Small Boat Tourney Celebrates 30th Year

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Marlin Club’s 30th Annual Small Boat Tournament, the first in a long series of events scheduled by the club throughout the summer, returns this weekend with dozens of boats and teams of anglers competing in both offshore and inshore divisions.

The annual tournament is open to all anglers and boats 34-feet long and under. The tournament officially gets underway tonight with registration and a captain’s meeting at the Marlin Club in West Ocean City. The real action starts tomorrow, the first of two fishing days. Captains must choose to fish one of the two days, Saturday and Sunday, and can compete in either the offshore or inshore division or both. Boats will be allowed to fish the inshore division one day and the offshore division the other.

Lines can go in the water at 6:30 a.m. and must be out by 3 p.m. each day. Weigh-ins will be held each fishing day at Sunset Marina in West Ocean City from 3-7 p.m. The event concludes with an awards ceremony and banquet including an Eastern Shore-style crab feast on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Marlin Club after the scales officially close.

The inshore division will target flounder, trout, sea bass, tog, bluefish and rockfish with a $500 bonus for the largest flounder. The offshore division will target tuna, dolphin, shark and billfish and will include a release division. There will also be a $500 bonus for the largest tuna. In the points division, 100 points will be awarded for any white marlin, sailfish or spearfish, while 150 points will be awarded for any blue marlin or swordfish.

The Small Boat Tournament is the first of many over the course of the summer for the Ocean City Marlin Club. The Canyon Kick-Off will be held July 2-5, the Kids Classic will be held July 17-19, the first-ever OCMC Ladies Tournament will be held July 30 to Aug. 1, the annual Labor Day Tournament will be held Sept. 3-6, and the Challenge Cup will be held Sept. 17-19.