The 35th MidAtlantic tournament set new benchmarks this August, with the big game tournament seeing a tournament record field of 208 boats battling out over five days for a share of the event’s new record purse of $6,756,020. There was also a new record payout of $1,477,980 to the blue marlin winner breaking the previous record set in 2023.
Though the white marlin didn’t make as strong a showing in numbers as they have in previous years, the blue marlin were a completely different story. Of all the records set this year, by far the most impressive was the number of blue marlin caught. The 112 caught, including 107 released, shatters the previous record of 68 caught with 62 released set in 2019!
Bigeye tuna were noticeably scarce but several big Allison yellowfins filled the gap. You have to go back to 2021 for the last time an Allison yellowfin tuna over 172 pounds was weighed in the tournament.
After the brutal thunderstorms and torrential rain during the evening of day four of the event, the morning dawned overcast and still quite breezy for the 172 boats, including 66 in Cape May and 106 in Ocean City that headed offshore on day five. Sea conditions remained quite sporty for most of the day and some boats picked away at white marlin with several catching three or more. The blue marlin bite dropped off a bit for the day after a torrid pace that saw 99 caught through the tournament’s first four days. On day five no billfish were weighed and although numerous tuna were weighed, none were able to break into the top three. Several dolphin were weighed and the first wahoo went up the scale as well.
With no white marlin weighed on day five there was a tie for the heaviest billfish in the category. Capt. John Ball at the helm of Bob Mormile’s Cape May, New Jersey-based Lizanne weighed an 80-pounder for angler Andy Levy on day four. Robert Warder’s Boss Hogg from Ocean City, MD with Capt. Alex Beane at the wheel weighed his 80-pounder angler Paul Hannum caught on day two. Although there was a tie Boss Hogg received $1,357,860 and Lizanne received $615,112 because of different levels of calcuttas. Dale Plummer of Ocean City, MD aboard his ReelVille finished in third place with the 78-pounder which Brian Plummer caught on day three and received $602,317.
The blue marlin category also remained unchanged after day five. Ken Hager’s Taylor Jean based out of North Palm Beach, FL with Capt. Blaine Birch at the wheel held on to win the category with the 688-pound billfish caught on day four by angler Dave McKendrick for which Taylor Jean received a record payout of $1,477,980.
Peter Cherasia’s Rumson, NJ-based Shark Byte with Capt. Rich Barrett on the bridge finished in second place with the 599-pounder that Cherasia caught on day two and received $634,145. Mike Yocco’s MJ’s from Cape May took third place with the 523-pounder angler Brandon Kape bested on day two and received $145,239.
In the tuna division there was also a tie. Matthew Garabedian’s Palm Beach, Florida-based Disciplined with Capt. Hayden Browning at the helm weighed a monster 182-pound yellowfin tuna on day four for angler Ian Winslow. Chris Little of Ocean City, MD aboard his Talkin’ Trash weighed a 182-pound Allison yellowfin tuna on day two for angler Dan Caiola. Payouts differ slightly since Talkin’ Trash caught their tuna earlier in the week so they received $544,620 and Disciplined won $495,926.
Capta.Charles Vanderbek put Kirk Kellog’s Palm Beach, Florida-based Following Seas into a third-place finish with the 126-pound bigeye weighed on day two for angler Trip Manley and won $196,124.
The dolphin category saw a complete shake-up on day five after Capt. Travis Brown moved Travis Cantrell’s Reel Priority from Morehead City, NC to the top of the leaderboard with a 33-pounder for angler Joe Freeberry and won $106,651. Second place went to Ocean City, MD’s Nick Neary and Capt. Lonnie Price aboard Lit Up for a 32-pounder and won $32,936. The third heaviest dolphin went to Jason Norton on Godzilla from Ocean City, MD for the 30-pounder Jake Freeman caught and was worth $16,468.
Interestingly no wahoo was weighed until day five, the final day of the tournament, when Capt. Jonathon Cianciulli put Timothy Ryan’s Reel Blessed from Ocean City, NJ atop the leaderboard with a 58-pound ‘hoo for angler Will Shorman that was worth $85,656. Second place went Mike Yocco’s MJs from Cape May with a 21-pounder for angler Brandon Kape and won $61,014.
A tournament record purse of $6,756,020 was handed out to 25 different winners. Worthy of note is two winners received checks of over $1.3 million including a tournament record payout of $1,477,980 to Taylor Jean for the heaviest blue marlin. Additionally, seven other winners received checks between $196,000 and $634,000 and five others received checks between $52,000 and $106,000.
