46-pound dolphin, but Fishbone moved into a tie for second with Christine Marie at 33 pounds. There were no wahoo again, and Canyon Runner took the division with their 42-pounder.
It’s a good bet that there will be many changes before the MidAtlantic scales close at 9 p.m. in Cape May, N.J. and Ocean City, Maryland. Some leading fish are looking secure, but none are invulnerable.
Salty Tiger produced the first 400-pound minimum blue marlin yesterday after Shark Byte’s 791-pounder had to be disqualified due to a shark bite earlier in the week. Yet that 489-pounder is no sure thing. The tournament record is 847 pounds from 2014. I can also testify as to how far even a big blue can fall. I believe I have a MidAtlantic negative record with the only 500-pounder that never won a penny. I was a guest of Bernard and Drew Dinardi on their Absolut-ly from Brielle Yacht Club in 1995 when I caught a 503-pound blue in Wilmington Canyon hat never led, and ended up getting knocked off the board during a summer of huge blue marlin. Since we also had a release, Absolut-ly did end up winning the Blue Marlin Points Trophy.
Blood Money is looking good with their 91-pound white marlin that knocked down the 77-pounder by Big Oil as it’s the third largest in tournament history where the record is 95 pounds from 2009. Don’t shed any tears for Big Oil as Blood Money isn’t in the Roff’s White Marlin Pro Calcutta where Big Oil leads for $634,500.
MJ’S is also in good shape with their 189-pound bigeye tuna. I was expecting those bigeye specialists to come through at the recent White Marlin Open, but the bigeyes seemed to be absent a couple of weeks ago. However, those tuna tend to attack in packs and are commonly over 200 pounds. The tournament record was set by the Dinardi brothers when multiple rods were hit on the last day in the 1993 contest with the biggest being 254 pounds.
The dolphin category looked wide open until Billfisher took a huge lead at 46 pounds yesterday. Yet, at the White Marlin Open it took a WMO record 73.5-pounder to beat out a 54-pound dolphin. Wahoo are always a rare catch, but if anyone has any tricks for them they should be using them today because Canyon Runner currently has the whole division to itself with a 42-pounder.
All of the boat awards are in play. Wave Paver has a good lead over Point Runner in both Total Points and White Marlin Releases. In Most Points Blue Marlin there’s a tie between Big Stick and Take Em, with Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 in third. Blue Runner from Manasquan leads MJ’s in Most Points Tuna.
Today was beautiful. and more of that is forecast for the morning with southwest winds at 5-10 knots.
Check my blog after the scales close at 9 for final results.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported excellent bluefish with even a few up 6 or 7 pounds plus some fluke and large porgies.
At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter reported two fluke limits as fishing was better than yesterday. The pool fluke was almost 7 pounds, and there was also a 6.5-pounder.
The Elaine B. II at Highlands reported a limit fluke catch yesterday up to an 8 7/8-pounder by Mark Mabry of New Holland, Pa.
The Big Mohawk from Belmar had a doormat yesterday of 11 1/4 pounds, but the angler wasn’t in the seasonal pool. .
Though the scales are still open until 9 p.m., there have already been big changes at the MidAtlantic in Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland.
The blue marlin barrier was broken in good fashion as Salty Tiger boated a 489-pounder that may be hard to beat.
MJ’s remains secure in tuna with their 189-pounder, but a third bigeye was taken today as Gret’s Three J’s took third at 129 pounds behind The Right Place with a 168.
Big Oil’s 77-pound white marlin was dropped back when Blood Money boated a 91-pound white. Lucky Fin took over third at 70 pounds — just ahead of Marli at 69 pounds.
Billfisher blew out the dolphin division with a 46-pounder. Christine Marie drops to second at 33 pounds, with No Quarter and Drilllin & Billin both at 32 pounds. Canyon Runner remains alone in wahoo with their 42-pounder.
If there are any changes, I’ll fill in during the morning when every boat with a day left will be trying to blast their way into big money.
Capt. Ron Santee reported tougher fluking today with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands in a strong current, but still had some limits up to a 4.1-pounder.
The Jamaica from Brielle had good variety fishing on Wednesday with some limits of bluefish and sea bass along with a pick of fluke, bonito, Spanish mackerel, dolphin and the first inshore little tunny I’ve heard of. Kyan Manuel of Clark won the pool with a 4-pound fluke as larger bonito and little tunny weren’t in the pool.
The MidAtlantic’s press officer, Jeff Merrill, sent the following account of why the greatest catch of the tournament had to be disqualified:(look below boxes I couldn’t eliminate)
To
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Shark Bite Leaves the Crew of the Shark Byte
With Disappointment and a Great Tale
The highs and lows of big game tournament fishing are very common. Lost fish from broken lines, pulled hooks or angler and crew mistakes can keep you awake at night for a long time. One of the largest blue marlin ever caught by Peter Cherasia of Rumson, New Jersey, not only in his many years as a MidAtlantic tournament participant, but also in all his years of fishing for marlin around the world. Though the crew made no mistakes in any of their techniques or tactics, the fish would wind up disqualified. The crew of Cherasia’s boat Shark Byte are seasoned big game anglers who fish the entire east coast from New England to the Dominican Republic each year. What caused the disqualification is a clause in the International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) International Angling Rules which the MidAtlantic tournament uses as a guide for the event. To fully understand let’s start at the beginning.
While competing on Day Two of the 2020 MidAtlantic, Cherasia’s Shark Byte, with Captain Rich Barrett at the wheel, teased a blue marlin into their trolling pattern. “We marked a fish on the machine, it was a decent mark,” noted Barrett, adding they worked the area to get the bite but it didn’t take long. “She came up on the left teaser and I grabbed a 50 (pound class outfit) and dropped the bait back to her,” says Cherasia, adding the crew initially thought it was a much smaller fish than it turned out to be. “Once we got a look at her I grabbed the 80 (pound class outfit) and dropped it back. She took three swipes at the bait, her massive bill swatted it the first two times and on the third swipe she swallowed it.” What was expected to be a long battle was relatively short for a billfish of her size. “I fought her for about 20 minutes, all on stand-up and I was able to keep her on a good angle and put some heat on her,” noted Cherasia, adding his captain played a major role in keeping the battle short. “She (the marlin) stayed on the surface for the whole fight and put on an awesome series of greyhounding jumps. Rich’s boat handling was superb.”
As the battle wound down and the “end game” was near, the Shark Byte crew found out how tough this old girl was
as it took separate grabs of the leader before an attempt would be made to sink the gaff. “The first time we had her to the boat Jake (Flynn) grabbed the leader and put about 50% pressure on her but could hold her and she took about 150-200 yards of line off,” noted Cherasia. “On the second try he put about 75% resistance but still couldn’t get her close and she took about 100 yards out on us.” The third time was a different story but was much more involved. “On the third try we could see she (the marlin) was getting tired and Jake got a good wrap on her and guided her across the transom. Blaine (Champlain) sunk the gaff in her but the head of the flyer didn’t come out and he was in a bad spot on the coverboard and got pulled over the side,” says Cherasia. Now, all the focus shifted to Champlain and crewmembers Dickie Campbell and Pete Hargett rushed to get him back into the boat. At that same instant, a very large shark, possibly a mako or tiger, appeared from below the Shark Byte and took a large chunk of flesh out of the billfish. Moments later with Champlain safely back aboard the Shark Byte, two more fly gaffs were sunk in the marlin by Hargett and Cherasia and the billfish was secured next to the hull of the boat though no blood could immediately be seen in the water from the huge marlin’s wound. As the crew pulled the marlin through the transom door of the Shark Byte, it became clear that indeed an attack on the billfish had occurred.
Anticipation remained high for the crew as they returned to Sunset Marina to weigh the huge marlin. While offloading the fish for weigh-in, the wound was noted by tournament officials and discussed for possible impact on the eligibility of the fish. As noted previously and in all tournament correspondence including the tournament’s rules, IGFA International Angling Rules are followed in the MidAtlantic. While tournament officials discussed the situation with the crew of the Shark Byte and reviewed video footage, the huge marlin was weighed in case it would qualify and tipped the scales at 791 pounds. After much discussion it was determined that the shark attacked the marlin while it was in the water alongside the Shark Byteprior to being boated, a disqualifying situation. Needless to say, the crew was disappointed but understood the ruling and accepted it as such, though Cherasia notes with today’s technology that’s available some adjustment needs to be made to the IGFA rulebook. “Technology has changed to the point that if a fish is under control and video evidence supports the catch, it should count when a situation such as this occurs,” he noted, adding a shark attack during the course of the fight is another story. “If a fish gets bit during the battle, that’s a no-brainer for disqualification.”
Tournament President Rick Weber summed up the situation. “Disqualifying a fish is never easy, especially a magnificent catch like this, but the SharkByte team was polite and professional through the entire process. That shark may have cost them their prize, but the story and memories they’ll have forever.”
Jeff Merrill reports that “Though morning rain covered both tournament venues, by early afternoon a light breeze and mostly sunny skies were found along the coast. On the day, 114 boats gave it a go today, Day Three, of the 2020 MidAtlantic tournament and participants found beautiful sea conditions offshore. The billfish bite turned back on and numerous white marlin were caught but the 65-pound minimum weight remained tough to crack for most. Several blue marlin were also caught but with a minimum weight of 400 pounds to qualify it takes a big blue to make the leaderboard. The hot tuna bite continued and many yellowfins and one big eye were brought to the scales. Several dolphin were also weighed at both venues
In the white marlin category, Pleasantville, New Jersey’s Rickey Wheeler aboard his Wish You Were Here weighed a white marlin of 68 pounds for angler Brian Hurley and moved into second place in the category. Seven Valley, Pennsylvania’s Chris Kinsley aboard his Kilo Charlie with Captain Howard Lynch at the Doug Allen’s Big Oil from North Cape May, New Jersey remains atop the category with the 77-pounder weighed on Day Two while Russ Garufi of Bishopville, Maryland aboard his Effie Mae is now in third place with the 65-pounder, also caught on Day Two.
The tuna category took a beating today as many were weighed and the leaderboard changed constantly. Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin aboard his The Right Place with Captain Evan Millas at the wheel moved in to second place after weighing a 168-pound big eye tuna for Hugin who was also the angler. Belmar, New Jersey’s Justin Branning aboard his Three’s Enough with Captain Chuck Vanderbeck at the wheel moved into third place after weighing a yellowfin tuna of 67 pounds for Branning who was also the angler. Mike Yocco aboard his MJ’s continues to set the pace atop the leaderboard with a 189-pound bigeye boated on Day Two. “
There was little movement in dolphin, though Lights Out took over third with a 23-pounder. There hadn’t been a wahoo weighed, but Capt. Deane Lambros brought the Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant to the scales at the last moment with a 42-pounder.
There was no boat waiting to weigh a potential winner when the MidAtlantic’s scales in Cape May and Ocean City, Maryland opened at 5, but with 114 boats fishing today that should be changing before the 9 p.m. closing. I’ll have an update then.
Fluke fishermen got soaked this morning in some heavy showers that hit the Atlantic Highlands fleet. Fluking conditions also were tougher and results weren’t as good as yesterday.
Capt. Ron Santee said 10-ounce sinkers were required when the current picked up, but there were still some limits up to a 5-pound pool winner on his Fishermen, The Sea Hunter did much better yesterday when a 6.9-pound fluke took over the big pool lead. There were also two 4-pounders and a 5.7.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar also got involved in that rain, though they ended up doing well with blues and some fluke.. Tuesday’s tuna trip worked out well as a dozen and a half were boated on bait and jigs, with a half-dozen lost. The tuna were in the 30-60-pound class.
There was still a big swell on the beach this morning. I saw only three very small blues caught on metal at Bay Head in the breaking waves.
Light winds continue with north at 5-10 knots in the morning before shifting to the south.
The joy of boating a big money blue marlin was turned to regret last night when the crew of Shark Byte found that their 791-pound blue was disqualified due to, ironically, a shark bite.
Apparently, that occurred with the marlin alongside, but a witness noted that about a 10-pound chunk was bitten away. The rules of the contest follow those of the IGFA in prohibiting mutilated fish from being accepted. That probably had nothing to do with the great catch, but the rules seemingly left the judges with no choice in the matter.
Relatively small bluefins won at the recent White Marlin Open as the bigeyes which normally would blow them away couldn’t be located even by bigeye specialists such as Mike Yocco’s MJ’S. They made up for that yesterday by weighing a 189-pound bigeye that completely dominates the tuna division so far over the many 40-to-60-pound yellowfins weighed in yesterday. Wrecker is in second with a 63-pounder. Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant, another bigeye specialist, was the last boat at the scales, though they too only had yellowfins topped by a 51-pounder. Blue Runner from Manasquan, a big money tuna winner with a bluefin at the WMO, had weighed in earlier with yellowfins up to 60 pounds.
Monday’s 6-pound dolphin didn’t last long even though there were no large dolphin weighed. Christine Marie leads at 33 pounds, by one pound over No Quarter,
As noted last night, Doug Allen’s Big Oil from North Cape May leads in white marlin at 77 pounds, while Effie Mae had the only other qualifier at the minimum of 65 pounds.
Tight Lines 