First Big Fish Classic Lives Up to Name

First Big Fish Classic Lives Up to Name
reel intents

OCEAN CITY- The inaugural Big Fish Classic in Ocean City last weekend certainly lived up to its name with plenty of big fish weighed at the host Talbot Street Pier including a remarkable run on big-eye tuna.

The tournament is new in the sense it is being held for the very first time this weekend, but old in the sense it will evoke Ocean City’s century-old sportfishing past. The tournament will be hosted by the Talbot Street Pier, which is essentially the epicenter of the resort’s rich fishing history. In the nascent days of Ocean City’s fishing history, historic Talbot Street was always at the center of the action with offshore boats unloading epic catches of billfish and tuna on the docks.

In the decades since, marinas have sprouted up all over the resort area and in West Ocean City, but Talbot Street is where it all began. In that spirit, the new Big Fish Classic is a two-day, 32-hour tournament where the largest fish caught of any species will be rewarded.

The Big Fish Classic last weekend featured 32 boats, which certainly isn’t among the largest in Ocean City, but a fairly good-sized field for the first-ever event. Organizers promised a guaranteed payout of $20,000 going into last week’s tournament and the actual payout to the winners in several categories topped $92,000.

The crew on the “Reel Intents” took first place with a 243.5-pound big-eye tuna worth $35,722. The “Restless Lady” took second with a 235.5-pound big-eye worth $26,648, and the “M.R. Ducks” took third with a 225-pound big-eye worth $5,496.

Other notable winners in various categories included the “Backlash,” which caught yellowfin tuna, a big-eye and even weighed a swordfish at the scale at Talbot Street, which was perhaps the first ever sword weighed during a tournament in Ocean City. The “Backlash” earned $10,395 for its efforts. The “Rebel” also earned $7,785 in prize money, followed by the “Research” with $4,592 in prize money, the “No Quarter” with $864 and the “Lil’ Angler” with $648.