Flounder Plentiful as Season Closes

OCEAN CITY- The summer flounder season ended as scheduled as planned last Sunday, but a flurry of late action in a handful of local tournaments, including the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association (MSSA) Beach N' Boat event out of Sunset Marina, left many anglers with fond memories to hold onto until the season opens again next year.

The MSSA's 1^st Annual Beach N' Boat tournament held in and around the Ocean City area last weekend turned up some impressive flounder as the season wound down. The tournament was open to all anglers and offered a unique twist with land-based anglers competing with water-based anglers. Angler Ed Krell of Glen Burnie took top honors with a 24-inch, 5.75-pound flounder worth $1,000.

Greg Nesslroad of Ridgely, Md. took second with a 2.05-pound flounder worth $385, while Jason Leishear of Baltimore took third with a 2.2-pounder worth $215. Kevin McMenamin of Annapolis took first in the sea bass division with a 14-inch, 1.3-pounder and was awarded $400.

The MSSA tournament was just one of many similar events around the resort area last weekend and plenty of big flounder were weighed as the season wound down. In Bahia Marina's annual Flounder Pounder tournament, angler Les Givens took first place with a nice 4.9-pound flattie, while Danny Cox took second with a 4-pound flounder and Frank Usavage took third with a 3.4-pounder. A total of 35 boats competed in the annual event.