OCEAN CITY- After harsh weather and rough seas kept most of the participating boats at the dock last week during the middle portion of the tournament, the Ocean City Marlin Club’s second-ever rockfish tourney finished with a flurry last weekend with several of the eventual winners boated.
The nine-day tournament began way back on Friday, December 5 with decent numbers of qualifying stripers caught during those initial fishing days. However, the persistent nor’easter that hung around the area through much of last week kept many of the participating boats tied to the docks around the area.
By week’s end, however, the weather cleared and the seas calmed, setting up a fantastic finish in the second annual event. When the dust settled, it was the crew on the “Fish Frenzi” taking first place with a 28.6-pounder worth $2,295. The crew on the “Aubree Lynn” took second with a 28.4-pounder worth $1,134, while the “Wrecker” took third with a 28.2-pounder worth $999. The “Aubree Lynn” also took the winner-take-all bluefish division with a 7.6-pounder worth an additional $450.
The tournament began on December 5 and ran for nine days ending December 14. As the name of the tournament implied, rockfish were the primary species targeted along with red drum and bluefish. The top three heaviest fish in each category won awards and federal minimum sizes applied for each species. A portion of the proceeds from the event were donated to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The tournament concluded with an awards ceremony on Sunday at the Ocean City Marlin Club.