OCEAN CITY- With several major offshore tournaments looming later this summer, some of the smaller boats in the resort’s sportfishing fleet will get their chance in the spotlight this weekend with the Ocean City Marlin Club’s 36th Annual Small Boat Tournament.
The Marlin Club’s annual Small Boat Tournament provides an opportunity for smaller boats to compete in a tournament before the bigger events such as the Ocean City Tuna Tournament and the White Marlin Open arrive on the summer fishing calendar. The event gets underway tonight with registration and a captain’s meeting at the Marlin Club, with the action offshore getting started on Saturday and Sunday.
Participating boats must decide to fish one of two fishing days, Saturday or Sunday, with daily weigh-ins the Sunset Marina in West Ocean City from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. As its name implies, the Small Boat Tournament is open to all boats with a length of 34 feet or under. The event is divided into two divisions; the Offshore Division and the Inshore Division. Inshore, participating anglers will target flounder, sea bass, tog, bluefish and rockfish. The offshore division targets tuna, dolphin, shark and billfish, the latter of which will be recorded and released in a points division.
Last year in the offshore portion of the tournament, the crew on the “Tide Up” took first place in the billfish release division with 200 points, while the crew on the “CO2” took second with 100 points. The “Seaduction” took first place in the yellowfin tuna division with a 64.8 pounder. The “Tide Up” took second with a pair of 59-8 pounders. The “Odd Couple” took first in the dolphin division, followed by the “Brenda Lou” in second and the “Family Tree” in third.
In the Seabass Division, it was the “Just Add Sauce” taking first and third place, while the “Jezebel” took second. The “Jezebel” also took first in the Tog Division. while the “Myra HT” was second. The crew on the “Oasis” took first in the flounder division, while the “Jus a Breeze” was second and the “Seacraft” was third. In the Bluefish Division, it was the “Myra HT” sweeping the top three places.