The 49th annual MidAtlantic fishing tournament is underway after captains meetings at Cape May, N.J. and the satellite port of Ocean City, Maryland. With marginal weather predicted for Monday, it’s likely that most boaters will save their first of three fishing days for what looks like better weather starting Tuesday. Jeff Merrill reports that over 150 boats will be fishing for over $3.5 million.

Many northern entrants left their boats in the southern ports after the recent White Marlin Open, but will have the option of fishing some of their “home grounds” that are barely within the limit of 125 nautical miles from the Cape May Sea Buoy. Relatively small bluefin tuna won at the WMO as the southern canyons failed to produce the bigeyes which normally provide the winning weights — and they may be more common to the north.

There are several big differences in the rules for this contest. The white marlin minimum is only 65 pounds instead of the 70 pounds at the WMO, and landings are controlled only by the Federal minimum length of 66 inches rather than the 68 inches in force at the WMO. More importantly, it’s only the Federal minimum of 99 inches which restricts blue marlin landings — though they must make 400 pounds to go on the board. The WMO minimum of 114 inches resulted in no blue marlin entries. There are no minimums for dolphin and wahoo, but tuna must be 50 pounds to count.

In addition to the positive

Today’s rainy, windy weather restricted fishing opportunities. The inshore forecast for Monday is north at 10-15 knots and gusts to 20 before gusting to 30 in the afternoon, Seas are 4-6 feet. The good news is that after that there isn’t a forecast of over 10 knots through Thursday.

In addition to the positive pre-contest marlin report from Canyon Lady that was noted in yesterday’s blog, Merrill reported that Rob Cola fished out of South Jersey Marina in Cape May two days last week to release two white marlin and a blue the first day — and two of each the next.

Capt. Rob Semkewyc had decent fluke catches in the ocean last week on his Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands, but had to stay in the bay during Saturday’s northeast wind. That worked out well comfort-wise. but there were few legal fluke caught there — so he cancelled the Sunday trip in similar conditions.

The MidAtlantic starts its annual run out of Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland with tomorrow’s captains meeting before anglers begin fishing on any three of the following five days for a purse expected to be over $3 million.

It opens on a promising note after the white marlin bite in the southern canyons two weeks ago during the White Marlin Open when 433 boats released 804 whites and boated 57 up to a 96-pounder that was the third largest in WMO history. The bad news in that contest was the lack of any blue marlin big enough to weigh — but there was some good news in that respect this week.

The Canyon Lady from Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May fished a Thursday to Friday overnighter and found fine marlin action along the 1000 fathom line. Owner and Captain Jamie Diller reported three whites and three blues the first day and one of of each the next. The blues were estimated at 700-800 pounds, 400 pounds;300 pounds, 150 and 170 pounds.

Last minute entries are possible. Call Paul Hoffman at 609 884-0188.

Fluke pro Dave Lilly was delighted when his granddaughter Maddie (5) said she wanted to catch bait for her grandpa this morning. Her father took her over to The Tackle Box in Hazlet for a light tackle rig which she learned to use at Keyport to catch her limit of three snappers that were perfect for Dave’s freezer and will, hopefully, end up in a doormat. She outfished me today as I only released two 4-pound blues on a small Pipi popper while river casting.

Small craft warnings are up through Sunday night, Sunday’s forecast is for NE at 15-20 knots before gusting to 30 in the afternoon. Showers are likely.

Just as has been the case for a few years, an abundance of chub mackerel has made up for inconsistent summer action with a depleted bluefish population.

Today’s report from the Golden Eagle out of Belmar emphasized that report by noting they had “uncountable” numbers of the small mackerel which are easy for even beginners to catch on small jigs and mackerel multiple jigging rigs. They’re much smaller than the Atlantic mackerel that have practically disappeared from our spring and winter waters since NMFS continued to provide quotas for foreign fleets after the 200-mile limit was signed into law by Pres. Ford – and despite opposition to that depletion of declining stocks by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Fortunately, chubs have filled a void and provide lots of good eating for anglers who may not get into blues some days.The Golden Eagle reported some blues were caught today along with some sea bass, fluke and even a hefty black drum’

There was a showing of cocktail blues in the Bay Head surf this morning. It was all blind casting with metal. and most anglers managed a few. Those small blues have been most abundant to the south this season.

Northeast winds arrive tomorrow. The forecast is for only 5-10 early with some showers and thunderstorms possible — but they increase to 10-15 and gusty later.

Below is a shot of the huge white marlin which won last week’s White Marlin Open out of Ocean City, Maryland.

The species count provided by the White Marlin Open for last week’s tournament is impressive, though there were some species which were in short supply.

The white marlin count was 804 released plus 57 boated for a 93 percent release rate. Unfortunately, there were too many whites brought in that barely made the 68-inch minimum length but were well short of the 70-pound minimum to get on the board. That continued even after 72 pounds was established as the bottom line for prize money during the last two days. The WMO should consider moving that minimum length up a few inches. It’s just the opposite with blue marlin as the 114-inch minimum left the category empty even though 47 blues were released. The WMO didn’t list any boated because the one boated on Mojito didn’t make the measurement.

There were also releases of three sailfish and one spearfish. Tuna have to make 50 pounds to be eligible, and there were only 19 of them weighed in. Dolphin were also scarce, with just 15 weighed, but there were some huge specimens among them. A 73.5-pounder by Matt Wagner on Backlash set a WMO record and beat out likely winners of 54 pounds on Security and 58.5 pounds on Jenny Poo. Only three eligible wahoo were weighed, topped by 60.5-pounder on Magic Moment.

Most unusual were the two swordfish. One turned out to be a big money winner as that 273.5-pounder by pro bass fisherman Kyle Gagliardi on Jersey Girl won $375,000 in the Big Fish Calcutta.

There’s still time to get involved in the Hudson River Fisherman’s Assn. Catfish Chaos Derby on Saturday. The entry fee is $20 for adults and $10 for those under 16. Call Scott Havner at 845 300-1562 or go to the HRFA web site for details.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar started jigging bluefish this morning, but the blues didn’t hit well and they ended up adding some sea bass and fluke. This week’s tuna trip produced some 30-60-pounders, but three dozen were lost. That was the last mid-range trip, but canyon trips are coming up next month.

The Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands had some better fluke today as Capt. Ron Santee said it was in the top three of trips this year. There were several limits, and the 7-pound pool fluke was followed by others of 6.2 and 5 1/2.

Greg Tirpak sent an e-mail after the blog went in yesterday about a good pick of 3-5-pound blues on poppers at Bay Head that morning. About 30 were caught in a couple of hours. I tried there this morning, but only saw three tiny blues caught on metal before switching to river casting for four 2-3-pound blues on a Pili popper. Jim Gates said one of yesterday’s Bay Head blues spit out a large sand eel.

Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar weighed in near-doormat fluke during last weekend’s JCAA Heavy Hitters Tournament. He notes that there are kingfish in the surf at the Eighth Ave. Jetty in Asbury Park, plus some blackfish in Shark River Inlet and Point Pleasant Canal. Snappers are pleasing kids at the Belmar docks, and his rentals plus kayak anglers have had some limit catches of fluke in the river.

Thursday’s forecast is for southeast winds at 5 knots — but northeast winds are coming Friday.

Frank Criscola of Bedminster, N.J. did it again at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City. Maryland, following his win with Crisdel from Brielle Yacht Club last year in the tuna division, by boating a 77-pound white marlin that was initially tied for first and ended up winning $206;000.

Crislola pitched a bait to the big white after it came up on the teaser, but it then looked at another bait before disappearing. Criscola is a veteran billfisherman, and dropped a lot of line back where the white found it. She only jumped once and went wild when alongside. Capt. George Steller called for the gaff to be used on an obviously large white in order not to have it get under the boat and cut off. That saved the fish, but it turned out that the rules provided that a gaffed entry would be dropped back in a tie. Drillin & Billin ended up with the big chunk of money at $1.762 million for their 77-pounder.

There was no question about the first place when Canyon Blues boated a 96-pound white for $1.85 million. That was the third largest in WMO history, but still smaller than my wife’s only white. Before we were marriied, Kathy fished for sharks with me in my Mako 21 at Montauk when she hooked into a 99 1/2-pounder that won a national magazine first place that year. It hit a small frozen bunker.

The white marlin and tuna categories payed off more than expected when there was was no blue marlin entry. I never thought the early tuna entries would stand up, but the bigeyes couldn’t be located even by such specialists as Canyon Runner and MJ’s. Travis Ort from York, Pa. was the biggest beneficiary of that blue marlin money as he was in the right Calcuttas to win $1.414 million on Restless Lady 2 out of Ocean City with a 114.5-pound bluefin. Sentient had the largest tuna at 121 pounds, but wasn’t in the right Calcuttas and won only $148,000.Capt. Mark De Blasio was in the right entry levels with his Blue Runner from Manasquan, N.J., and won $165,000 for the 106-pound bluefin caught by Jarrord Keeley from Centerville, Ohio even after it dropped to third.

I’ll have more winners and the final species count tomorrow,

The last big money event is coming up Aug. 17-21 with the Mid-Atlantic out of Cape May plus Ocean City, Maryland. The Canyon Runner from Point Pleasant has a few openings for individual anglers at $2,666 a day, which includes a share of any earnings even if the fish is caught on another day.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for south winds at 5-10 knots, with possible afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

Scott Leadbeater is back in action with his old Aquasport at Atlantic Highlands — now powered by a new Suzuki. He got started Sunday by casting for stripers and catching a 32-incher plus two shorts. Fluking between the channels added a 19-inch fluke.

Also at that port, Capt. Ron Santee of the Fishermen noted that recent morning fluking has been tough with little wind for drifting. However, Mark Hrubic took the lead in the Big Pool on Saturday with an 8.1-pounder.Tank Matraxia could do no wrong last week when he fished with friends in Tagged Fish from Highlands. Fluking was slow at Sandy Hook Reef, but he was catching steadily, including two 24-inchers in a row. Some large sea bass were also added,

Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park reported a 27-inch striper was caught in the surf on metal, but small blues are the best bet.

I’ve been fishing the backwaters for a very few small stripers on Z Man paddletails, but tried the Sea Girt surf this morning with only two fluke of 14 and 15 1/2 inches hitting a teaser fly.

There’s an exceptional run of yellowfin tuna going on off the Jersey Shore right now. Capt. Arthur Stokes said the yellowfins haven’t moved in some time, and Long Island boats joined the crowd Sunday. Yet, he had no trouble trolling up five yellowfins from 30 to 65 pounds plus two skipjacks on Side Job from Belmar for John Clark and his crew from Pa. by staying on the outside of the 150 boats. Some of those boats were jigging tuna, but others were complaining about the action.

Bob Correll joined the crew on Mike Heaney’s 42 Cabo, October Sky to overnight in Hudson Canyon where they were catching squid all night, but only a 6-foot mako. A move to the south this morning put them into a hot trolling bite under tuna birds, with all multiple hits before they ran home to Point Pleasant early. Bob also boated a 58-incher which was probably a bigeye.

Paul Haertel reports ” The JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament concluded on Sunday, August 9^th.  It was a three-day event although participants were only allowed to fish on only one day. Eighty-five boats were entered and most fished in very nice conditions on Saturday and Sunday. While fishing was slow for some boats, other boats had outstanding catches. The tournament was based on the total weight of the three heaviest fluke caught on each boat. The big winner was Matt Sorrentino who fished with Capt. Tony Pacitti aboard his Parker that does not have a name. The crew also included Tony’s Dad, David and their friend Joe Damiano. Their three-fish total had a combined weight of 24.42 lbs. Matt led the way with his personal best 9.92 pound fluke and also won the single prize that was awarded for the largest fluke in the tournament. The team also swept all the Calcuttas and won a whopping total of $14684!

                 Dennis Machamer continued his hot streak in tournaments while captaining his new boat the Mistress. His crew’s three fish total was 20.40 lbs. Just behind them was Anthony Pansini’s crew with a total of 20.4 lbs.. Their catch included an impressive 9.64 lb fluke. The top three finishers in the tournament all weighed in their fish at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar. That might be an indication that the best fishing was out of Shark River Inlet but how far they ran is unknown. Fourth place went to Robert Murdza and crew with a total of 19.26 pounds and the fifth place went to Rick Paglivco and his crew with a total of 17.79 lbs. The tournament also had a single prize for the largest sea bass which was won by Robert Dalgish with a 3.26 lb bass. However, Robert did not enter the sea bass Calcuttas. Therefore, both sea bass Calcuttas were won by Paul Haertel and his crew with a 2.48 lb sea bass that was caught by Ryan Loughlin. Their winnings totaled $3413, not too shabby for a sea bass.”

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported good weekend action with chub mackerel plus some bluefish and sea bass, There were more and somewhat bigger blues Sunday along with sea bass and some mackerel, fluke and a bonito. They’re out on a tuna trip tomorrow. The last mid-range exotic trip produced a few yellowfins with many more lost.

The forecast for Tuesday is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots, increasing to 10-15 with higher gusts later.

I’ll have a wrap-up of the WMO open in tomorrow’s blog.                                                

The White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Maryland was exiting to watch yesterday as the white marlin standings kept changing, but this last day has been a dud with relatively few weigh-ins by 249 boats fishing. The only real excitement was when Mojito arrived with the first blue marlin of the contest before it was measured at less than the 144 inches required and not even weighed. All scoring places seem to be the same with little time left before the 9:15 close of the scale. I’ll add a blog later if there’s a change — and publish final results tomorrow.

The morning inshore forecast is for southwest winds at 5-10 knots before increasing to 10-15 with gusts to 20 in the afternoon,

The Jamaica from Brielle reported lots of chub mackerel yesterday along with some blues and sea bass. Carlos Robles of Philadelphia won the pool with a 6-pound bonito. All mid-range tuna trips this week are sold out.

There was big excitement after my blog went in about the WMO as Jersey Boys took advantage of a change that allows ceep-droping for swordfish in a trolling tournament. After a 3 1/2-hour battle they boated a 273.5-pound sword that leads for about $375,000 in the Big Fish Calcutta. More about this as the WMO concludes Sunday,