turns next week with dozens of
boats and hundreds of anglers ex-
pected to descend on the resort
area for a three-day search for the
burly behemoths in the canyons off
the coast.
last few weeks with Ocean City's
sportfishing fleet returning to the
docks each day with flags flying
high and fish boxes full of tuna, set-
ting up what should be a memorable
2013 Ocean City Fishing Tourna-
ment. The event gets started next
Thursday with a captains meeting
and late registration under the tent
at the host Ocean City Fishing
Center before the first of three fish-
ing days next Friday, July 13.
summer offshore tournament sea-
sons each year, second only perhaps
to the White Marlin Open in terms of
prize money awarded and anglers
participating. Thousands of specta-
tors will cram into the Ocean City
Fishing Center over the course of the
four-day event, which has be-come a
celebration of fishing, food, drinks,
live entertainment and, of course, the
daily weigh-ins at the scale.
$9,000 in prize money, the tuna
tournament has grown by leaps and
bounds over the last two decades
plus. Last year, 79 boats competed
for hundreds of thousands of dollars
in several categories. While the
Ocean City Tuna Tournament might
lack the prestige and glamour of the
White Marlin Open, it certainly does
not lack excitement and suspense.
Sample, Reid Odachowski, Brett Berquist, Zack Pilarski and Grant Janek.
Pictured top row, left to right: Head Coach Tim Orf, Ethan Gaskill, Nathan Ew-
ell, Mitchell Orf, Blake Ludlam, Shea Griffin, and Assistant Coach Ken Pilar-
ski.
tration for the upcoming 2013 sea-
son on Monday.
Red Shield League, which includes
youth football programs from all
over the Eastern Shore, will hold
registration for the 2013 season on
Monday, July 8, at Buckingham Ele-
mentary from 6-7 p.m. The Dolphins
age and size, including the Cadet
team and the Junior team.
The coaching staff does an excel-
lent job of getting the young players
ready to participate in the Red
Shield League, but also instills the
fundamentals they need to succeed
at the next level and many former
players go on to play high school
football at Decatur and other
schools. For more information, con-
tact Donnie at 443-497-1577.
Kick-off tournament got underway
today with the first of three official
fishing days.
sportfishing fleet for the last week or
so, and billfish and dolphin turning
up in decent numbers offshore,
there should be plenty of action in
this year's Canyon Kick-off. Cap-
tains must choose to fish two of the
three fishing days of the event,
which gets underway today.
heaviest fish division, which will re-
ward anglers for bringing the largest
and heaviest meatfish to the scales at
the marina each day. Points will accu-
mulate for each fish brought to the
scales including the heaviest tuna
(minimum 30 pounds), the heaviest
wahoo (minimum 20 pounds) and the
pounds).
morning, and the gear has to be
pulled from the water by 3 each af-
ternoon. In the points division, fish
will be caught and released, while in
the heaviest fish division, potential
winners will be brought to the scales
for weighing.
three fishing days starting at around
5 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m. The e-
vent concludes with an awards ban-
quet at the Ocean City Marlin Club
at the foot of the commercial harbor
in West Ocean City on Monday ev-
ening.
weekend, is the first significant
event for the Marlin Club each year
and serves as a prelude to the more
high-profile tournaments of the sea-
son including the Ocean City Tuna
Tournament next weekend and the
White Marlin Open in August.
week with one team, the new interme-
diate 12-13-year-old team heading to
Mount Airy tomorrow to compete in
the state championship.
13-year-old players, will start com-
peting for a possible state champi-
onship in Mount Airy tomorrow, Sat-
urday, July 6. The tournament runs
all week and concludes with a
championship game on July 11.
pool play in the respective divisions
and age groups this week.
urday and took on Delmar on Tues-
day night in a game played too late
to be included in this edition.
tie Griffin, who was instrumental in
establishing the program in Berlin,
got off to a good start in tournament
play with an 18-8 win over Snow Hill
on Monday.
ward in an attempt to make it back
to the District 8 championship game
and possibly a state championship
three-peat with another impressive
15-2 win over Pocomoke on Mon-
day.
week including a 5-4 loss to Snow
Hill on Monday.
tered 79 boats in the annual Ocean
City Tuna Tournament went out, the
drama built steadily through the
weekend as the leaderboard was
written, erased and rewritten again
through Saturday and Sunday.
tournament just before 7 p.m. last
Sunday, angler James Romero and
the crew on the "Absolute Pleasure"
with Captain Willie Zimmerman pull-
ed up to the scale with a massive
big-eye tuna that would take the
tournament's top prize in the 11th
hour.
Center on the tournament's last day
watched in stunned silence as the
"Absolute Pleasure" crew opened
its fish bag and revealed the giant
big-eye. When the tuna was raised
on the scale, the digital sign crept
up to the 257 mark, setting off loud
cheers from the crowd and hugs
and high-fives from the "Absolute
Pleasure" crew.
and were awarded $224,116 in
prize money. Angler Troy Graham
and the crew on the "Reel Desire"
took second place with its 202-
pound big-eye and was awarded
$30,978. Barton and the "Restless
Lady" team took third with the 194-
pounder and earned $25,715.
Center on each of the three days as
the suspense begins to mount. The
scale closes each day at 7:30 p.m.,
with the exception of the last day of
fishing, when it closes at 7 p.m. The
awards are handed out shortly after
the scales close at the end of the
tournament on Sunday.