Ninety-nine youngsters entered in Ocean City Fishing Club’s Boys & Girls Surf Fishing Tournament caught the most fish ever recorded in the annual event, including a 27-inch, 8.5-pound flounder landed by a first-time participant.
That flounder was caught by Shamus McDonald, 8, Philadelphia, and qualified as a “doormat” in fishing lingo. When he first hooked the fish, Shamus said, he felt a sharp tug and began reeling in. Walking backwards from the water’s edge, he pulled the fish up onto the beach while it flipped and flopped on the sand. A crowd soon gathered to congratulate the youngster, who was a first-timer in the tournament, but showed plenty of confidence.
Bob Dever, an OCFC club member who was helping at the tournament, remembered Shamus telling him, “I’m going to win this thing,” when registration began at 9 a.m. at the foot of the Ocean City-Longport Bridge for the club’s 46th annual tournament.
“When he said that, I told him, ‘You’re a bit cocky for a new guy,’ ” Dever recalled. “He answered right back, ‘You’ll see.’ Then he took his fishing gear and headed for the beach. He had a lot of confidence and he did exactly what he said!”
That fish earned Shamus the top prize for largest fish in all age groups for boys. Claire Amici’s 17-inch flounder won the largest fish overall among the girls. Each earned a $300 gift certificate from Century Rods-Advanced Fishing USA of Avalon, as well as a rod and reel.
Unfortunately, Claire left the beach before receiving her prizes. OCFC officials encourage her to contact the club so she can collect her new rod, reel and $300 certificate.
Her lone flounder also was the most caught in the girls 11-13 group, while Aiden Covone, Brigantine, shared that honor in the same boys age category with 27 fish.
Among those in the 14-16 age group, Ben Texter, Philadelphia, and Kaelyn Sheehan took home prizes for catching the most fish, 21 and 8, respectively.
In the 8-10 age group, George Benner caught 12 fish, while Chloe Kilroy, Upper Township, landed eight fish.
In all, the boys and girls caught 209 fish in the two-hour tournament, including flounder, croaker, spot and kingfish. Fishing was so good that 20 of the youngsters recorded double-digit catches. There were 81 boys and 18 girls entered in the event.
Clear skies with a welcome breeze kept temperatures down for August, and about 300 people turned out to watch the boys and girls catch the most fish in recent history.
“We were off in participation by about 15 youngsters from last year,” said Ed Hoban, who runs the yearly tournament for the OCFC. “But no one can remember when more fish were ever caught. All the boys and girls were thrilled with the fishing this year.”
Everyone who entered the tournament received prizes that included gift cards and certificates from boardwalk, downtown and area businesses. In addition, OCFC members contributed gift cards that they purchased to add to the tournament bounty.
Fishing club volunteers had the youngsters’ parents or guardians sign waivers for insurance purposes and helped register the boys and girls. Another group of club members manned the beach with measuring devices to record fish sizes fish. Other OCFC helpers gathered and tabulated results to determine winners.
“It takes a lot to put on a tournament like this,” Hoban said. “We’re fortunate to have club members volunteer their time and hard work to make this tournament a success. It’s all about the kids and making sure they have a good time.”
The fishing tournament was held in cooperation with the Ocean City Department of Recreation. Founded in 1913, the Ocean City Fishing Club is the oldest, continuously operated fishing club in the nation.
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I was a regular at Tony Marts for a few summers.
Believe the most famous band was Levon and the Hawks and wierdest Tito Mambo.