CURRENT STANDINGS as of FRIDAY AUGUST 24 at 10:00am:
DAY 4 UPDATE:
Day Four dawned clear and breezy for the 124 boats heading offshore in the 2018 MidAtlantic tournament and crews were anxious to get back to the canyons. The back-end of the cold front that kept the entire fleet tied to the dock for the first time in the event’s 27-year history on Day Three left sea conditions a bit sporty for most of the day though it was reported conditions began to improve late in the afternoon today.
The big news of the day came in the white marlin category where Captain Bob Grant wheeled Leonard Tallon’s Gusto based out of Islamorada, Florida into third place after weighing a 69-pounder. Captain Jason Genthner had the Tighten Up from Mount Airy, Maryland on the board briefly with a 67-pound white marlin for 14-year old angler Nick Keller but that fish was bumped off the board by Gusto shortly after it was weighed. John Phelan’s Special Situation from Palm Beach, Florida and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey remain atop the leaderboard with white marlin of 73-pounds.
As with the previous two fishing days, numerous blue marlin were released though none were weighed today and the category remains wide open.
Though numerous tuna were weighed today none challenged the current leaders and Ed Dunn’s DA Sea from Grasonville, Maryland remains atop the leaderboard with 116 pounder. Chad Jackson’s Toddy Time from Farmingdale, New York and Captain Mark DeBlasio’s Blue Runner from Manasquan, New Jersey remain tied for second as each have weighed big eyes of 114 pounds.
In the dolphin category John League of Annapolis, Maryland moved into second place today after weighing a 34-pounder from his Espadon. Jim Rodgers’ First Light from Hobe Sound, Florida remains atop the board in the category with his 43-pounder. Chuck Weishaar’s The Natural from Hampstead is now in third place with a 33-pounder.
Michael Chase of Villanova, Pennsylvania weighed a 49-pound wahoo today aboard his Contrail to move into second place in that category. Ed Zajdel of Ocean City, Maryland continues to lead with his 71-pounder caught aboard The Zipper while Joe Posillico’s Torta from Farmingdale, New York is hanging onto third place with his 46-pounder.
Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day Four include Chip Caruso’s Pipe Dreamer and Michael Savino’s Texas Tea with eight white marlin each while Matthew Weber’s Max Bet released six white marlin. Ryan Carroll’s Ringleader released five white marlin and a blue marlin. Josh Wentling’s Instigator, Walt Koller’s Nasty Habit, John Belansen’s Beast, Raymond Craig’s Amarula Sun and Anne Aramandia’s Give it Away each released a blue marlin and a white marlin. Nick Eubank’s Double Barrel, Jeff Donohue’s Hatterascal and Joe Rahman’s Auspicious each released a blue marlin.
The 2018 MidAtlantic concludes tomorrow and with the entire fleet of 157 boats eligible to fish the final day of the tournament it should be another exciting finish to sportfishing’s “Main Event.” Friday has traditionally been “moving day” when the leaderboard has historically seen a complete overhaul. Will the same happen this year? Stay tuned!
Status Quo after Day Three of the 2018 MidAtlantic Entire 157 Boat Fleet Takes a Day Off
A brutal offshore weather forecast with 20-30 knot winds along the canyon region kept the entire 157 boat fleet entered in the 2018 MidAtlantic tournament tied to the dock on Day Three, a first for this event in its 27-year history. Conditions look much better for the remaining two days of the tournament and with several categories still wide open major changes to the leaderboard are indeed possible.
Billfish and Big Eyes Bite on Day Two of the 2018 MidAtlantic
It was a sprint to the canyons as Day Two dawned at the 2018 MidAtlantic tournament and 146 of the 157 boats in sportfishing’s “Main Event” including 61 from Cape May and 85 from Ocean City gave it a go today. With a majority of the tournament fleet taking a Lay Day on Day One and a marginal weather forecast predicted for Day Three, crews were anxious to get at it today. The billfish bite continued its hot pace of yesterday and there were plenty of big eye tuna to fill the gaps between white marlin and blue marlin bites. Additionally, the dolphin category saw a major shake-up and the first wahoo were weighed and both were impressive.
Andrew Hall of Chester, New Jersey aboard his Lucky Linda Jean with Captain Chris Harron at the wheel weighed a 68-pound white marlin and moved into third place. John Phelan’s Special Situation from Palm Beach, Florida and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey remain tied for the lead in the category with white marlin of 73-pounds. Though numerous blue marlin have been released during the first two days of the tournament none have been weighed and the category remains vacant.
In other news today Captain Butch Cox put Ed Dunn of Grasonville, Maryland in the lead of the tuna category after weighing a big eye tuna of 116 pounds on Dunn’s DA Sea. Chad Jackson’s Toddy Time based out of Farmingdale, New York moved into second place today after weighing a 114-pound big eye tuna. Captain Mark DeBlasio moved into a tie for second place with Blue Runner from Manasquan, New Jersey after weighing five big eye tuna today with the largest weighing 114 pounds.
Jim Rodgers’ First Light from Hobe Sound, Florida took over the top spot in the dolphin category today after weighing a 43-pounder. Chuck Weishaar’s The Natural from Hampstead is now in second place with his 33-pounder while Adam Youschak’s Reelin’ Feelin’ based out of Wildwood, New Jersey weighed a 25-pounder and is in third place.
The first wahoo were weighed today and Ed Zajdel of Ocean City, Maryland aboard his The Zipper currently leads the category with a 71-pounder for angler Nick Miller. Joe Posillico’s Torta from Farmingdale, New York is in second place with a 46-pounder, also weighed today.
Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day Two include Joe Drosey’s Rhonda’s Osprey with two blue marlin and three white marlin released while Michael Savino’s Texas Tea and John League’s Espadon each released a blue marlin and two white marlin. Bucky Morris’ Major Motion released a blue marlin and a white marlin. John Conrad’s Gret’s 3 J’s released a blue marlin. Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady released eight white marlin while Gary Stann’s buckshot and William Haugland’s Lights Out each released seven white marlin. Michael Rich’s Business and Big Oil each released six white marlin today.
2018 MidAtlantic Gets Off to a Fast Start as White Marlin and Tuna Highlight Day One
Day One of the 2018 MidAtlantic tournament dawned overcast and breezy though the inshore weather seemed to contradict the offshore forecast which was predicting much better conditions. The same weather forecast kept much of the tournament fleet tied to the docks on Day One though 44 boats headed offshore. The evening’s weigh-in session got off to and early start as Captain Tucker Colquhn wheeled John Phelan’s Special Situation from Palm Beach, Florida to the scales in Ocean City and got on the board with a 73-pound white marlin for angler Charlie Phelan. Captain Walter Ogden put Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough on the board after weighing a 73-pound white marlin for angler George Robinson to tie with Special Situation.
Photo Courtesy @MidAtl
In the tuna division Curtis Campbell of Ocean City, Maryland aboard his Reel Estate weighed tuna of 111 pounds while Jim Rogers First Light from Hobe Sound, Florida weighed a 102-pound tuna to move into second place. Stephen Lewis’ M.R. Ducks of Ocean City, Maryland weighed a tuna of 85 pounds and is in third place.
Photo Courtesy @MidAtl
Captain Scott Walker put Ryan Carroll’s Ringleader from Dallas, Texas on the board in the dolphin category after weighing an 18-pound dolphin and John Denny’s Game Changer from Crofton, Maryland also got on the board with a 17-pounder.
Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day One include Jon Duffie’s Billfisher with 12 white marlin and one blue marlin released. Anne Aramendia’s Give it Away released eight white marlin while Ed Russo’s Big Deal released six white marlin. 3’s Enough released six white marlin and a blue marlin while First Light, Rob Gothier’s Bar South and Chris Martin’s Goose each released six white marlin.
Ken Hagar’s Taylor Jean, Anthony Matarese’s Real Chaos and Special Situation each released five white marlin. Joe Stein’s Marli and John Gudelsky’s Reel Joy each released four white marlin. Steve Hubbard’s Two Suns released three white marlin and a blue marlin. Robert Berg’s Bad Daddy released a blue marlin.
Registration was brisk on Sunday at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland and the tournament committee worked late into the night to tabulate the final total prize money and when all entries were tallied up a tournament record purse was set once again this year and $3,368,490 is up for grabs this week.
Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event and not open to the general public. Tournament venues require credentials for entry.
As a reminder the 2018 MidAtlantic is accessible through the South Jersey Tournaments App. Be sure to download this free app today for your IOS or Android device from the Apple App and Google Play stores so you can follow all the action all week long!
[…] 2018 MidAtlantic Tournament: Fishing Starts Off Strong […]