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Once again Friday proved to be "moving day" in the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 with some impressive catches made to shake-up both weight and point standings. With all but five of the 133 boats fishing the final day of the tournament there was no lack of effort by tournament participants. Once a heavy morning fog lifted calm seas and a light breeze provided ideal conditions for boats at the canyons off the south Jersey coast.
With two places to fill in each of the billfish categories many boats spent the day searching for blue marlin and white marlin though tuna anglers found their quarry as well. Those on the leaderboard paced the weigh-in area like expectant fathers waiting for news and as the afternoon wore into early evening the word got out some changes in the standing would indeed occur.
One of the most significant changes occurred in the white marlin category after Joe Roberts^ backed his Love Boat to the scales and weighed-in a white marlin of 68 pounds to win the category. Alan Elenson^s Paige III, after leading the category for most of the week was bumped down and finished in second place. Third place prize money was proportionally split with first and second place since no qualifying white marlin was caught to fill that position.
It was the same case in the blue marlin division. After leading the category since Tuesday, Bob Avena^s Gold Rush with his blue marlin of 476 pounds was bumped to second place on the final day of the tournament after Shane Schneidinger^s Kokomo backed to the scales with a blue marlin that weighed-in at 566 pounds. Here to, third place money was proportionately split since no qualifying blue marlin was caught to fill that position.
The tuna division had a bit of drama as well as radio chatter had reports of bigeye tuna being caught. Bernard and Drew Dinardi^s Absolut-ly held on to win the category with a 172-pound big eye that was caught on Day One. However, some bumping occurred in this division as well.
Bill Hayes^ on his Instigator took second place after weighing a big eye of 153 pounds on Day Five. Third place went to Rich Ryon on his Anthracite after he weighed a big eye of 141 pounds on Day Five as well.
Corti Wetherill^s Smart Choice held on to win the dolphin category with his 39-pound mahi-mahi he weighed-in on Day One. Ron Innamorato^s Tag-n-Brag won the wahoo division with his tournament record 86-pound ^hoo he caught on Day Two.
Some of the boats with significant billfish releases on Day Five include Gerard Aliseo^s G-Rod and Karl Kephart^s Top Gun who each released a blue marlin and Ludwig Bohler^s Moondancer and Russell Garufi^s Rusty Nail who each released a blue marlin and a white marlin. Boats with multiple white marlin releases on Day Five included Phillip Nolan^s Ravenous with three while John Vidinghoff^s Fishinhoff and Joe Neuber^s Organized Confusion each released two white marlin.
At the awards presentation Tournament Director Bob Glover once again praised the conservation ethic of tournament participants and was pleased to distribute the tournament record cash purse of $1,315,000 to the lucky winners. During his final remarks, Tournament President Dick Weber was quick to add his praise to participants by indicating of the 96 billfish caught in the tournament only five were brought to the scales.
Catch/Release Report
White marlin released - 59
White marlin boated - 3
Blue marlin released - 32
Blue marlin boated - 2
Tuna weighed - 45
Wahoo weighed- 6
Dolphin weighed - 2
2000 Mid-Atlantic $500,000
Final Standings
Weight Standings
Heaviest White Marlin - 68 lbs. - LoveBoat - Joe Roberts - $499,525
2nd Heaviest White Marlin - 61 lbs. - Paige III - Alan Elenson - $127,475
3rd Heaviest White Marlin - Prize money split between 1st and 2nd Place.
Heaviest Blue Marlin - 566 lbs. - Kokomo - Shane Schneidinger - $225,567
2nd Heaviest Blue Marlin - 476 lbs. - Gold Rush - Bob Avena - $130,933
3rd Heaviest Blue Marlin - Prize money split between 1st and 2nd Place.
Heaviest Tuna - 172 lbs. - Absolut-ly - Bernard and Drew Dinardi - $165,750
2nd Heaviest Tuna - 153 lbs. - Instigator - Bill Hayes - $95,500
3rd Heaviest Tuna - 141 lbs. - Anthracite - Rich Ryon - $50,250
Heaviest Dolphin - 39 lbs. - Smart Choice - Corti Wetherill - $10,000
Heaviest Wahoo - 86 lbs.* - Tag-n-Brag - Ron Innamorato - $10,000
* New tournament record
Point Standings Most Points White Marlin - 375 - Ravenous - Phillip Nolan
2nd Most Points White Marlin - 375 - Rusty Nail - Russell Garufi
3rd Most Points White Marlin - 225 - Ocean 52 - John Leek
* Point ties were broken based on time of catch.
Most Points Blue Marlin - 300 - Latitude 40° - Bob Watson
2nd Most Points Blue Marlin - 300 - Kid^s Stuff - Chris Ruisi
3rd Most Points Blue Marlin - 300 - Big Time Baby - David D^Ambrogio
* Point ties were broken based on time of catch.
Most Points Tuna - 135.5 - Anthracite - Rich Ryon
2nd Most Points Tuna - 86 - Absolut-ly - Bernanrd and Drew Dinardi
3rd Most Points Tuna - 76.5 - Instigator - Bill Hayes
Most Points Overall - 525 - Rusty Nail - Russell Garufi
Uploaded: 8/27/2000
Uploaded: 8/27/2000