OCEAN CITY- With the white marlin bite suddenly heating up off the coast of the resort, there was no shortage of billfish releases last weekend during the Ocean City Marlin Club’s 8th Annual Heels and Reels ladies only tournament.
Just before the 43rd annual White Marlin Open underway this week, the Ocean City Marlin Club last weekend hosted its 8th annual Heels and Reels Tournament. The Heels and Reels Tournament is the club’s only ladies-only event in its summer-long tournament series and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Ocean City Marlin Club’s Bertha Holloway Auxiliary Scholarship Fund.
This year, a total of 42 boats and hundreds of lady anglers participated in the annual Heels and Reels event and there was no shortage of action. The tournament got started last Friday with the first of three official fishing days. Essentially, it’s a boat tournament, meaning awards were distributed to the top boat teams and not individuals.
According to tournament rules, anyone may hook the fish, but it must be immediately handed off to a lady angler on board. The Heels and Reels Tournament is largely a billfish release tournament with points awarded for releases of white and blue marlin, swordfish and sailfish. There are also heaviest fish divisions for tuna including yellowfin, longfin and big-eye along with dolphin.
The crew on the “Tra Sea Ann” release nine white marlin for a total of 1,500 release points to take first place in that division in last weekend’s Heels and Reels ladies’ tournament.
Photo courtesy Hooked on OC
In the Billfish Release division, it was the crew on the “Tra Sea Ann” taking first place with a whopping 1,500 release points, which earned $15,210 in prize money. The “Brenda Lou” and the “Max Bet” finished tied for second with 900 release points each, earning $1,512 and $2,952 respectively. The “Tighten Up” finished fourth with 800 points and earned $1,296.
However, it was the crew on the “That’s Right” that took the top prize in the tournament. The “That’s Right” finished first in the dolphin division with a 36.4-pounder worth $18,045. The crew on the “Last Call” took second in the dolphin division with a 33.8-pounder worth $4,347. The “Lucky Duck II” took third with a 24.8-pound dolphin worth $1,224. The “C-Boys” finished fourth with a 22.6-pounder worth $1,674.
Oddly, there were no tuna weighed during the entire tournament. The Junior Angler Award went to Emma Campbell with 200 release points. In total, over $46,000 was doled out in prize money.