Lines in at eight this morning. The 35th MidAtlantic is fishing.

And the number hanging over the whole week is the one from last August: 768 white marlin caught, 761 released.

Two ports, one tournament

The MidAtlantic does something no other event on this coast does. It runs out of Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in West Ocean City at the same time, with full weigh-ins at both, every fishing day, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Teams pick three of five fishing days. They can leave from any inlet between New Jersey and Virginia — but every boat has to fish within 125 miles of the Cape May Sea Buoy no matter where it sailed from.

Entry is $3,500, and that covers all dockside dining and hospitality for the week. Registration and the Captains’ Meeting were yesterday afternoon at both marinas.

Bigger than last year, and last year was big

Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman said registration was running roughly 30 boats ahead of the same point last season.

Part of that is carryover. Hurricane Erin disrupted several East Coast events in 2025, including this one, and several boats that pulled out rolled their entry fee into 2026.

Dockage told the same story before the first line went in the water. South Jersey Marina in Cape May sold out. Canyon Club filled. Sunset Marina, in Hoffman’s words, always gets tight in August.

For reference: 2025 drew 198 boats and a $5.75 million purse. The MidAtlantic has paid better than $1.4 million on a single white marlin.

The number that makes this tournament different

Seven hundred sixty-eight white marlin caught last year. Seven hundred sixty-one released.

Now put that next to the White Marlin Open, which finished ten days ago: 334 boats, six days, 723 whites released in the first four days — and exactly two heavy enough to weigh.

Same ocean. Same fish. Same two weeks.

That is the thing outsiders never quite believe about billfish tournaments on this coast. The fish are there in numbers that sound made up. Finding one that clears 70 inches and 70 pounds is a completely different problem, and almost nobody solves it.

What we are watching this week

Whether the white marlin that would not cooperate for the WMO show up for this one.

The bite going into August was as good as it has been in years. Max Bet raised 51 whites in Spencer Canyon in a single day before the Open. The Shark Bite released 27 on a Friday. The fish are out there and the fleet knows exactly where.

What nobody has produced is size. If somebody weighs a real white marlin at Sunset this week, it changes a lot of lives in one afternoon.

If you want to watch

Weigh-ins run 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Sunset Marina on every fishing day through Friday. Free, open to the public, sponsor booths and entertainment at both ports.

The awards ceremony is Friday evening, August 21.

Same docks that emptied out after the White Marlin Open. Full again.

See you on the water.