Posted on May 25th, 2017
The much anticipated start to the Ocean City fishing tournament season starts this weekend with the 8th Annual Memorial Day Tournament put on by the Ocean City Marlin Club. This is a fish one of two day tournament with categories for bluefish and meat fish which is broken down into mako shark and tuna. This is a great event to get the season started off and the weather looks good for fishing. Here is the event info.
REGISTRATION
May 26, 2017 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Captain’s Meeting 8:00 p.m. Open Bar – Draft Beer & Wine Only & Appetizers until 8:30 p.m.
FISHING DAYS
Fish 1 of 2: May 27 & 28
Lines In 8:00 a.m. | Lines Out 3:00 p.m.
You may leave any time that fishing day observing the prescribed fishing times. ALL fish must be weighed at Sunset Marina.
WEIGH-INS
May 27 & 28 4:00 p.m. – 7 p.m. Sunset Marina
Boats must be inside the Marina cut by 6:30 p.m. You may get the fish to the scales by any means you wish, including transferring the fish to another boat or by car. All fish weights will be rounded to the nearest 1/10 pound. All catch reports must be turned into the Ocean City Marlin Club Weigh-Master at Sunset Marina on the day of fishing by 6:30 p.m. No exceptions.
RULES: This is is a recreational angling tournament. No green sticks, no rod limit, spreader bars allowed, sharks can be shot for boating purposes, no harpoons. Accepted methods of recreational angling are allowed. Any questions regarding technique or equipment should be directed to the tournament chair at the Captain’s meeting. A representative of each entry must be present at the Captain’s meeting.
LAY DAY: Must be declared by 10:00 a.m. NO EXCEPTIONS. Leave message at the Club: 410.213.1613. If no call is received by 10:00 a.m., boat or shore based angler is automatically considered as fishing. You may also declare a lay day at registration.
FISHING GROUNDS
OFFSHORE & INSHORE: Boundary is 100 miles from Sea Buoy. You may depart from either Indian River Inlet or Ocean City Inlet and all fish must be weighed at Sunset Marina.
SCORING: Heaviest Fish Top Three Places – 1st, 2nd, 3rd. State and Federal Minimum sizes apply.
The Marlin Club retains 10% of all Calcutta monies & a portion of the Entry Fee will go to the Catherine and Charles Kratz Memorial Foundation and Scholarship Fund. In the event no fish is caught in a particular Calcutta the money will be returned; less the 10% Marlin Club retention. All protests must be made to the Marlin Club President by 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 28, 2017. The tournament will become offcial at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 29, 2017. Winner payment – All winners must complete a W-9 form. All checks will be mailed by 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. In the event of a tie, the money will be split equally.
Last year there were no qualifying mako weighed and the crews of A Salt Weapon II and Grande Pez ruled the tuna category while the crew of the Barbara Rose swept the bluefish category.
The boys and girls from the Marlin Team of the 5th grade at Berlin Intermediate School had enough of school today so they skipped out to do some fun fishing in Pocomoke this afternoon. Teachers David Wells, Travis Lloyd, Val Vigorito, Susan Cropper, Peggy Straight, Kathy O’Grince and Brittany Thompson chaperoned the kids to Shad Landing where they caught a bunch of bluegill and learned the fishing ropes. All of the fish were caught on nightcrawlers and professional bluegill fisherman Travis Lloyd’s secret bait…..hot dogs!
Kate Gordon, Jacob Hicks and a terrified Jayden Carter display some of today’s catch.
David Wells reports that a fun time was had by all!
