OCEAN CITY TUNA TOURNAMENT
12940 INLET ISLE LANE
OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND 21842
Contact: Jennifer Blunt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2008 Ocean City Tuna Tournament Winners Take Home $571,470.00
July 29, 2008, Ocean City, MD—The 21st Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament, which took place July 11th-13th, paid out a cash total of $571,470.00. One hundred and twenty-eight boats entered the tournament and spectators packed the scales at the Ocean City Fishing Center and Sunset Marina all three days of weigh-ins. The Bluefin bite, which had been great leading up to the tournament, remained throughout the weekend.
Over one hundred boats fished Friday, the first day of the event and the weather was awesome. Most of the Bluefin Tuna weighed on day one were under 100 pounds. The team on the “Reel Chaos” managed to bring one of the few larger tuna to the scale, weighing 113 pounds to take 1st place after Day 1. The “Evil Eye” strung up 3 nice Yellowfin Tuna and 2 Bluefin Tuna over at the Sunset Marina scale and took 1st place in the Heaviest Total Weight division with a total of 281 pounds.
Once again, on Saturday, day two, over one hundred boats fished and not only was the weather HOT but so was the fishing. The first boat to the scales at the Ocean City Fishing Center was the “Cyntinory” with a monster of a Bluefin tuna compared to what we saw on day 1. Their 173 pound Tuna held 1st place by the end of Day 2. Team “Evil Eye” added to their 1st place heaviest total weight of 281 pounds by weighing a 61 pound Yellowfin tuna for a two day total of 342 pounds and held onto 1st place at the end of Day 2.
Though only over 40 boats were left to fish their second day on Sunday, Day 3, the leaderboard saw a lot of changes. Waiting at the scale with 20 minutes to kill until the weigh-ins began, the crew aboard the “Fin-Ness” had a Bluefin Tuna iced down and ready to weigh. At 4:00PM they carefully slid their 1 Bluefin Tuna from the boat onto the dock and up on the scale it went. Weighing in at an impressive 183 pounds they took over 1st place in the Heaviest Single Tuna division. This would not last long. On deck at the T-Head, the “Marlin Magic” waited for the “Fin-Ness” to clear the scale. Rumor had it that they too had a BIG Bluefin to weigh and that they did indeed. Their 190 pound Bluefin Tuna caught by Junior Angler, Lance Crampton, quickly took over 1st place. First place in the Heaviest Total Weight division also changed on Day 3. The team aboard the “Marli” weighed a total of 319 pounds of Tuna, 4 Yellowfin and 1 Bluefin. This weight added to their first day of fishing’s catch of 134 total pounds gave them 1st place Heaviest Total Weight with 453 total pounds.
With over a half a million dollars given away at the awards and only down 11 boats from last year, the 21st Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament was another huge success. We would like to thank our sponsors for their support: RELEASE MARINE, CALCUTTA, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, COSTA DEL MAR, ALBAN CATERPILLAR, MID-ATLANTIC $500,000, SOUTH JERSEY YACHT SALES, RHODE RIVER BOAT SALES, ALBEMARLE, AVON DIXON INSURANCE, CUMMINS, CATO GAS & OIL, HOLIDAY REAL ESTATE, MARTEK MARINE ELECTRONICS OF OCEAN CITY, MD, FURUNO MARINE ELECTRONICS, KING SAILFISH MOUNTS, WMDT TV 47, BLACK BART LURES, INTRINSIC YACHT & SHIP, JARRETT BAY YACHT SALES, BINNACLE CUSTOM TACKLE, NORTH BAY MARINA, HONDA MARINE and 92.1FM THE WAVE.
Final Results:
Heaviest Total Weight
1st Place: MARLI CREW 453#s - 2 DAY TOTAL $107,102
2nd Place: FISH WHISTLE CREW 361#s - 2 DAY TOTAL $48,088
3rd Place: EVIL EYE CREW 342#s - 2 DAY TOTAL $24,589
Single Heaviest Dolphin
1st Place: PARKER 28' ANTHONY CLOSE 34# $2,500
2nd Place: SQUIDNATION GUNNAR ZORN 30# $1,000
3rd Place: MARLI MATT DAHL 28# $250
3rd Place: MARLIN MAGIC JAKE BURGER 28# $250
Single Heaviest Tuna
1st Place: MARLIN MAGIC LANCE CRAMPTON 190# $87,302
2nd Place: FIN NESS RON CARE 183# $238,888
3rd Place: D.A. SEA GREG GARMAN 174# $36,469
Top Junior Angler
1st Place: MARLIN MAGIC LANCE CRAMPTON 190# $1,000
2nd Place: TUNA BOX RYAN KIRK 112# $500
3rd Place: JO JO SEAN SUMMERS 92# $250
Top Lady Angler
1st Place: MUGGER DIANE OROS 97# $1,500
Daily - Day 1
Daily Largest BILLFISHER FRANK SHERMAN 164# $7,155
Daily Heaviest EVIL EYE CREW 281#s $7,155
Daily - Day 2
Daily Largest MARLIN MAGIC LANCE CRAMPTON 190# $7,155
Daily Heaviest MARLI CREW 319#s $7,155
