Day Four dawned sunny and clear with a light breeze for the 124 boats that gave it a go in the 2020 MidAtlantic. Though the white marlin were scattered, several boats were able to get ‘em in a circle and racked up some impressive numbers of releases. Additionally, several billfish were also weighed and some major changes to the leaderboard in occurred. The red-hot tuna bite continued and numerous dolphin were also weighed. Also, worthy of note is a correction to the tournament purse which has now been increased to $4,074,430 after all calcuttas were rechecked.
As the evening’s weigh-in session came to a close, we have a new leader in the white marlin category after Ellicott City, Maryland’s Bill Kelly aboard his Blood Money captained by Anthony Pino weighed a 91-pound white marlin for angler Zack Smith. That’s the third largest white marlin in the tournament’s history and largest white marlin weighed since the tournament record of 95 pounds was set back in 2009. The 77-pound white marlin weighed by Doug Allen of North Cape May, New Jersey aboard his Big Oil on Day Two is now in second place. Hughesville, Maryland’s Paul Cabeda on his Lucky Fin with Captain Brad Zimmerman moved into third place today after weighing a 70-pound white marlin for angler Gary Radford. There were also several other white marlin weighed today which qualified for the tournament and may have an impact on the final calcutta standings. Joe Stein III of Marriottsville, Maryland aboard his Marli captained by Mark Hoos weighed a 69-pounder for angler Joe Stein. Also, Princeton, New Jersey’s Robert Wedeking’s Override weighed a white marlin of 65-pounds for Wedeking who was also the angler.
Blue marlin over the 400-pound minimum have been hard to find and while well over two dozen have been caught and released, the first was weighed today. Joe Kelly of Holland, Pennsylvania aboard his Salty Tiger with Captain Ed Mosserok at the wheel weighed a 489-pounder for angler Justin Brown. Second and third place remain vacant.
Day Four also saw a big change in the tuna category when Lititz, Pennsylvania’s John Conrad pulled his Grett’s 3 J’s to the scale and weighed a 129-pound yellowfin for angler Mike Tenuto to move into third place. Mike Yocco of Jupiter, Florida’s remains in the lead with the 189-pound big eye weighed on Day Two from his MJ’s. Bob Hugin of Summit, New Jersey aboard his The Right Place is still in second place with the 168-pound big eye weighed on Day Three.
In the dolphin category, we have a new leader today after Gaithersburg, Maryland’s Judith Duffie aboard her Billfisher weighed a mahi of 46 pounds. Steve Summers of Potomac, Maryland is now in second place with the 33-pounder caught on Day Two. Edward Amos from Frederick, Maryland weighed a 32-pound dolphin today from his Drillin’ & Billin’ and moved into a tie for third place with New Castle, Delaware’s Michael Peete on his No Quarter.
Through Day Four wahoo have been very scarce and only one has been weighed and that fish belongs to Deane Lambros’ and his Canyon Runner based in Point Pleasant, New Jersey with a 42-pounder. Second and third place remain vacant in the category.
Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day Three include Brooks Smith’s Uno Mas with 10 white marlin released. Anne Aramendia’s Give it Away and Judith Duffie’s Billfisher released six white marlin while Buell Polk’s Sharee released five white marlin. Dave Anderson’s Krazy Salts released four white marlin today. Chip Caruso’s Pipedreamer, David Johnson’s J&T, Jamie Diller’s Canyon Lady, Ted Wills’ Pipe Dream, Rickey Wheeler’s Wish You Were Here, Bob Warder’s Boss Hogg, Burke Wall’s Trash Man and Daniel Ross’ Whiskey Kilo each released two white marlin. Pat Healy’s Viking 80 released one white marlin and one blue marlin.
Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event. Nightly weigh-in sessions at Canyon Club Resort Marina and Sunset Marina as well as other tournament venues are not open to the general public and require credentials for entry. All local, state and federal procedures with regard to Covid-19 are being followed to ensure the health and safety of all tournament staff, sponsors and participants.
For further information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177. Be sure to visit the tournament’s official web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about the 2020 MidAtlantic including a complete rundown of calcutta payouts, rules, points, tournament records and an event schedule. You’ll also find a link to purchase official tournament merchandise. Additionally, each night you can follow the weigh-in session with live video feed from both marinas via a link on the tournament’s web site. You can also follow all the action on Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament; on Twitter; @midatl and on Instagram; @themidatlantictournament.
