It was a great day with big fish scoring the lead in almost every category on the opening day. It will be interesting to see what holds up and what gets beaten as the week goes on. Cape May saw a strong bite with plenty of fish weighed in, but there were a lot of releases from the boats out of Ocean City so expect to see some fireworks from the south. There are four days left and if I were betting, I'd expect some excitement at the scales before this is all over.

Here is the official release from Jeff Merrill, the MA500's Publicity Coordinator:

For Immediate Release
August 18, 2008

Day One of the 2008 Mid-Atlantic $500,000 dawned with not a breath of wind and calm seas and nearly all of the fleet took advantage of this picture-perfect day as 122 boats headed offshore. With gorgeous weather forecast for the next week, yesterday's registration tables were quite busy with last minute entrants at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May and at the tournament's lone satellite port, Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. Tournament officials were busy into the night and when all entries and cash figures were totaled up the field was set at 141 boats and a total cash purse of over $1.8 million and Tournament Director Bob Glover was very pleased with the turnout. "In August, the key players in the sportfishing community come here not only to experience the world class sportfishing but also to enjoy the world class service and hospitality that only the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 can offer," he noted.

Peter Ryon wheeled his father Rich's Anthracite atop the leaderboard in the white marlin category with a 75-pounder. Dan Paulus has his Hullabaloo in second place with a white marlin of 73 pounds and Jim McCarthy's Covert Mission is in third place with a 72-pound white marlin.

In the blue marlin division, Adam Demeusky wheeled his Impulse V to the lead after weighing the fourth heaviest blue marlin in the tournament's history at 719 pounds. Second and third place remain vacant.

Captain Mike Tyson owns the tuna category aboard Runaway today after weighing yellowfins of 80, 77 and 75 pounds.

In the dolphin category, Anthracite is in the lead with his 43-pound mahi-mahi. John Gallagher's Raging Bull is atop the wahoo category with his 35-pound ‘hoo.

Boats with significant billfish catches on Day One include Joe Parisi's A-Lure and Art Kontos' Let it Ride with three white marlin releases while Mike Penza's Oil Slick; Rich Ryon's Anthracite; Pat Healy's Viking 68; Frank Criscola's Crisdel; Mack Boring's Mack Attack; Steve Scioscia's Tailspin; Mike Tyson's Runaway and Bob Barbaro's Badger each released two white marlin.
It's Absolut night under the Big Top tent as chicken and ribs are on the menu and entertainment is provided by Wicked Cricket. Please note the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 is a private event and is not open to the general public. Tournament credentials are required for access to any tournament-related facilities, activities or social event.

The Mid-Atlantic $500,000 is proudly sponsored by Baitmasters of South Florida; Bernie Robbins Jewelers; Big Game Fishing Journal; Canyon Club Resort Marina; Canyon Runner; Christi Marine Insurance; Costa Marine; CWR Electronics; Engines Incorporated; Enterprise Rental Car; EZ2CY; FLIR Systems, Inc.; Fraser-Volpe; Garmin; Grace Energy; Guy Harvey; Homestead Realty; Johnson and Towers; Lucky Bones Backwater Grille; Mack Boring and Parts; MAN Engines and Components; Midlantic Gold Rush; OceanLED; Ocean Yachts; Offshore Financial; Pacific Fins Resort and Pelagic Offshore Gear. Additional sponsors include Penn Reels; Pettit Paint; PipeTowers; Pompanette; Premier Detailing and Boat Cleaning; PropSpeed; Ransome Engines; Raymarine; Saltwater Sportsman; South Jersey Marina; South Jersey Yacht Sales; Sperry Top Sider; Sturdy Bank; Sunset Marina; Twin Disc; Underwater Lights USA; Washington Inn; Win-Tron Electronics; WKR Construction; World Billfish Series; WXWORX XM Satellite Weather and ZF Marine.

For more information visit the tournament web site at www.ma500.com where you can also view the weigh-in live courtesy of www.sportfishermen.com.

For Photos and blow by blow coverage go to 2008 Mid-Atlantic $500,000 - MA500 Day 1 Coverage