Tight Lines

I kept losing the internet while transfering Jeff Merrill’s final report on MidAtlantic winners, and settled for getting what I could published. The balance of the report follows:

• The dolphin category saw David Schockley of Jupiter, Florida on Liquidity take the Heaviest Dolphin award for his 45-pounder weighed on Day One which was good for $67,321.  Joe Bernert of Hatboro, Pennsylvania on his Quick Raise weighed a 34-pound dolphin 34-pounder on Day Four and won $51,474 for second place.  Jeff Kogok of Saint Michaels, Maryland finished in third place with a 33-pounder weighed on Day Two from his Quick Raise.         Worthy of note, on the final fishing day of the tournament Captain Andrew Dotterweich on his Fish On released five white marlin. Cash Prize WinnersNote that cash payouts vary by the level of calcuttas a participant enters. Heaviest White Marlin – 87 lbs. – Common Sense – Clint Clement – Cape May Court House, NJ – $201,388    2^nd Heaviest White Marlin – 76 lbs. – Boss Hogg – Howard Berger – Edgewater, MD – $1,406,938 3^rd Heaviest White Marlin – 75 lbs. – Catch 23 – Michael Jordan – Jupiter, FL – $462,318 Heaviest Blue Marlin – 889 lbs. – Pipe Dreamer – Carmine Caruso – Ocean, NJ – $1,180,342 2^nd Heaviest Blue Marlin – 548 lbs. – Amarula Sun – Shon Craig – Tarpon Springs, FL – $494,8863^rd Heaviest Blue Marlin – 528 lbs. – Tighten Up – Jay Keller – Mount Airy, MD – $112,148   Heaviest Tuna – 253 lbs. – Talkin Trash – Christopher Little – Pasadena, MA – $361,3532^nd Heaviest Tuna – 234 lbs. – The Right Place – Bob Hugin – Summit, NJ – $552,483 3^rd Heaviest Tuna – 216 lbs. – Taylor Jean – Ken Hager – Tinton Falls, NJ – $159,547                                                  Heaviest Wahoo – 56 lbs. – Y-Knot – Kyle Dougherty – Cape May Court House, NJ – $51,129    2^nd Heaviest Wahoo – 52 lbs. – Covert Mission – Jim McCarthy – Shillington, PA – $67,666   3^rd Heaviest Wahoo – 51 lbs. – Water Damage – Wayne Odachowski – Ocean City, MD – $17,894           Heaviest Dolphin – 45 lbs. – Liquidity – David Schockley – Jupiter, FL – $67,321  2^nd Heaviest Dolphin – 34 lbs. – Quick Raise – Joe Bernert – Hatboro, PA – $51,4743^rd Heaviest Dolphin – 33 lbs. – Too Many Martinis – Jeff Kogok – St. Michaels, MD – $25,024     Salt Life Billfish Points Calcutta – Cape MayMost Points – 1645 – Viking 80 – Pat Healey – New Gretna, NJ – $13,8002^nd Most Points – 1425 – Gina Lisa – Gina Addeo – Staten Island, NY – $8,280  3^rd Most Points – 1125 – Judge – Martin Judge, Jr. – Wayne, PA – $5,520      Atlantic Tackle Billfish Points Calcutta – Ocean CityMost Points – 1950 – Trashman – Gene Sowers – Savannah, GA – $27,6002^nd Most Points – 1800 – Big Stick – David Bowen – Suwaee, GA – $16,5603^rd Most Points – 1725 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Gaithersburg, MD – $11,040 The following participants received calcutta winnings for various positions on the leaderboard during the tournament.  Cash payouts vary by the level of calcuttas a participant enters.  White Marlin70 lbs. – Viking 80 – Pat Healey – New Gretna, NJ – $123,18869 lbs. – Big Oil – Tim Tanghare – Vincentown, NJ – $72,86466 lbs. – Max Bet – Matt Weber – Vero Beach, FL – $29,072 Blue Marlin489 lbs. – Pipe Down – Jeff Crabtree – New Smyrna Beach, FL – $31,464470 lbs. – The Zipper – Eddie Zajdel – Ocean City, MD – $25,944 Tuna205 lbs. – Marli – Joe Stein III – Marriotsville, MD – $60,536195 lbs. – Talkin’ Trash – Christopher Little – Pasadena, MD – $41,952113 lbs. – Big Deal – Brian Rabbitt – Carlstadt, NJ – $20,608112 lbs. – Random Chaos – Michael Pintozzi – Langhorne, PA – $52,256106 lbs. – Hall Pass – George Hall III – Avenue, MD – $12,97267 lbs. – Fish On – Andrew Dotterweich – Jupiter, FL – $8,64866 lbs. – Still Lucky – Steve Gladwin – Ocean City, MD – $4,324    Wahoo46 lbs. – Waste Knot – Michael Tickle – Morehead, NC – $9,292 Dolphin23 lbs. – Impulse V – Adam Demeusy – Newington, CT – $2,162  Point Winners (Trophies)Note ties are broken based on time of catch. Most Points White Marlin – 1950 – Trashman – Geno Sowers – Savannah, GA (Ties Tournament Record)2^nd Most Points White Marlin – 1725 – Billfisher – Jon Duffie – Gaithersburg, MD 3^rd Most Points White Marlin – 1650 – Sweet Spot – Chris Kubik – Kill Devil Hills, NC Most Points Blue Marlin – 300 – Big Stick – David Bowen – Suwanee, GA 2^nd Most Points Blue Marlin – 300 – Get Reel – Brian Arni – Nottingham, PA3^rd Most Points Blue Marlin – 300 – Reelin’ Feelin’ – Adam Youschak – North Wildwood, NJ   Most Points Tuna – 318 – Lovin’ Life – Billy Wrede – Randolph, NJ 2^nd Most Points Tuna – 224 – Talkin’ Trash – Christopher Little – Pasadena, MD   3^rd Most Points Tuna – 163.5 – Big Deal – Brian Rabbitt – Carlstadt, NJ  Most Points Overall – 2010 – Trashman – Gene Sowers – Savannah, GA (New Tournament Record) Catch ReportWhite marlin released – 735 White marlin boated – 15Blue marlin released – 36Blue marlin boated – 8Tuna weighed – 58Wahoo weighed – 7Dolphin weighed – 15 It’s worth noting the 750 white marlin caught, of which 735 were released, is the third highest in tournament history. That’s also a 98% release rate as well!  Further, with 181 boats fishing three days for a total of 543-boat days of fishing that’s a catch rate of 1.46 white marlin per-boat-per-day!      As always, the MidAtlantic tournament prize structure features large payouts to multiple winners rather than one large check for one fish.  This year two winners received more than $1 million in prize money while three others received $460 thousand or more. 
• Monday’s forecast is for east winds at 10-15 knots, but big seas are coming after that,
• The Golden Eagle from Belmar had fine jigging for small blues up to an 8-pounder plus some bonito on Saturday.
• Vinny D’Anton reports a continued pick of small stripers in the Monmouth County surf on Chug Bugs and Redfins. The mullet run hasn’t started yet, but there are lots of small peanut bunkers.

Jeff Merrill submitted the following official results of the very successful MidAtlantic:

The final fishing day of the 2023 MidAtlantic saw only 11 boats head offshore into a stiff southerly breeze and sporty sea conditions.  By early afternoon the sun began to peak through high clouds though the gusty wind made for a bumpy afternoon and a rough ride home.  With nearly the entire 181-boat field having wrapped up their eligible days of fishing as of Thursday evening, little change in the standings was expected.  When the scales at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, New Jersey closed officially at 9 p.m. last night the leaderboard remained unchanged and it was time to celebrate as over $5.79 million was handed out to 35 different winners.  Note that payouts to the winners will vary based on their level of calcutta participation.    

In the white marlin category, Clint Clement of Cape May Court House, New Jersey aboard his Common Sense took the Heaviest White Marlin award with his 87-pounder and won $201,388.  The largest payout in the white marlin category went to a 76-pounder taken aboard Howard Berger’s Boss Hogg from Edgewater, Maryland.  Although Boss Hogg finished in second place, the crew still netted $1,406,938!  The Catch 23 of Jupiter, Florida and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan finished in third place and won $462,318 with a 75-pounder.  All three of the winning white marlin were weighed on Day Four.  Note that the payout for Boss Hogg’s second place white marlin is a tournament record payout for the category.    

The blue marlin division saw Ocean, New Jersey’s Chip Caruso’s aboard his Pipe Dreamer walk away with the Heaviest Blue Marlin award with his 889-pounder which netted $1,180,342!  Shon Craig’s Amarula Sun hailing from Tarpon Springs, Florida held on to second place with his 548-pounder which was good for $494,886.  Mount Airy, Maryland’s Jay Keller aboard his Tighten Up took third place with his 528-pounder and received $112,148.  All three of the winning blue marlin were weighed on Day Three. It’s worth noting the payout for Pipe Dreamer’s payout is a tournament record for a blue marlin.  

Once again big eye tuna showed up just in time at the tournament and while several large yellowfins were brought to the scale of the 58 tuna weighed nearly two dozen were that big eyes.  Christopher Little of Pasadena, Maryland aboard his Talkin’ Trash took the Heaviest Tuna award with his 253-pound big eye and walked off won $361,353.  

Summit, New Jersey’s Bob Hugin on his The Right Place finished in second and received $552,483 for a big eye tuna of 234 pounds.  Ken Hager of Tinton Falls, New Jersey aboard his Taylor Jean pocketed $159,574 for his 216-pound big eye.  All three of the winning tuna were weighed on Day Four.    

Kyle Dougherty of Cape May Court House, New Jersey aboard his Y-Knot took the Heaviest Wahoo award with a 56-pounder caught on Day Three and won $51,129.  Shillington, Pennsylvania’s Jim McCarthy aboard his Covert Mission finished in second place and won $67,666 for his 52-pounder caught on Day Four.  Ocean City, Maryland’s Wayne Odachowski and the crew of his Water Damage weighed a 51-pounder on Day Three and held on to win $17,894 for finishing in third place. 

To be continued

     

      

   

 

    

                                            

                 

    

Something went wrong with the tournament video of weigh-ins tonight, and I wasn’t able to follow them. There didn’t appear to be any new entries at that time. Jeff Merrill said he’ll have everything together in the morning, and I’ll forward that .

Offshore tournament anglers usually want to fish the last day when there may be some soft spots on the leader boards which could determine where and how to fish in those last hours.

However, weather conditions resulted in all but 11 boats using up their three days by Thursday, while those out to sea today have to struggle with rough seas. As a result, we aren’t expecting any big changes this evening — though you never know!

There don’t seem to be any real soft spots left as bigger fish scrambled both the white marlin and tuna standings. Viking 80C had looked good with a 70-pound white, but they’re all the way down to fifth now as Common Sense is looking very good with the huge 87-pound leader.Tthere was a mistake in last night’s blog as Boss Hoog weighed a 76-pounder at the last minute to take second ahead of Catch 23 with a 75-pounder.

Chip Caruso’s 889-pound blue marlin would be a very worthy winner, but in 2021 Billfisher upset the apple cart on the last day with a 1135-pounder.

The dolphin leader at 45 pounds on Liquidity is a good bet, but the wahoo category is somewhat below the usual winning size as Y-Knot leads at 56 pounds.

The largest bigeyes seemed to show up yesterday. Talkin Trash boated a 253-pounder that fell just one pound short of the tournament record set by Bernard and Drew Dinardi on their Absolut-ly in 1993. They added a 195-pounder, but The Right Place at 234 and Taylor Jean at 216 pounds took over second and third.

MidAtlantic media man Jeff Merrill noted that famed bigeye boat MJ’S was one of those who sailed today. I’ll have an update on the millions won later tonight.

The small craft advisory extends through tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast is for west winds at 5-10 knots with a chance of showers.

Chuck Many continues to do a job on a variety of fish in Hilton Head ponds. See photo at bottom of page.

After a big day with blue marlin, the spotlight was on whites and tuna

All but one boat fished today before small craft warnings may make the last day a rough one.

The primary white marlin category was turned upside down as the seemingly safe 70-pounder by Viking 80C was blasted by a remarkable 87-pounder on Common Sense. Then Reel King added a 73-pounder — and Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 was heard from for the first time with a 75-pound second place white.

Talkin Trash changed everything in tuna with a 253-pounder and added a 195. The Right Place showed up with a 234-pound bigeye, as did another Manasquan Inlet boat, Taylor Jean at 216 pounds.

After all the blue marlin the day before, there was only one brought in today as The Zipper boated a 470-pounder that didn’t change the top three. I’ll catch up on a few minor changes tomorrow.

The MidAtlantic is down to its last two days, and no one can complain about the volume of billfish that have been available so far. Yesterday’s big blue marlin breakout was impressive, and white marlin releases remained high. Big Stick had 15 along with a blue yesterday, while Judge recorded nine — and there were eight each for Ocean 80C and Krazy Salts.

Of course, getting that one bigger white that can be weighed in for millions of dollars remains elusive — though Max Bet did so yesterday with a third place 66-pounder.

Though Pipe Down started the day all alone with a 489-pound blue marlin, they were all the way down to fourth by the time the scales closed. Chip Caruso’s Pipe Creamer stands first at 889 pounds, followed by Amarula Sun at 548, Tighten Up at 528, and Intents with a 483-pounder.

Surprisingly, the tuna category was unmoved by the 165 boats fishing. Lit Up tied Low Profile for fourth at 101 pounds. The very vulnerable leaders are Marli at 205 pounds, Talkin Ttrash at 195, and Random Chaos with a 112-pounder.

Liquidity remains far out in front with a 45-pound dolphin, with Too Many Martinis moving into second at 33 pounds. The wahoo category got a shakeup as Y-Knot boated a 56-pounder and Water Damage added a 51 – while Waste Knot had a 46-pounder.

The Points leader is Big Stick with 1650, followed by Trashman at 1560, Sweet Spot with 1425 and Gina Lisa at 1350.

With 180 boats fishing today, there should be lots of movement on the leaderboards. I’ll do another blog with updated results after the scales close tonight. Just before publishing I got word from the scales that Talkin Trash has weighed a 253-pound bigeye!

There’ a small craft advisory inshore for Friday with south winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 and likely showers.

Nick Honachesky reports “I’ve officially made the dream come true – combining fishing and beer. Thanks to working with Heavy Reel Brewing Co. we’ve concocted a smooth tasting American Lines In Lager. Have one with me this Saturday at the brewery in Seaside Heights from 4pm to 6pm! Stay tuned for more events, sign up for the newsletter at www.saltwaterunderground.com “

After tonigh’;s blog warned that the leading 489-pound blue marlin may not be too secure, that was exactly what happened at the evening MidAtlantic weigh-ins. Tighten Up weighed a 529-pounder, Pipe Dreamer had a leading 889-pounder, and Intents added a 483. Amarula Sun tried to make up for their prospective winner lost to mutilation by their props by weighing a 548-pounder.

The white marlin division got a third place entry with a 66-pounder by Max Bet.

There was no change in tuna, but Y Knot took first in wahoo at 56 pounds. I’ll have a complete listing tomorrow.

With the MidAtlantic drawing to a close Friday night, the two billfish leaders worth millions won’t be easy to beat though my experience indicates they are no sure thing.

In the early days of that contest, I was a guest angler on Absolut-ly out of Brielle Yacht Club when I was the only one tending rods during long day of no hits when one doubled over. That turned out to be a blue marlin over 500 pounds, but that was a summer of big blues. When combined with a blue release, that fish won the Blue Marlin Champion trophy for the Dinardi brothers. However, it wasn’t worth a cent in the tournament, and became the only blue over 500 pounds that never payed off in contest history.

The 70-pound white marlin leading in the prime category for the Viking 80C will be hard to beat by rolling, but they do get bigger on this side of the Atlantic. My personal record as a boat captain is a 99-pounder caught by my wife Kathy while sharking off Montauk when I kept a Mako center console there many years ago. The very few huge whites I’ve heard of were caught by shark or giant tuna chummers.

We should have a better idea of how the MidAtlantic will play out after today’s results are in. I’ll be adding a blog after the scales close.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar didn’t catch much during Tuesday’s Exotics trip as northeast winds were blowing 25-30 knots. Today they had a pick of 2-4-pound blues with limits for those who worked at the jigging.

The inshore forecast is for south winds at 10 knots before increasing to 15-20 plus gusts to 25 in the afternoon. There’s a chance of showers.

Jeff Merrill reports for the MidAtlantic as follows:

“Overnight a weak cold front spread through the MidAtlantic’s tournament ports of Cape May, New Jersey and Ocean City, Maryland bringing relief from the heat and humidity of the past few days but with the front came the associated steady northeast breeze and occasional gusts.  Only 11 boats headed offshore this morning on Day Two while 170 used their “Lay Day.”  While Lay Days, also known as non-fishing days, give crews a chance to rest up, they also provide time to re-rig, re-set and re-group for the next day’s fishing.  With Friday’s offshore weather forecast questionable, the docks at Canyon Club Resort Marina and Sunset Marina were buzzing today as participants spent the day hard at work preparing for what looks to be back-to-back days of fishing.            

Pat Healey’s Viking 80 based out of New Gretna, New Jersey remains atop the leaderboard in the white marlin division with a 70-pounder caught on Day One.  Tim Tanghare of Vincentown, New Jersey on Big Oil remains in second place with a 69-pound white marlin which was also weighed on Day One.  Third place currently remains vacant. ”    

With no blue marlin weighed today, Jeff Crabtree’s New Smyrna Beach, Florida-based Pipe Down continues to lead the category with a 489-pounder caught on Day One.  Second and 3^rd place remain vacant.

Joe Stein III of Marriottsville, Maryland and his Marli remain in the lead in the tuna division with a 205-pound big eye just a few pounds ahead of Christopher Little of Pasadena, Maryland and his Talkin’ Trash with a 195-pound big eye.  In third place is Random Chaos with Michael Pintozzi of Langhorne, Pennsylvania and his 112-pound yellowfin.  All three leaders in the tuna category were caught on Day One.                   

Jeff Kogok’s Too Many Martinis from Saint Michaels, Maryland moved into second place in the dolphin category today after weighing a 33-pounder.  David Schockley of Jupiter, Florida continues to lead the category with his 45-pounder caught aboard his Liquidity on Day One.  Ed Russo of Carlstadt, New Jersey on his Big Deal now sits in third place with his 32-pounder which was also caught on Day One.     

Joe Drosey’s Rhonda’s Osprey from Ocean City, Maryland remains in the lead of the wahoo division with a 23-pounder while second place still belongs to Avenue, Maryland’s George Hall on Hall Pass with a 22-pounder.  Both fish were weighed on Day One.

Worthy of note Chris Volpe’s Gray Fox released three white on Day Two.        “

I also noted that Strokin’ seemed to be fighting whites all day and ended up with 10 releases.

The 489-pound blue marlin boated on Pipe Down during yesterday’s first day of the MidAtlantic was a great catch, but actually well short of the day’s best — if it had counted. As Jeff Merrill of the MdiAtlantic noted “The hard luck award for the day and possibly even the tournament goes to Captain Danny Veid of Tarpon Springs, Florida aboard Amarula Sun.  The crew hooked up a huge blue marlin about an hour before lines out and fought the massive billfish before getting it to the boat and cleanly placing two fly gaffs into her.  Unfortunately, the marlin then tried to free itself from the gaffs and in the process got caught in the propellers mutilating the fish.  The MidAtlantic follows IGFA rules which clearly states mutilated fish are disqualified.  Worthy of note the crew of the Amarula Sun self-disqualified the fish which after weighing still pulled the scale down to 808 pounds!”

The MidAtlantic started off with a bang as most of the 181boats competing for a purse of $5,790,020 took advantage of good weather to use one of their three days out of five. Just as we began to wonder if a white marlin big enough to weigh existed, there were two qualifying in that biggest money category. The Viking 80C demo boat hit the 70-pound mark that’s rarely beaten during trolling tournaments, but was still only one pound up on Big Oil.

Large dolphin have also been scarce this summer, but the 45-pounder caught on Liquidity stands a good chance of holding up — and a volume catch on Big Deal took over the next three spots at 25,26 and 32 pounds.

After even MJ’s couldn’t catch a bigeye in the Big Rock Tournament, they’ve been building up to the point where Crisdel had blasts from wolfpacks of bigeyes a couple of times while winning the WMIT. The present leaders of 205 pounds for Marli and 195 pounds on Talkin Trash may not make it to the

finish.

There were lots of marlin releases yesterday, including 8 whites and a blue on Lovin Life;8 whites on Gina Lisa; and 7 whites each on Taylor Jean and Viking 80.

Once again, I’ll be doing a blog after the scales close this evening in order to bring results up to date.

Tomorrow’s inshore forecast is for northeast winds at 10-15 knots before going east 5–10 in the afternoon.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant had hot jigging Monday for small blues plus some mixed size bonito. Small jigs worked best.