OC Tuna Tourney Turns 30 This Year

OCEAN CITY- The 30th annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament returns next weekend with dozens of boats and hundreds of anglers descending on the resort for a three-day search for the burly behemoths in the canyons off the coast.

The tuna bite has been rock solid thus far this summer with yellowfins and blue fins stacked up like cord wood around most of the resort’s marinas each afternoon, setting up what should be a memorable 2017 Ocean City Tuna Tournament. The event gets started next Thursday with a captain’s meeting and late registration at the host Ocean City Fishing Center, but the real action gets underway next Friday with the first of three official fishing days.

The annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament is one of the highlights of the summer offshore tournament seasons each year, second only perhaps to the White Marlin Open in terms of prize money awarded and anglers participating. Thousands of spectators will cram into the Ocean City Fishing Center over the course of the four-day event, which has become a celebration of fishing, food, drinks, live entertainment and, of course, the daily weigh-ins at the scale. Weigh-ins will be held next Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Fishing Center and Sunset Marina, and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday at the Fishing Center only.

From modest beginnings in 1988 when just 38 boats competed for $9,000 in prize money, the tuna tournament has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two decades plus. Last year, dozens of boats and hundreds of anglers competed for over $625,000 in several categories.

Last year in the single heaviest tuna category, it was the “Fish Tricks” taking first place with a 156-pounder worth a tournament-high $216,512. The “Blue Runner” was second with an 82-pounder and earned $62,200. There was a tie for third place with both the “Wrecker” and the “Talk N Trash” each weighing 78-pounders. “The “Wrecker” earned $34,174 and the “Talk N Trash” earned $17,087.

In the heaviest stringer weight category, the “Miss Annie” took first with a combined 408 pounds and earned $166,517. The “Billfisher” was second with a 364-stringer worth $46,360, while the “Fish Whistle” weighed a 349-pound stringer to take third and earned $22,507.

In the largest dolphin category, the “Foolish Pleasures” took first-place with a 23-pounder worth $2,500, while the “Liquid Rx” was second with a 20-pounder worth $1,000. The crew on the “M Kelliejean E” weighed the one and only qualifying wahoo during the tournament, a 48-pounder worth $5,040.

In the top lady angler category, Megan Kennedy on the “Wrecker” took first-place with a 78-pounder worth $1,500. J.L. Cropper on the “Myra HT” took second in the category with a 67-pounder worth $1,000. Annie Roe on the “Wayne’s World” was third with a 67-pounder worth $500. Roe was also the top junior angler with her 78-pounder and earned an additional $1,000. Walter Jordan on the “Let It Ride” was second in the top junior angler category with a 52-pounder and earned $500, while Jake Stuckey on the “Grasshopper” was third with a 51-pounder and earned $250.

There was also considerable prize money doled out in the sub-categories for various boat sizes. For example, in the boats 40-feet and under category, the single heaviest tuna award went to the “Fish Whistle” with a 78-pounder worth $4,725. First-place in the category for heaviest stringer went to the “Foolish Pleasures” with 271 pounds worth $4,725.

In the boats sized 41 feet to 54 feet category, the “Grande Pez” took first-place for the single heaviest tuna with a 74-pounder and earned $4.050, while the “Miss Annie” took first with the heaviest stringer totaling 408 pounds worth $4,050. In the boat 55-feet and up, the “Fish Tricks” took first in the single heaviest tuna category and earned an additional $12,600, while the “Billfisher” took first with the heaviest stringer and earned an additional $12,600.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.