OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 6th Annual Memorial Day Bluefish Tournament was once again a big success but it was tuna that stole the show.
The tournament was held last weekend in and around the resort and while the event is billed as a bluefish tournament, the sudden arrival of yellowfin tuna off the resort coast made that species the highlight. With the offshore season off to a fast start, yellowfin tuna were stacked up like cordwood on the docks around the marinas all weekend and the Marlin Club’s Memorial Day tournament participants caught their fair share.
For the record, in the tuna division, it was the crew on the “A Salt Weapon 2” taking first place with a 48.8 pound yellowfin worth $855. The “Magic Moment” took second with a 42.6 pound yellowfin worth $3,528 because of added entry levels. The “Reel Intents” took third with a 41 pound yellowfin worth $1,017. The “Odinspear” took fourth with a 37.8 yellowfin worth $450.
The tournament’s top monetary prize went to the crew on the “Gret’s Three J’s” with a 120-pound mako worth $5850. Ironically, no bluefish were weighed during the tournament, although with yellowfin tuna showing up in great numbers, most participants weren’t targeting bluefish.
In the spirit of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, proceeds from the event were dedicated once again to the Catherine and Charles Kratz Memorial Foundation and Scholarship Fund. Catherine and Charles Kratz are long-time members of the Ocean City Marlin Club who recently started a foundation to provide support, encouragement and a better way of life for the men and women who served in the armed forces.
More importantly, the tournament raised a significant amount of money for the Catherine and Charles Kratz Foundation to support veterans. Incidentally, local fishing enthusiasts will recall Kratz was the skipper on the “Five C’s,” the fishing boat that landed the largest white marlin ever caught in the state of Maryland. The whopping 135-pounder was caught by angler George Pierson aboard the “Five C’s” back in 1980 with Kratz at the helm. It is now permanently displayed at the foot of the Boardwalk after Kratz donated it to the town in 2008.