Though not as dramatic as previous years, Day Five once again lived up to its Moving Day reputation and fortunes were once again made and dashed on the final day of fishing as the 2012 Mid-Atlantic $500,000 came to a close. With the tuna category relatively out of reach with the third heaviest tuna weighing a stout 217 pounds, many in the fleet of 90 boats fishing on Day Five focused their effort on white marlin and blue marlin.
Though the Chamber of Commerce-like weather continued along the beach on Day Four of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic $500,000, an east northeast breeze added a light chop offshore for the 52 boats that gave it a go today. With Monday lost to a weather forecast which, looking back, turned out to be a bust, much of the fleet fished two days back-to-back and quite a few took their second Lay Day (non fishing day) today. While some crews spent time catching up on routine tackle and boat maintenance, others enjoyed a relaxing day at the pool, beach or took in the local sights and sounds of Cape May and Ocean City. With 89 boats left to fish on Day Five, anything can happen on what over the years has been referred to as Moving Day in this tournament when the leaderboard often takes a beating. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but for now, let’s get back to what took place today, Day Four.
After last night’s wild weigh-in session which, from a tuna standpoint, will go down in the record books, the question was quite simple in the tournament tent during dinner and cocktails after weigh-in closed. What can we do for an encore? After all, you have to go back to 1993 to find the three heaviest tuna in the tournament all weighing over 200 pounds! That same year also includes the current tournament tuna record of 254 pounds by Bernard and Drew Dinardi aboard their Absolut-ly, the longest standing tournament record.
The stream of navigation lights stretched from Cape May Inlet back to Canyon Club Resort Marina early this morning as participants departed on Day Two of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic $500,000. With a forecast of light and variable winds and seas of less than three feet, 109 boats gave it a go today and headed offshore and the leaderboard began to take shape. While several white marlin were weighed, the talk of the day was big eye tuna as well over two dozen were weighed on what will go down as the best day for tuna weighed in the tournament’s 21 year history! In fact, when the dust settled tonight it will now take a tuna of at least 213 pounds to make the leaderboard!
