The second holiday of the summer season has come and gone and as the month of July moves along one would expect the offshore fishing action to improve. The week that included the long July 4th holiday weekend saw some impressive catches as white marlin and blue marlin releases and an exceptional tuna bite produced big smiles for canyon fanatics who ventured off to the edge. Much of the action took place within the boundaries of the MidAtlantic tournament as the South Jersey Tournament event calendar also got underway. Fresh off a successful School’s Out Tuna Tournament in late June that saw several big eyes weighed including a 197-pounder and numerous yellowfins up to 108 pounds, the MidAtlantic Cup Blue Marlin Tournament worked out well for Cape May, New Jersey’s Jim McCarthy. McCarthy wheeled his Covert Mission to the scale at South Jersey Marina on July 4th and hung a blue marlin of 486 pounds to take home over $81 thousand! The MidAtlantic Blue Marlin Cup also saw six additional blue marlin released and several white marlin released as well! Numerous “fun” trips in the early part of July saw teams working the kinks out of their circle hook drop-back techniques and many scored upwards of eight white marlin released on single-day trips and a few blue marlin were let go too!

Not a bad start to the tournament season here in the northeast and the best is yet to come! It’s hard to believe the 33rd edition of The MidAtlantic is just over a month away and the tournament will be here before you know it. The annual summer gathering of the best boats, crews and anglers will take place this year August 18-23 at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. These two renowned marinas located in two of the Atlantic Coast’s most popular vacation venues attracts all the “big guns” in bluewater sportfishing where they’ll be chasing white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, dolphin and wahoo with an eye at taking home a piece of a projected cash purse of $6 million! The tournament’s entry fee of $3,000 covers all dockside activities, hospitality and entertainment for a crew of six during tournament week. Cash payouts from 11 calcuttas make up the purse for the tournament and participation in these “side bets” is strictly optional. However, obviously the higher the risk, the higher the reward. The Scania/Mack Boring 33rd Annual Mega Marlin Calcutta has an entry fee of $33,000 and pays out for the two heaviest white marlin and blue marlin. As a side note, a portion of this calcutta is donated offshore fishing charities, which benefits all anglers.

There are four calcuttas which payout for the three heaviest of all tournament eligible species. The Jupiter 50 and Under Calcutta has an entry fee of $2,000 and is only eligible for boats 50 feet or less designated by the manufacturer’s model name. The In Deep Calcutta and Volvo Penta MidAtlantic Overall Calcutta have entry fees of $6,000 and $3,000 respectively. United Rentals sponsors the Home Port Calcutta, a port specific calcutta that pays out for the three heaviest tournament eligible species weighed in Cape May and Ocean City. Three Pro Jackpots include the Roffs White Marlin Pro Jackpot with a $5,000 entry fee while the Blue Marlin Pro Jackpot and the Canyon Runner Tuna Pro Jackpot each have $3,000 entry fees. All Pro Jackpots are one prize winner-take-all for the heaviest of the designated species. Tuna, dolphin and wahoo also have a separate calcutta that’s sponsored by Hank’s Sauce and has a $2,500 fee with the pot divided among the three heaviest of each of those species. Back again this year is the Christi Marine On the Board Reward, which pays out to the three heaviest white marlin, blue marlin, and tuna that are on the scoreboard at the close of the day’s weigh-in. Finally, the Atlantic Tackle and Salt Life Billfish Points Calcutta pays out to the three highest billfish point totals with separate pots for Cape May and Ocean City.

As one can see there’s plenty of cash up for grabs at the MidAtlantic and you don’t want to be left out of what’s sure to be another memorable event. Port caps of 125 boats each in Cape May and Ocean City always puts dockage at both host marinas in high demand and Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman advises participants to secure their transient slip space ASAP. “We’re expecting another large entry field and both host marinas are getting calls daily from boat owners and captains looking to book dockage so I’d advise anyone thinking of fishing with us this year to make arrangements as soon as they can,” he noted, adding the tournament web site has a tab for online registration. “If you go to www.themidatlantic.com and click on the Registration tab you can easily enter the tournament and pay calcutta fees before the tournament which saves time during registration on Sunday of tournament week.”

For more information on this year’s MidAtlantic contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177 or visit the tournament’s web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about the event including a complete breakdown of calcuttas, rules, points, and a Tournament Week schedule. You can also follow along on social media Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament; on Twitter @midatl and on Instagram @themidatlantictournament.