After a week of fishing that saw white marlin bite in record numbers, it was another down to the wire finish at the 2010 Mid Atlantic $500,000! Over the years the tournament has a history of producing final day heroics and 2010 would be no different. With just minutes before the scales would close at 9 p.m. on Day Five, Matt Kriedel’s Impulse IV based out of Newington, Connecticut backed to the scales at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May with what would be the last fish to be weighed at the tournament. Moments later, weighmaster Chris Booth yelled out the weight to the large crowd which had left the tournament tent and gathered around the scales when word spread of a big fish on the way in. At 177 pounds, Kriedel’s big eye tuna sealed its spot atop the leaderboard in the tuna category and won the crew $168,812!
Heaviest White Marlin (Tie) • 88 lbs. Billfisher • Bill Zimmerman
$791,442.65
Heaviest White Marlin (Tie)
88 lbs. Lady Luck
Steve Ramsey
$298,514.79
3rd Heaviest White Marlin
82 lbs. Cracker
Chris Schultz
$204,573.69
Heaviest Tuna
177 lbs. Impulse
Matt Kreidel
$168,812.50
2nd Heaviest Tuna
105 lbs. Reel Chaos
Anthony Matarese
$100,265.00
3rd Heaviest Tuna
84 lbs. Fin-Ness
Don Pyle
$78,893.22
Heaviest Dolphin
56 lbs. American Lady
Russ Baiocco
$10,000.00
Heaviest Wahoo
49 lbs. Shelly II
Pelagic Adverntures, LLC
$10,000.00
Most Points Overall
1575 points Judge
Mike Judge
Most Points White
1575 points Judge
Mike Judge
2nd Most Points White
1350 points Shark Byte
Peter Charasia
3rd Most Points White
1200 points Viking 70
Pat Healey
Most Points Blue
300 points Fin-Ness
Don Pyle
2nd Most Points Blue
300 points Emanon
Brian Sullilvan
3rd Most Points Blue
150 points Reel Joy
Susan McCart
Most Points Tuna
214 points Krazy Salts
Dave Anderson
2nd Most Points Tuna
98 points Tar Heel
Michael Chrysanthopolous
3rd Most Points Tuna
96.5 points Toplesss
Scott Steele
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Toplesss
Scott Steele
$27,427.86
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Tar Heel
Michael Chrysanthopolous
$24,510.00
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Singularis
Capt. Jerry Lanzerotti
$20,425.00
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Krazy Salts
Dave Anderson
$15,172.86
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Lil Man
Steve Dayton
$12,255.00
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward All In
Curtis Maycomber
$12,255.00
Sperry Top-Sider
On the Board Reward Canyon Lady
William Diller
$7,002.86
A cold front accompanied by thunderstorms and steady rain covered Cape May though only a light, occasional drizzle was felt in Ocean City, Maryland and much of the fleet reported light winds and light drizzle offshore as 77 boats headed to the canyons on Day Three of the 2010 Mid Atlantic $500,000. Several changes occurred to the leaderboard in the major categories.
In Ocean City, Maryland, Scott Steele’s Toplesss weighed an 80-pound white marlin and moved into third place in the category. Jonathan Duffie’s Billfisher is still the boat to beat with his 88-pounder and Chris Shultz’s Cracker is still holding on to second place with his 82-pounder.
Afternoon showers cooled the area today for those who were dockside but had little impact on the 79 boats that gave it a go on Day Two of the 2010 Mid-Atlantic $500,000. Light variable winds were the order of the day and produced mixed results for the fleet including a new tournament record dolphin (mahi mahi)!
Jonathan Duffie’s Billfisher continues to lead the white marlin category with his 88-pounder and Chris Shultz’s Cracker remains in second place with his 82-pounder. A three-way tie for third place at 69 pounds still includes Jeff Citron’s Singularis, Steve Dayton’s Lil’ Man and Scott Steele’s Toplesss in the mix.
The blue marlin category remains vacant as no qualifying blues have been caught.
Day One dawned sunny and bright and 63 boats of the field of 134 headed offshore today and found the billfish in a hungry mood. The tournament committee worked late into the night after Sunday’s captains meeting tabulating entries and when all the cash was tallied up the tournament total purse is set at $1,781,550.
The tournament got off to a great start as Jonathan Duffie’s Billfisher took the early lead in the white marlin category after weighing an 88-pounder while Captain Scott Walker put Chris Shultz’s Cracker in second place with an 82-pounder. A three-way tie for third place includes Jeff Citron’s Singularis, Steve Dayton’s Lil’ Man and Scott Steele’s Toplesss as each weighed white marlin of 69 pounds.
Tournament week has finally arrived and if the events of the past few days are any indication, we could be in for a wild week of fishing at the 2010 Mid-Atlantic $500,000! Participants began arriving yesterday at the event’s host marinas including Canyon Club Resort Marina and South Jersey Marina in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. While some crews spent the day readying tackle, others used the time to pre-fish the waters off the south Jersey coast and they weren’t disappointed with what they saw. No less than 21 white marlin and one blue marlin release flags were flying from the ‘riggers of the handful of boats that fished out of Cape May and those we spoke to were pleased with the conditions they saw offshore.
