A year of preparation is complete and the players are all in place as the 35th MidAtlantic tournament got underway today! With pre-registration for this year’s event very strong the tournament’s host venues, Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland, where bustling with activity today as last-minute registration and calcutta entries were completed. Meanwhile, on the docks crews were busy checking tackle, rigging baits and finalizing all fishing-related details as a busy week on “The Rip” gets started tomorrow. The Big Top tents at both venues each hosted a Cocktail Party and Captain’s Meeting this afternoon where tournament participants gathered to talk strategy, share stories, renew friendships and simply enjoy an adult beverage or two together with those who share the same passion for big game tournament fishing. In addition to many local boats, the transient fleet of participants includes visiting vessels hailing from New England to Florida as many have this event circled as the place to be on their tournament calendar each year.
Leading up to this year’s MidAtlantic the past couple weeks have seen impressive numbers of billfish caught in the canyons found within the 125-mile boundary of the Cape May Sea Buoy which all participants must fish within during the tournament whether sailing from Ocean City or Cape May. Many boats have recoded double-digit release days of white marlin while plenty of blue marlin have also been encountered. Could this be the year the MidAtlantic’s record of 810 white marlin caught set in 2021 is shattered? Or, perhaps the record of 840 billfish caught, including 810 white marlin and 30 blue marlin, also set in 2021, gets blown away! Maybe the record of 68 blue marlin tallied in the 2019 goes down this year or is the year the longest standing record in MidAtlantic history, the tuna weight record of 254 pounds set by Bernard and Drew Dinardi aboard their Absolut-ly in 1993, is finally broken? We’ll find out by week’s end!
Fishing gets underway tomorrow and participants will pick three days of the five available from Monday through Friday. Boats cannot clear their respective inlet’s sea buoy prior to 3:00 a.m. “Lines In” is 8:00 a.m. and fishing ends at 3:30 p.m. Any fish to be weighed must be at the scale at Canyon Club Resort Marina for Cape May boats and Sunset Marina for those sailing from Ocean City by 9:00 p.m. Cash prizes are awarded for the three heaviest white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, dolphin (mahi mahi) and wahoo. Any white marlin must measure 69 inches and weigh 65 pounds to qualify while a blue marlin must tape out at least 102 inches and weigh 400 pounds. Tuna, which include only big eye, yellowfin and true albacore, have a minimum weight of 50 pounds while dolphin and wahoo each must weigh 20 pounds to make the leaderboard. Valuable prizes are awarded for billfish points and tuna points and for the most points overall.
We will provide the total purse once final numbers are tallied up. Tournament updates will be provided each night after the scales close at 9:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday including highlights from the day’s fishing action. Fishing concludes on Friday, August 21 and a complete tournament wrap-up will be sent out on Saturday, August 22. You can follow all the action of the 2026 MidAtlantic via the South Jersey Tournaments App which is available free for IOS or Android devices from the Apple App and Google Play stores. Also, be sure to follow all the weigh-in action via live stream from Cape May and Ocean City by visiting the tournament’s web site www.themidatlantic.com. beginning at 5:00 p.m. each night, Monday through Friday.
Please note the MidAtlantic tournament is a private event. Nightly weigh-in sessions at Canyon Club Resort Marina and Sunset Marina as well as other tournament venues and sponsor displays are not open to the public and require credentials and/or prior arrangement for tour or entry.
For more information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177 or visit the tournament’s web site at www.themidatlantic.com where you’ll find all the facts, figures and information about the 2026 MidAtlantic including a complete breakdown of calcuttas, rules, points, and a Tournament Week schedule. You can also follow the tournament on Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament, on Twitter @midatl and on Instagram @themidatlantictournament.
