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)

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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.

Though I haven’t received an official summery yet, the major results reported in the blog remain unchanged. There is some question about the 791-pound blue marlin on Shark Byte as there seemed to be a slight mutilation at the tail. The judges will have the final say.

There was also a white marlin that just made the 65-pound minimum. Effie Mae moved into second behind Big Oil’s 77-pounder that was the first fish weighed when the scales opened. There were also several whites which fell short of qualifying.

The 189-pound bigeye by MJ’S is a runaway tuna leader, though there were lots of 50-60-pound yellowfins. A couple of 63-pounders appear to be tied for second. It wasn’t hard to beat yesterday’s 6-pound dolphin, and a 33-pounder on Christine Marie seems to be leading a 32 on No Question. There were no wahoo.

Only two boats braved marginable conditions during Monday’s first day of The MidAtlantic , and they didn’t do much. However, it’s a different story today in fine weather and with most of the fleet sailing.

Game On, a Delaware 47-foot Buddy Davis released two white marlin before returning to provide the first weigh-ins at Ocean City, Md. with dolphin of 4,5 and 7 pounds. That lead in dolphin won’t last long, but the daily award for that species will make it among the most valuable fish per pound in the contest. That’s always a consolation for boaters taking a shot at a marginable first day. It didn’t work ot at the recent WMO, as they had a 20-pound minimum for dolphin — but there is no minimum in this contest and even a chicken dolphin could have taken the daily money. The Double Barrell, a 92 Viking, brought a white marlin back to Cape May. but at 52 pounds it was well short of the 65 pounds required to get on the leaderboard.

The scales don’t close until 9, and I’ll update the results after that. There are three leaders so far that could be around at the end. Shark Byte boated a 791-pound blue marlin, Big Oil posted a 77-pound white marlin, and MJ’S boated a 189-pound bigeye tuna.

The Mid-Atlantic set a record with 183 boats fishing, breaking the old mark of 176 in 2006. In addition to the entry fee which also provides nightly food and entertainment, the entrants enter numerous Calcuttas which can range up to about $30.000 to be “all in”. This year’s total of $4,011,920 breaks the record $3.52 million set last year.

There was also good news today about fluking at Atlantic Highlands. Both the Sea Hunter and the Fishermen reported the ocean fishing bounced back after a tough Monday. t looks good for tomorrow with only 5-knot northeast winds which switch to south in the afternoon.

There was a very rough surf today after the northeast blow. but offshore it was mostly just very large swells. The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported that bluefish still cooperated while some fluke were added. There was also a cobia, but no size provided. That boat is on a tuna trip tomorrow.

The MidAtlantic got underway today with 183 boats and a purse of 4,011,920. However, as predicted yesterday, almost all entrants waited for better weather coming for their three fishing days out of five. Just two boats sailed today. I’ll provide any results tomorrow when I’m sure there will be lots of activity.

The inshore forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots.