So close, yet so far, in tuna tourney finale
Day Two of the 31st Annual Ocean City, MD, Tuna Tournament. What a difference a day makes. A few ticks after 3:00 a.m. Captain Ron Callis guides our charter, the forty foot Ocean Yacht Bill$ 4 Bills, through the Ocean City inlet. The seas are remarkably calm compared to the rough and tumble conditions we encountered just 24 hours earlier on our first tournament foray.
This morning’s silky smooth sailing offers stark contrast to yesterday’s jarring, bouncy turmoil when anyone attempting to move about the cabin was tossed around like a cirque du soleil act gone very, very wrong. Each of us took turns being summarily knocked to our knees and sprawled on the floor. “Us” includes tourney hopefuls yours truly, my brother Dan from Brookhaven, West Chester’s Pete Werner and his son Bryan, and Chadds Ford’s Mike Maxwell and his son Mike.
In these pre-dawn hours, en route to our fishing grounds some 70 miles east at the Washington Canyon, we can enjoy a relaxing ride and catch some shuteye. We make good time and arrive at 6:30. With a good half hour to go before the official starting bell at 7:00, the elder Werner delivers a rousing pep talk to rally our angling troops. It’s tourney halftime for us, after all, so Werner’s locker room lecture is on the mark. While the tournament runs Friday the 13th through Sunday the 15th, boats may fish any two of the three days, so today represents our last chance to make the leader board and collect a share of the event’s $857,000 in prize money.
When Day One ends, the top tuna on the board is a 73 pound yellowfin. While we boat six tuna on Day One, the largest, a 23 pounder caught by the elder Maxwell, does not meet the forty pound qualifying minimum. Of course the leader board is destined to change, especially if and when the big bruisers, bigeye and bluefin, show up. Both our mates and captain agree that this year’s tuna fishing has been vastly superior to last season's. On a scale of 1 to 10 Callis rates it a 7 or 8.
This morning’s sky is clear, the seas are calm, and the air is rife with promise as we observe tuna jumping not far behind the boat chasing flying fish. At the stroke of seven mates Jake Shaffer and Brian Spangenberger reel out eight lines as Day Two of the tourney officially gets under way. And just like Day One, the angling action comes early and often. At 7:05 the first fish strikes, a little albacore that young Mike quickly reels in. Shaffer unhooks it and tosses it back into the ocean. At 7:20, with the Werners up to bat, two rods bend simultaneously. Son Bryan cranks in another albacore, but father Pete, in the fighting chair, has something significant on his hands.
Shaffer coaches the elder Werner as the fish peels line from the reel. As the fight wears on and Werner wears down, Shaffer barks directions up to Callis who maneuvers the boat to our best advantage. It’s a hard-fought battle, but after ten minutes or so, Werner has the fish at the boat. The wiry Shaffer, leader in one hand and gaff in the other, positions himself at the transom, leans over, and swings the gaff. On the third attempt he snags the fish and hoists it over the rail.
It’s a yellowfin and a real beauty, by far our best of the tournament. Shaffer and Callis believe it has a shot at some tourney prize money, but of course, the other 103 participating boats will have something to say about that. Werner is both elated and exhausted. After high fives and fist bumps all around, I ask him if his arms are tired.
Werner’s fish is barely in the box when another rod buckles under the weight of yet another big tuna. The elder Maxwell slides into the fighting chair and readies for a lengthy battle. Mate Shaffer is again multi-tasking, coaching Maxwell and shouting instructions up to the bridge. When Maxwell finally gets the tuna to the boat we can see it’s a hefty yellowfin that might rival Werner’s. Shaffer reaches for the leader and readies the gaff.
But this fish still has plenty of fight left in it. Just as Shaffer leans over the rail it races off, stripping out line on another strong run. Shaffer calls up to Callis at the helm to make adjustments but it’s too late. The tuna charges under the boat, the line catches on the bottom or the prop, and the fish breaks off, and is gone.
assures Maxwell, it’s really nobody’s fault.
We don’t have much time to mourn our loss. Moments later another fish hits the trolled lure. Dan is up and cranks in a yellowfin. This time things go right, Shaffer wields the gaff and heaves the fish onto the deck. It’s a nice fish, but can’t compare to Werner’s catch. At 8:20 we get two more hits, but both fish quickly throw the hooks and I end up reeling in an empty line.
Our eight trolled lines, baited with ballyhoo and spreader rigs, trail behind the boat at distances ranging from 50 to 300 feet. The water temperature is 76 degrees and the depth varies from 900 to 2000 feet as we troll the edges of the Washington Canyon at around 6 or 7 miles per hour. On his depth finder, Callis is marking fish. “They’re down there deep,”; he advises, “and even though we’re trolling on or near the surface, if they’re in the mood they’ll zip up here in a heartbeat to take the bait.”
Unfortunately, like yesterday, the afternoon tuna bite fizzles out. Although a few skipjack provide some action over the next two hours, our tuna encounters for the day (and the tournament)are over. Back at the docks Werner’s tuna tips the scales at a very respectable 51 pounds. Although it’s the third largest tuna weighed in that day, it finishes out of the money. A 65 pound yellowfin is Saturday’s top fish and claims a portion of tourney prize money. So close, yet so far.
But the big winner won’t hit the scales until Sunday, the final day of the event, when the boat Playmate, trolling Massey’s canyon while the rest of the fleet is out at Washington Canyon, hooks up with a rare bluefin. The 144 pound behemoth, caught by Sam Thorpe of Bear, De., easily takes first place honors in the tournament and garners a not-too-shabby top prize of $328,960.
Although that figure far surpasses the $0 amount our team collects for our efforts, we end up with eight tuna and one dolphin to our credit over the two days, a total that still places us among the highest hooks of the tourney.
Despite finishing out of the money, we can still take pride in an impressive showing and look forward to greater success in next year’s event. We can hope so, anyway.