Marlin Club's Labor Day Tourney on Tap

OCEAN CITY- While it may lack the glamour and high payouts of the White Marlin Open, the Ocean City Marlin Clubs 51^st Annual Labor Day White Marlin Tournament, which gets underway next weekend, trumps all other in terms of history and prestige.

Called the 'granddaddy' of the resort area fishing tournaments, the annual Labor Day White Marlin tournament is the oldest among the tournaments held in and around Ocean City each summer. The first was held in 1958 and the annual event has endured for five decades and several generations of local anglers.

The tournament gets underway next Friday with the first of three official fishing days. Captains and teams of anglers must choose to fish two of the three days. As the name implies, the focus of the tournament is on white marlin, but there won't be any billfish weighed at the scale at host Sunset Marina. The tournament's winner in the billfish category will accumulate the most release points over the three days of fishing.

There should be plenty of action at the scale at Sunset Marina each day as there are separate meatfish divisions for tuna, dolphin and wahoo. Cash prizes will be paid out to the top three finishers in each category. Weigh-ins will be held each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at Sunset Marina from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.