The offshore fishing season kicked in to high gear over the Fourth of July weekend. The Baltimore Canyon was the place to be for billfish as there were numerous reports of white marlin and blue marlin released with several boats catching upwards of eight white marlin and one boat reported releasing two blues and a white marlin on a day trip! A bit to the north, the tuna bite went off at the Toms Canyon where bigeye and yellowfin were both caught, while a little further to the north the Hudson Canyon also gave up bigeye and yellowfin as well. Numerous gaffer-sized dolphin were also decked in all three locations.
All in all there’s a nice spread of fish for those looking to compete in the 35th edition of The MidAtlantic being held the week of August 16-21. According to tournament director Aaron Hoffman, early registration has been brisk.
“We’ve seen an uptick in registrations over the past week or so and the good fishing is no doubt helping add to the numbers,” said Hoffman, adding “Last year we had quite a few boats drop out at the last minute due to the unusual weather and many of them rolled their base entry fee over to 2026 and they too have already reserved slip space at the tournament’s host marinas in Cape May and down in Ocean City, MD.”
While the base entry fee of $3,500 covers all dockside activities for a crew of six, the event’s prize money is tallied from several calcuttas with 11 of these “side bets” to choose from with fees ranging from $1,000 to $35,000. Excluding last year – which despite a smaller field still saw over $3.2 million paid out – four of the last five years have seen cash purses well over $5 million including 2021’s record payout of $5.9 million!
Registration for this year’s MidAtlantic is open and can be easily and securely completed from themidatlantic.com. The South Jersey Tournaments App also provides a safe and secure way to enter. For more information contact Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177.
