OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 32nd Annual Small Boat Tournament last weekend was a big success with plenty of action both inshore and offshore.
The Marlin Club’s annual Small Boat Tournament provides an opportunity for some of the smaller boats in the resort’s sportfishing fleet to compete before the bigger events such as the Ocean City Tuna Tournament and the White Marlin Open arrive on the calendar. As its name implies, the event was open to all boats with a length of 34-feet and under.
In the offshore portion of the tourney, the “Blackjack” took first place in the billfish release division with a white marlin release at 10:25 a.m. The “Tide Up” took second with a white marlin release at 2:39 p.m. In the tuna division, the “Mm’ Mm’ Good” came in first with an 85.2-pound bluefin, while the “Lizard Lips” was second with a 48.8-pound yellowfin and the “Reelin’ & Rockin” was third with a 47.6-pound yellowfin.
In the inshore categories, “Senor Cigars” was first in the flounder division with a 4.2-pounder, while the “Fluke U” was second with a pair of 3.9-pounders. The “Gundawg” and “Senor Cigars” tied for third, each with a 3.4-pound flounder. The “Ocean Rebel” took first in the sea bass division with a 2.2-pounder, while the “Empty Pockets” was second with a two-pound bass. The two boats split a share of third place with a pair of 1.4-pound sea bass.
In the tog division, the “Seacraft 23” took first- and second-place with a 2.4-pounder and a 2.3-pounder. The “Ocean Rebel” was third with a 1.8-pounder. The crew on the “Git-R-Done” had a great weekend, taking first and second in the bluefish and sweeping the rockfish division with three 10-pounders. The “Jacqueline Maria” was third in the bluefish division.