OCEAN CITY- The 5th annual Huk Big Fish Classic last weekend at the historic docks at Talbot Street was once again a big success with several big fish caught including a 404-pound blue marlin worth $244,000 that took the top prize.
The main goal for participants is to weigh the single largest fish of any species at the docks at Talbot Street, which is essentially the birthplace of offshore fishing in Ocean City, and there were plenty of fish weighed at the scale all weekend long. Participating boats competed in one of two 32-hour windows to catch the biggest fish of any species. Boats and teams of anglers had to choose to fish in one of the two 32-hour time frames, either Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday. When the dust settled on Sunday, a new tournament record $462,350 was paid out to the winners in several categories.
In the signature single-heaviest fish category, it was the crew on the Reel Tight taking first place with a 404-pound blue marlin worth $244,000. The Bent Tent took second with a 379-pound blue marlin worth $48,725, while the Underdog weighed a 354-pound blue marlin worth $19,590.
The tournament awarded prizes in several other categories and species with different entry levels. In descending order the top money winners in the other divisions included the Sea Note at $28,800, the Michael Joe at $21,060, the No Limits at $19,710, the No Quarter at $14,850, the Katherine Anne at $13,050, the ForTunate and the Tail to Tale each at $11,610, the Primary Search at $9,090, the Moore Bills at $8,820, the Sea Wolf at $5,400, the Absolut Pleasure at $3,780 and the Stalker at $2,160.
The event got started last Thursday with late registration, a captain’s meeting and kickoff party at host M.R. Ducks. Participating boats departed from any port from New Jersey to Virginia, but qualifying fish have to be weighed at Talbot Street. The scales at Talbot Street were open each day from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. as big fish after big fish were brought to the dock as the leaderboard changed throughout the weekend. Each day featured a festival of big fish, live music, food and drink in and around the Talbot Street Pier at M.R. Ducks and the historic Angler restaurant. The Angler hosted the awards banquet on Sunday.
