OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 39th Small Boat Tournament was once again a big success last weekend with plenty of action both inshore and offshore.
Dozens of boats participated in the tournament, which provides an opportunity for some of the smaller vessels in the resort’s sport fishing fleet to compete before the larger Ocean City Tuna Tournament and the White Marlin Open arrive on the summer tournament calendar. As the name implies, the tournament is open to boats with a length of 34 feet or under.
In the billfish release division, the crew on the Joken took first-place and the crew on the De-Bait-Able took second, each with 100 release points. In the dolphin division, In the Black took first place with a 13.4-pounder worth a tournament-high $6,255. In the tuna division, Offshore Hooker took first- and second-place with a pair of bigeyes weighing 98.6 pounds and 92 pounds and earned $5,382 in prize money. Carol’s Teakettle was third in the tuna division with an 84-pound bluefin worth $873.
In the inshore portion of the tournament, the Fish in OC/Hooked on OC crew took first- and second-place in the bluefish division and earned $453. In the flounder division, the Fish Magnet II took first place and the Dale Brown Award with a 5.2-pounder and earned $827. The SeaCraft 23 took second and third in the flounder division. The Jezebel swept the top three spots in the sea bass division and earned $390 in prize money.
