Fall Tournament Season in Full Swing

OCEAN CITY- With the clock ticking on the closure of the summer flounder season at midnight on Sunday, there should be plenty of action in the waters in and around the resort area this weekend with a couple of tournament's whose targeted species include the flatfish.

Sunset Marina in West Ocean City will play host, weather permitting, to the annual Wahoo Rodeo and Flounder Round-Up all weekend. Billed as 'truly a tournament for everyone,' the annual event provides an opportunity for offshore anglers and bay fishermen to compete in a fun event with cash and prizes in several categories. As the name implies, anglers will be targeting wahoo offshore and flounder inshore, although cash and awards will also be granted for the largest tuna and dolphin.

The tournament got underway last night with registration and a captain's meeting at Sunset Marina. The action in the water got underway this morning with the first of three official fishing days. Captains and crews on participating boats must choose to fish one of the three days, which conclude on Sunday.

Offshore, tournament participants will target wahoo, dolphin and tuna with a boundary limit of 100 nautical miles from the sea buoy. The inshore segment of the event will target flounder and prizes will be awarded for the top three largest fish. The boundaries for the Flounder Round-up include anywhere in between the Route 90 bridge and the Verazzano Bridge and one nautical mile off the coast of the resort.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three largest fish in each division with various added entry levels available to enhance the payouts. In addition, there will be a Top Lady Angler prize for the largest wahoo or flounder caught by a female age 16 or older and a Top Junior Angler prize for the top wahoo or flounder caught by a youth age 15 or younger. In both cases, the angler must accompany the winning fish to the scales.

Sunset Marina will host the event with daily weigh-ins from 4-7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 4-6:30 p.m. on Sunday. A banquet and awards ceremony will be held at the conclusion of the event on Sunday at the Ocean City Marlin Club.

While the Wahoo Rodeo and Flounder Round-Up is going on at Sunset Marina, the 4^th Annual Flounder Pounder Tournament will be going on over at Bahia Marina in Ocean City. The annual Flounder Pounder event is a one-day tournament targeting, of course, flounder, and will be held on Sunday, September 13.