Poor Girls Tournament a Huge Success

OCEAN CITY- The 16^th Annual Captain Steve Harman Poor Girls Open fishing tournament was a huge success once again with plenty of boats and lady anglers participating, dozens of fish released or weighed at the scale at host Bahia Marina, and perhaps most importantly, thousands of dollars raised for breast cancer research and awareness.

With the high-dollar, high profile White Marlin Open dispensed with the week before, the lady anglers got their turn in the spotlight last weekend with the return of the annual Poor Girls Open. Of course, plenty of lady anglers compete in the White Marlin Open and other tournaments throughout the summer, but the Poor Girls Open is a uniquely female-only event.

The tournament, which typically falls on the weekend after the White Marlin Open, was founded in 1994 by the late Captain Steve Harman and his wife Pam to provide a ladies-only fishing event with the proceeds donated to a local charity. In recent years, the American Cancer Society has been the recipient of choice in conjunction with other 'pink ribbon' events held in and around the resort area all year long.

Last weekend, dozens of boats and scores of lady anglers participated in the event with thousands in prize money doled out to the winners in several categories. The big winner, however, was the American Cancer Society, which a received a check totaling roughly $46,000. Last year, the Poor Girls Open's contribution to the ACS over the years reached the nice round figure of $250,000, so this year's contribution raised the total close to the $300,000 mark.

Despite it charitable overtones, the tournament is still all about fishing and this year's event produced some remarkable results in both the release and meatfish categories. The team of lady anglers aboard the 'D.A. Sea' took top honors in the billfish release division with two white marlin and two blue marlin releases and were awarded $25,613. The 'Billfisher' crew was second in the release division, while the 'Bali-Who' was third and the 'Reel Toy' was fourth.

The team of lady anglers on the 'Predator' enjoyed a big day, weighing the first-place dolphin to earn nearly $6,900. The 'Predator' crew also weighed the third-place dolphin, while the 'Muff Diver' weighed the second-place dolphin.

In the tuna division, it was the crew aboard the 'Pumpin' Hard 66' taking first-place with a 54.7-pound yellowfin worth $6,400. The team on the 'Reel Desire' was second in the tuna division. Shelby Moore was named first-place junior angler.