OCEAN CITY- The 9th annual Huk Big Fish Classic certainly lived up to its name with all species of big fish caught and weighed at the scales at Talbot Street practically around the clock.
The Big Fish Classic returned for the ninth year last weekend at the historic pier on Talbot Street, essentially the epicenter of fishing history in Ocean City. The three-day event had boats and teams of anglers deciding to fish in one of two 32-hour windows, either Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday, and the action at the docks lived up to the hype all weekend.
As the name implies, the Big Fish Classic is all about bringing the single heaviest fish of any species to the scale at historic Talbot Street. There are also other categories in which boats and teams of anglers can win prize money, but it essentially which boat will bring the single largest fish to the docks during the two 32-hour fishing windows.
When the dust settled after the whirlwind three-day tournament, it was the crew on the Gret’s Three J’s taking first place in the single heaviest fish category with a 436-pound blue marlin worth $201,885. The Boss Hogg crew won the tournament’s top monetary prize with the first-place white marlin worth $225,000.
The No Limit came in with a 258-pound big-eye tuna and a total stringer weight of five combined fish of 686 pounds and earned $192,253 in prize money. The crew on the Big Stick took first place in the swordfish category and earned $98,550 in prize money. There was briefly a time on Saturday when NBA legend Michael Jordan and his boat Catch 23 held the top spot in the heaviest swordfish category but it did not hold up.
The Low Profile crew weighed three big-eye tuna on a stringer and earned $96,743 in prize money. The Prime Hook took first place in the small boat division and earned $57,960 in prize money.
All weekend, the Talbot Street docks between the Angler restaurant and M.R. Ducks was a festival of fishing, live music, food, vendors and other entertainment. A total of 97 boats competed and over $1 million in prize money was doled out to the winners in several categories.
