29th Canyon Kick-Off in the Books

OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 29th Annual Canyon Kick-Off last weekend was a huge success with 63 boats competing and $54,450 in prize money doled out to the winners in several categories.

The annual tournament, held each year on or around the Fourth of July weekend, is the first significant event of the Marlin Club’s summer-long tournament series and serves as a prelude of sorts to the more high-profile tournaments in the resort including the Ocean City Tuna Tournament, which gets underway next weekend, and the White Marlin Open in August.

The big winner ins last week’s Canyon Kick-Off was the “Stress Reel-ief,” which practically swept the tuna division. The “Stress Reel-ief” took first place in the tuna division with a 142.6-pounder worth $20,081 and also took second in the division with a 99.4-pound tuna worth $2,936. The crew on the “Still Lucky” weighed the third-place tuna, a 93.6-pounder, but the “Stress Reel-ief” weighed an 87.2-pounder for fourth but earned the last share of the division’s prize money at $1,957.

In the billfish release division, the “Spike’s Boat” took first place by virtue of the earliest release and was awarded $4,500. However, the “Brother’s Pride” came in fourth in terms of the time but was awarded the division’s top monetary prize at $4,905 because of added entry levels. The “Brenda Lou” was second and earned $1,440, while the “Always Late” was third and earned $2079.

A similar scenario played out in the dolphin division. The crew on the “Billfisher” took second with a 27.6-pound dolphin, but earned the top prize of $10,874 because of added entry levels. The crew on the “Vapor Trail” was first with a 34-pounder and earned $2,936. The “Dilligaf” was third and earned $567, the “Get-R-Done” was fourth and the “Billfisher” was fifth with a 20.2-pound dolphin and earned another $607 on top of its second-place prize money. In the heaviest bluefin division, the “Hammerdown” took first place with an 88-pounder and was awarded $1.080.