Good Hit Crew fishes the White Marlin Open and Mid Atlantic 500
Capt. Michael Muldoon
August 30, 2017
Fort Lauderdale - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Good Hit crew headed up to the northern waters to spend the month of August fishing tournaments in the Mid Atlantic. Our crew consisted of Michael Muldoon, Cody Steen, Lawrence Morejon, Max Fogarty, and Chad May. When we first arrived in Ocean City, Maryland, for the 44th Annual White Marlin Open, we made a strong start when we were working our pre-fishing days before the tournament, catching 7 out of 9 White Marlin. The weather was beautiful, ideal cool temperatures with flat calm fishing conditions. We were competing with 352 other boats participating in this first tournament, and fishing the waters from the inlet in Barnegat, New Jersey down to the inlet located in Rudee,Virginia.
The fishing was slow for our team aboard the Bookends, and some of the others on Day One of the tournament, and our team did not receiving any qualifying bites But Day Two provided some excitement when we caught a 55 lb.Yellow Fin Tuna as well as a 20 lb. Short Fin Mako Shark. The Yellowfin was a qualifier, so we were officially called to the tournament scales where the fish was weighed and catch recorded. We were beat out by a few pounds at the scale, but what a great feeling to finish the day with the team at the weigh-in location getting filmed with the other contenders!
The last two days of the tournament were a little low key for our team, but that did not keep our heads down. We still had another tournament ahead of us, providing us with unlimited opportunities… We extend our congratulations to the winners of the White Marlin Open - the team aboard the Wire Nut brought in a 95.5 lb. White Marlin, the Griffin had caught a 86 lb. White Marlin, and the M.R. Ducks came in with one weighing 79.5 lb. This Tournament Purse totaled over 3.9 million dollars (that's $3,900,000+) and it is one the biggest and most celebrated fishing tournaments in the world.
The Good Hit crew traveled to our next northern tournament and placed us in Cape May, New Jersey for the Mid Atlantic 500 Tournament. This was another popular monster fishing tournament with a purse of over 3 million dollars (that's $3,000,000+). There were 151 boats registered to compete in this fishing contest targeting the same fish as a previous tournament - White Marlin was still the name of the game. The only thing more fierce than the competition in this tournament was the strong camaraderie among the teams. Many of our Florida fishing friends had also traveled far north to participate in the same tournament. But even fellowship did not stop the friendly rivalry of professional fishermen.
On the first day the action and excitement picked up for our group. We caught both a White Marlin aswell as a Sailfish. The White Marlin was only a painful inch and one half short of qualifying and was a huge let down for the crew. We really wanted to get up on the stage with the boys. On Day Two of the tournament we did catch another White Marlin, but it did not even come close to the qualifying range. But this was the day our good friend, Justin Tonks, brought home the cake so to speak. He caught a 680 lb. Blue Marlin and also a 184 lb. Yellow Fin Tuna. The two fish were worth 1.1 million dollars (that's $1,100,000) taking the Tuna pot and the Blue Marlin pot in winnings. Congrats to Justin and the Going in Deep.
Going into Day Three of the Mid Atlantic fishing, we were really hoping to get our turn on the stage. We fished a completely new area and decided to roll the dice big. We heard on the radio that the Reel Rodeo had boated a White Marlin and was going to the Scales. The fish weighed 71 lb. and a nice qualifier for this tournament. The pressure was on for our team, we hooked into a qualifying White Marlin and after a 15 minute fight we jumped it off. Into the last 3 hours we hooked a decent fish, yet it did not jump. We figured it was a Yellowfin Tuna or a Wahoo, as we were not fishing any wire, we figured for it had to be a Yellowfin.
After a short 20 minute fight we begin to see color down deep, it was a large Wahoo. Not hearing of any other Wahoos caught in the tournament, we knew we would be in good shape. That was the last bite for our team on that day. Making it to the scales around 6:30 pm the fish weighed 53 lb on a IGFA scale. We later found out our fish was worth $53,744.50 and we did earn a small piece of the Pie. It's not over until it's over, we made it on to the Board.
I Hope everyone enjoys my post, Captain Mike with Good Hit Sportfishing
See you next year Ocean City and Cape May!
Congrats to all our Florida friends aboard Going in Deep and Reel Rodeo - Florida boys take home the Win.
Fort Lauderdale Fishing Forecast:
Fall is quickly approaching - Kingfish and Bonitos are bitting very well with a few Wahoos already showing up. We predict that the Wahoo and Swordfish Bite will be very good this fall. Sailfish have already showed up as well, it will not be long until they show up in big numbers.
Target Species:
Swordfish, Sailfish, Kingfish, Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo and Shark
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