Posted on July 3, 2020 Big money July 4 tournaments A lot of money is at stake on the Fourth of July for those fishing winner take all blue marlin tournaments, with one along the Atlantic coast and the other covering the world. South Jersey Marina in Cape May is sponsoring the local contest in which boaters may leave from any port to troll for blue marlin with a 106-inch fork minimum during specified hours that day before weighing in at stations from Hoffman’s in Manasquan to Rudee Inlet, Virginia. The Blue Marlin World Cup has been contested for many years, and has a minimum of 500 pounds with a lines in period of 8:10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the time zone fished. The entry fee is $8,000. Sorry about the grammatical errors In last night’s blog. The cursor in my computer went wild and wouldn’t let me make corrections, so I decided to publish at that point rather than losing everything. The Montauk Marine Basin Shark Tournament last weekend was topped by a 436-pound thresher on Emily Rose. Slim Shady was next in that species with a 317-pounder Apelia led in makos at 242 pounds. There was also a 324-pound tiger shark weighed by Wireless.. The Golden Eagle from Belmar had both a limit of sea bass and then a limit of bluefish today. The blues could be seen chasing jigs in the very clear waters. The Wednesday afternoon free trip for healthcare workers produced two-fish sea bass limits. Those workers can still sign up with the Golden Eagle for those trips. The Jamaica from Brielle is sticking with ling fishing and doing very well with them. Roger Johnson of Roselle won today’s pool with a 4-pounder. Some cod and flounder are picked along with the two sea bass allowed in the summer. Bob Correll took his wife Mary Agnes up to the Rocks in his Sea Vee this morning for a good fluke bite though none quite made legal size. The sea bass limits were no problem. The Fischers were at it again this morning as they fluked around Sandy Hook where Phil boated a 28-incher on the skinny side that still weighed 9 pounds. Two others were in the 4-5-pound class. Keeper stripers from the surf have been rare, bur Greg Tirpak beached a 37-incher on a popper at Mantoloking on June 29. Friday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 5-10 knots becoming southeast in the afternoon when showers and thunder storms are possible.