Rockfish Shootout

The 10th Annual Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout, held in January 2013, was yet again a huge success, with anglers coming from up and down the East Coast and beyond to fish for the big ones.  The tournament saw an increase in participation and payout, with 179 teams vying for the total payout of $217,654!!!  The wind and weather cooperated - however, the fish did not. After two full days with 55 teams fishing each of the days, no fish were caught. Period.  Use of Garmin GPS units kept the anglers honest and even though fish were seen a few miles past the 3-mile demarcation line, no boats ventured beyond that.  Finally, around 12:30 on day three, with an hour and a half before lines had to be out of the water, the Miss Susie II, captained by Greg Buckner, hooked a fish on the line and reeled it in.  With 179 boats in the water and countless anglers fishing over three days, one single fish - weighing 30.55 lbs. - brought a payout of over $175,000 to the winning team.  The rest of the prize money for places 2-7 was raffled off…making for an exciting tournament finish at the awards banquet!

The 11th Annual Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout, held January 9-11, 2014, saw 108 teams fishing over the three day period, looking for any eligible rockfish to be caught in legal waters. By the end of day three, zero fish had been caught, so the prize money was raffled according to placements that would have paid out if fish were weighed in. Over $107,000 was raffled off during the awards party held on Saturday, January 11, 2014.

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After seeing only one fish caught in two years of Rockfish Shootouts, tournament director Mike Standing knew something had to change for the next tournament. As state regulations prevent fishing for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay starting January 1st, it was evident that the tournament dates needed to alter to allow for the Bay to be fished.  The 12th Annual tournament was moved from the second week in January  to the week between Christmas and New Years - meaning there were two tournaments held in the calendar year 2014. It became apparent on day one of the December 2014 tournament that the date change was the right move, as numerous fish were weighed in over the two-day tourney!