16th Mako Mania In The Books

OCEAN CITY- The 16th Annual Mako Mania Shark Tournament last weekend was one for the books, with plenty of sharks of all species caught and released and dozens more weighed at the scale at host Bahia Marina.

With the shark season offshore heating up earlier than ever this year, expectations were high for the 16th Mako Mania tournament out of Bahia Marina last weekend. The tournament is the first significant event of the summer-long offshore tournament season in the resort and serves as a predecessor to the Ocean City Shark Tournament set for next week.

The first day of fishing last Friday was one of the best in recent tournament history with 14 qualifying makos weighed at the scale at Bahia Marina. Also hauled in on Day One was a 567-pound-plus thresher shark caught by the crew on the “Runnin’ Late.” At the end of Day One, the crew on the “Chasin’ Tails” led the prestigious Mako Division with a 187-pounder.

On Day Two, just three qualifying makos were brought in, but the leaderboard changed with a new first-place mako, a 213-pounder caught by the crew on the “Jade II.” On the last day, the crew on the “Keep Er Wet” brought in a 280-plus pound mako to take first place in the division. Also caught on the last day was a 194-pound mako by the “Runnin’ Late” crew, which settled into third place behind the “Keep Er Wet” and the “Jade II.”