Howard Berger’s Boss Hogg put an 80-pound white marlin on the scale at Sunset Marina Tuesday night — angler Paul Hannum, 72⅜ inches on the tape.
If you know this tournament, that name should stop you.
Why Boss Hogg matters here
In 2023, Boss Hogg weighed a 76-pound white marlin at the MidAtlantic with Captain Brian Porter at the wheel and Mike Dahl on the rod.
It finished second in the category.
It paid $1,406,938.
The fish that beat it — an 87-pounder aboard Clint Clement’s Common Sense — paid $201,388.
Read that again. The bigger fish won the category. The smaller fish won seven times the money.
That is the MidAtlantic in one sentence, and it is the thing casual fans never understand. Prize money here doesn’t come from the entry fee. It comes from a stack of optional calcuttas — side bets you buy into, or don’t, before the first line goes in. There’s an Overall Calcutta, port-specific billfish points, a 50-foot-and-under, a Homeport, a meatfish calcutta for tuna, dolphin and wahoo, three winner-take-all Pro Jackpots, and a daily On the Board reward.
Common Sense wasn’t in all of them. Boss Hogg was.
That second-place check is still the tournament record payout in the white marlin category.
And the boat has been hot all summer
In July, Boss Hogg won the 39th Ocean City Tuna Tournament with Captain Alex Beane, taking money in both the heaviest fish and largest stringer categories for a tournament record $629,000.
Now an 80-pound white at the MidAtlantic six weeks later. That is not a boat having a lucky year. That is a program.
Tuesday was the night the blues went off
191 boats fished Day Two — 115 out of Ocean City, 76 out of Cape May — and the blue marlin bite was absurd. Nearly 50 blue marlin caught by the fleet in a single day, including six by one boat.
At the scales it turned into a three-way shuffle. Luke Blume had C-Boys waiting at Sunset when the doors opened and weighed a 471-pounder at 112 inches for angler Lance Crampton — early lead, short life. Captain Rich Barrett then wheeled Peter Cherasia’s Rumson, New Jersey Shark Byte into Canyon Club with a blue Cherasia had fought himself: 116 inches, 599 pounds, new leader. Minutes later Captain Mike Yacco backed his Cape May MJ’s to the same scale with a 523-pounder at 111¼ inches for angler Brandon Kape.
Final Day Two order: Shark Byte 599, MJ’s 523, C-Boys 471.
Tuna and meatfish
The tuna board changed all evening before it settled. Captain Chris Little weighed a 182-pound Allison yellowfin aboard Talkin’ Trash for angler Dan Caiola to take the lead. Captain Charlie Vanderbek put Kirk Kellog’s Following Seas into second with a 126-pound bigeye for angler Trip Manley. Third went to Paul Lebling’s Spring Mix II and a 114-pound yellowfin with Captain Chris Watkowski.
Dolphin: Dakoda Hawkins’ Renegade led with a 27-pounder for angler Steve Lackey, Rob Carmichael’s Lights Outsecond at 22.
No wahoo weighed. Not one.
Day One got blown out
A frontal system pushed a stiff breeze across both venues Sunday night and into Monday, and in Cape May all but two of the 208 registered boats stayed tied to the dock.
Nobody had to burn a card on it — teams pick three of five days, so most of the fleet simply waited.
The gamble paid for the one that went. Captain Joe Trainor’s Low Profile weighed a 71-pound yellowfin, the only fish to hit the board all day, which took the entire day’s share of the On the Board reward — better than $99,000 for one Monday.
Two records had already fallen before the first ballyhoo went in the spread: record field at 208 boats, record purse north of $6.6 million.
Why the scoring here is different
White marlin: 75 points per release, 1 point per pound weighed. Blue marlin: 150 points per release, ¼ point per pound weighed. Tuna: ½ point per pound weighed.
Look hard at the blues. A release is worth 150 points. A 600-pound blue hanging on the scale is worth 150 points.
The tournament pays you exactly the same to let it go.
That is deliberate design, and it is why this event moves the numbers it does. Last year’s MidAtlantic produced 768 white marlin caught across 301 boat-days — a rate of 2.55 white marlin per boat, per day — and the overwhelming majority went back in the water.
Three days left
Fishing runs through Friday, August 21, with the awards ceremony Friday evening.
One thing worth stating plainly: the MidAtlantic is a private event. Nightly weigh-ins at Sunset Marina and Canyon Club Resort Marina require credentials and are not open to the general public. If you were planning to drive down and stand at the scales this week, that is not this tournament. A live video feed runs between the two venues instead.
Boss Hogg is on the board with 80 pounds. Given this boat’s history with the calcuttas, that fish may already be worth more than anybody watching realizes.
Today’s photo courtesy of Captain Jeremy Blunt aboard the Wrecker.
See you on the water.