The 39th Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament wrapped July 9–12, 2026 out of the Ocean City Fishing Center, and when the last fish hit the scale, one crew had rewritten the record books. The Boss Hogg, with Captain Alex Beane at the helm, hauled home a tournament-record $629,000 — cashing in both the heaviest fish and the heaviest stringer races. Insiders, this is the kind of run captains dream about on the ride out to the canyon.
Here’s how the three days played out.
Day 1 — The Fleet Loads the Board
The opening day set a fast pace, with big stringers coming across the scale at the Fishing Center and the crowd at Micky Fins watching the numbers climb. Several boats stacked serious weight right out of the gate:
- C-Boys came in swinging with a 377 lb Day 1 stringer — the single heaviest one-day bag of the tournament.
- Elizabeth Ann wasn’t far behind at 379 lbs combined off her Day 1 effort.
- Shotski (371 lbs), Lit Up (365 lbs), Christine Marie (359 lbs), and Fly ‘N Fish (351 lbs) all put up big early numbers.
- Boss Hogg quietly went to work with a 344.5 lb Day 1 stringer — a strong start, but nobody in the crowd knew yet what Day 2 had in store.
The early leaderboard was a logjam of heavy hitters, and with two fishing days still to come, everything was on the table.
Day 2 — Boss Hogg Drops the Hammer
Day 2 is where the tournament turned. While plenty of boats faded or couldn’t match their opening bag, the Boss Hogg crew went out and boated a monster 490 lb stringer — the biggest single-day haul of the entire event — rocketing them to the top of the combined leaderboard.
- That 490 lb day pushed Boss Hogg to 834.5 lbs combined, and from there they never looked back.
- Bella made a huge Day 2 charge of her own with a 407.5 lb bag (after just 61.5 on Day 1) to climb into the mix.
- Water Damage (340.5), Reel Chaos (315), and White Lightning (322) all backed up their Day 1 with strong second efforts to stay in the money hunt.
By the end of Day 2, the writing was on the wall — but in this tournament, the purse is split by day, so the final day still had cash on the line.
Day 3 (Final Day) — Six Boats, One Record
Only six boats fished the third and final day, but the tension at the Ocean City Fishing Center was as thick as fog on the bay as crews waited to see whether their fish would hold on the leaderboard. When the dust settled, the Boss Hogg had locked up the win — and a tournament-record $629,000 payout across the heaviest fish and heaviest stringer categories.
Captain Alex Beane and the Boss Hogg crew earned every dollar of it, and the Ocean City Fishing Center put on another world-class show for the fleet.
Final Standings
Heaviest Stringer (2-Day Combined)
| Place | Boat | Day 1 | Day 2 | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Boss Hogg | 344.5 | 490 | 834.5 lbs |
| 2nd | Fin Planner | 360.5 | 364.5 | 725 lbs |
| 3rd | Wrecker | 328.5 | 354.5 | 683 lbs |
| 4th | Water Damage | 287 | 340.5 | 627.5 lbs |
| 5th | Spring Mix II | 306.5 | 309.5 | 616 lbs |
| 6th | Reel Chaos | 258 | 315 | 573 lbs |
| 7th | C-Boys | 377 | 125.5 | 502.5 lbs |
| 8th | White Lightning | 176.5 | 322 | 498.5 lbs |
| 9th | Talkin Trash | 349 | 136.5 | 485.5 lbs |
| 10th | Fly ‘N Fish | 351 | 127.5 | 478.5 lbs |
Single Heaviest Tuna
| Place | Boat | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Boss Hogg | 200.5 lbs |
| 2nd | Reel Chaos | 167.5 lbs |
| 3rd | Talkin Trash | 136.5 lbs |
| 4th | Bella | 118.5 lbs |
| 5th | Primary Search | 102 lbs |
Dolphin (Mahi)
| Place | Boat | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Reel Fin Addict | 26 lbs |
| 2nd | Invialo | 24.5 lbs |
| 3rd | Reel Fin Addict | 24 lbs |
The Takeaway
Tournaments are won on the days the ocean gives you a shot — and the Boss Hogg crew cashed theirs in with a 490-pound Day 2 that’ll be talked about on the docks for years. A record $629,000 out of the 39th Annual Ocean City Tuna Tournament is a hell of a way to write your name in the log.
Congratulations to Captain Alex Beane and the entire Boss Hogg crew, and to every Insider who put in the work on the water this week.
Real captains. Real boats. Real results.
Standings and results per the official Ocean City Tuna Tournament results (octunatournament.com) and Fish in OC. Category payout breakdowns beyond the record total were not published at the time of writing.