Hitting the docks now— The December issue wraps up 2018 in style! Grab your copy today, available in both print and digital.
The Winning Spread: Los Cabos Offshore Tournament
After 13 years, team Predator strikes gold in Cabo. Predator was the Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore Tournament champion and day 1 overall winner with a 522-pound blue marlin reeled in by angler Jarrod Smith. After a forty-seven minute fight, Smith landed the huge fish. Hundreds watched as the 522-pound billfish was lifted as teammates Morgan North (boat owner), Jarrod Smith (angler), Gary Willmott and Jose Grejeda watched.
2018 InTheBite Subscriber Giveaway Fishing Trip
Drew Ward of Houston, Texas won the 2018 InTheBite Subscriber Trip and a day fishing with Captain Harvey Shiflet on the Anticipation. Hitting a grand slam the first day, Drew and friends had a great time!
For your chance to win next year’s trip, just be actively subscribed to InTheBite Magazine as of January 1, 2019. Drawing is early 2019!
InTheBite Dock Talk: 62′ Spencer “Showtime!” Reconstruction
Captain Wink Doerzbacher walks us through the reconstruction currently taking place on the 62′ Spencer Showtime! in this edition of InTheBite Dock Talk.
2018 InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup: Winners Update
Here are the winning results for 3 of the 5 Divisions in the 2018 InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup presented by Hatteras:
Congratulations to the following Captains!
Release Ruler Hawaii Division
Capt. Rob Ellyn, Lightspeed, 1250 Points
Costa Gulf Coast Division
Capt. Jason Buck, Done Deal, 2150 Points
Airmar East Coast Division
Capt. Alan Neiford, Mister Pete, 1750 Points
60th Annual Labor Day White Marlin Tournament Results
Winner of the Billfish Release division with 23 white marlin releases & 1 blue marlin release is Buckshot.
Winner of the tuna category with a 150.2 lb. big eye tuna is Pumpin Hard.
“Waste Knot” Catches 683-Pound Blue Marlin to Win Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament
Waste Knot Wins the 15th Annual VBBT with a 683-Pound Blue Marlin, Five White Marlin Releases
The 15th annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament wrapped up Saturday night and closed the chapter on a historic event. A record 80 boats competed this year for a new benchmark $620,000 in prize money. For the first time, two blue marlin were weighed and one of them made a huge difference for the Manteo, North Carolina team, Waste Knot. Angler Ed Groce boated a 683-pound blue and combined with five white marlin releases, gave the team the top score (1,033 points) and the top payout, $282,000.
2018 MidAtlantic Tournament: Final Results
2018 MidAtlantic Comes to a Close in Record Setting Fashion!
The 2018 MidAtlantic, the 27th edition of sportfishing’s “Main Event,” came to an exciting close last night for the 157 participating boats and crews with award ceremonies featuring lavish buffet dinners and record cash payouts for numerous winners celebrated at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. The week saw numerous records set once again including a cash purse of well over $3.36 million up for grabs, record single payouts for the top winners in the white marlin and tuna categories and a record number of blue marlin (55) caught and well over 750 white marlin released!
The final day of the 2018 MidAtlantic dawned sunny and clear with a light breeze and full moon in the sky. Once again, a bit of tournament history was set as for the first time in the event’s 27-year history the entire fleet of 157 boats was eligible to fish on the final day. Day Five saw several changes on the leaderboard on what has traditionally been called Moving Day at the MidAtlantic. This event was the first billfish tournament to use the phrase in reference to the major shake-ups which occur on the leaderboard and this year would be no different. Sea conditions improved dramatically from the previous day and the billfish bite continued its scorching pace.
The most significant changes occurred in the white marlin category when Captain Doug Ortlip backed Sean O’Donnell’s Cape May-based Got Game to the scales at Canyon Club in Cape May and weighed a 78-pounder for angler O’Donnell to jump to the top of the leaderboard. O’Donnell and crew later in the evening accepted the winner’s check of $905,408 in Cape May, a record payout for white marlin! Got Game’s 78-pounder pushed Thomas Colquhoun’s Special Situation from Ocean City, Maryland and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey, leaders from Day One of the tournament, into a tie for second place as each had weighed white marlin of 73-pounds. 3’s Enough received $293,712 while Special Situation netted $134,006. Worthy of note is the difference in payouts reflects the level of side bets, known as Calcuttas, each participant enters. Another significant change to the leaderboard on Day Five occurred when Captain Paul Robertson weighed a 69-pound white marlin for angler Joey Hurley from their Dayton, Maryland-based FFMD and moved into a tie for third place with Leonard Tallo’s Gusto from Islamorada, Florida. For their efforts Gusto received $169,466 while FFMD netted $141,376.
2018 MidAtlantic Tournament: Fishing Starts Off Strong
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.
“Off Duty” Wins 2018 Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament
Off Duty Wins the 29th Annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament, Tops Record Fleet of 108 Boats
Manteo, North Carolina:
A last minute decision to compete in the 29th annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament paid off for Off Duty, a 80 Viking run by Capt. Mike Everly. The all-female angler team released two white marlin, a sailfish and finally a blue marlin at 2:37 Sunday afternoon to add an extra 50 points, earning the Top Boat honors for the tournament. The Alice Kelly format is release only and based on time. The team consisted of Kristina Shields, Deb Mears and Kristen Constantineau, with mates Rob Constantineau and Daniel Longstreet. Off Duty is based in Stuart, Florida and is owned by Paul Mears.
