OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 36th Annual Canyon Kickoff was once again a huge success with dozens of boats and hundreds of anglers filling out the leaderboard in several categories and collecting thousands in prize money.
The Canyon Kick-Off, held each year on or near the Fourth of July weekend, is the first major event of the season each year for the Ocean City Marlin Club and serves as a prelude to the more high profile tournaments including the Ocean City Tuna Tournament next weekend, the Big Fish Classic later this month and, of course the White Marlin Open next month. With plenty of billfish releases and tuna and dolphin weighed at the scales at Sunset Marina all weekend, the Canyon Kick-Off lived up to its name was the first significant offshore fishing event of the season.
In the billfish release division, the crew on the Fish On took first place with 750 release points and took home a tournament-high $35,550. The Nontypical was second with 700 release points and earned $2,052. The Moore Bills was third with 650 release points and earned $4,446, while the Par Five finished fourth in the division and earned $2.052.
In the tuna division, the Tighten Up took first with a 110.8-pound bigeye worth $25,582, The Second Chance took second with a 109.8-pound bigeye worth $3739, while the Stalker as third with an 83-pound yellowfin worth $2,493. There were no bluefin tuna weighed during the tournament.
In the dolphin division, it was the Marlin Gale taking first place with a 37.2-pounder worth $14,332. The Canyon Hunter was second with a23.4-pounder worth $3,739 and the Last Call took third with a 22-pounder worth $2,493. The crew on the Hall Pass took fourth in the dolphin division, but earned $11,250 in prize money because of added entry levels.
