32nd Ocean City Tuna Tournament Underway

OCEAN CITY – The 31st annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament is underway with dozens of boats and hundreds of anglers searching the canyons off the coast of the resort in search of the burly behemoths.

The tuna bite has been rock solid thus far this summer, setting up what should be a memorable 2019 Ocean City Tuna Tournament. The event got started Thursday with a captain’s meeting and late registration at the host Ocean City Fishing Center, but the real action gets underway today 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 Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8:30 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, 104 boats and hundreds of anglers competed for over $857,000 in several categories.

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.