13th Mako Mania in the Books

OCEAN CITY- The 13^th Annual Mako Mania shark tournament last weekend was the big success with hundreds of sharks caught and released and dozens more weighed at the scales at host Bahia Marina.

Sharks turned up in great numbers in the waters off the coast of Ocean City last weekend, just in time for Mako Mania, the first major event of the summer tournament season in the resort. A total of 46 boats and 206 anglers participated in the annual kick-off event and many were awarded cash prizes for winning sharks brought to the scales.

First place in the mako division went to angler Don Clawson on the 'Nontypical,' who weighed a 224-pound mako worth $37,085, by far the largest cash prize in the tournament. Second place in the mako division went to angler Mike Miller on the 'Teaser,' who caught a 213-pounder worth $11,451, while Jim Hughes, also on the 'Nontypical' took third in the division with a 199-pound mako worth $7,634.

First-place in the thresher division went to angler Ethan Spencer on the 'Wayne's World,' who weighed a 443-pound thresher shark worth $4,290. Angler Roland Hubbard on the 'Jezebel' took first place in the bluefish division with a 10.4 pounder worth $4,946, while Brian Kalvaitis on the 'Adventurous' took second place in the bluefish division with a 10.1 pounder worth $2,394.

The W.W. Harman Award for the most sharks released went to the crew aboard the 'Marlin Magic,' which caught and released six mako and 39 blue sharks. Overall, 40 fish were weighed at the scales at Bahia Marina over the three days including 28 mako, three threshers and nine bluefish. Over the course of the three-day tournament, 75 mako, 337 blue sharks, three threshers, two dusky sharks and one tiger sharks were caught.