Article by Larry Jock
In the 9th Annual Mid-Atlantic Tuna Tournament held in Cape May, NJ, three local charter boats combined to place in 3 divisions and take home $97,129 of the total $154,651 awarded to winning anglers.
On the first day of the tournament, Capt. Rob Skillman and the crew on “Moore Bills” weighed a 69 lb. yellowfin that held on to tie for first place in the Heaviest Tuna Division and in the Heaviest Yellowfin Division. The “Sea Mistress” also boated a 69 lb. yellowfin on opening day to tie the “Moore Bills”. For their first place tie, the “Moore Bills” won $33,515 in award money.
On the final day of the tournament, the “Playmate”, with Capt. Willie Zimmerman at the helm, threw a 67 lb. bluefin tuna on the scale to edge out “All Geared Up” and win top honors in the Heaviest Bluefin Division. The bluefin also gave the “Playmate” crew a stringer weight (top 3 fish during 2 days of fishing) of 191 lbs. to win the Heaviest Stringer Division by a single pound. For their win in the two divisions, the “Playmate” took home a check in the amount of $49,329.
Second place in the Heaviest Stringer Division was Capt. John Oughton’s “That’s Right”, another Ocean City boat, with 190 lbs. recorded for their three heaviest yellowfin tuna caught on day 1 and day 3 of the tournament. The crew on “That’s Right” won $14,285 for their 2nd place finish.
The tournament changed to an all-trolling format this year and tournament organizers were happy with 34 boats registering and the outcome of the tournament. At the awards ceremony, Tournament director Bob Glover jokingly apologized for the lack of fish, and thanked everyone for participating. “Since we changed the format this year, this is essentially a new event and everyone’s been telling us how much they liked it and to stick with it for 2011 and more boats will come.” Glover said. “I think we’ll do just that!
