Dostoyevsky said that “money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly worth troubling about.” Dostoyevsky obviously never competed in the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 Sportfishing Tournament.

The MA500 rolls into town for its 16^th annual incarnation on August 19th through the 24th at the Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May. The week-long tournament is a frenzy of beautiful people, million-dollar yachts, smelly bait and sportfishing aristocracy. Also in the mix is a contingent of hopeful gamblers – local fishermen willing to shell out the $6,000 entry fee in hopes of leveraging their knowledge of the regional waters into a big payday.

“There’s a lot of thinking that goes into this tournament, a lot of strategy” said MA500 tournament director Bob Glover. “A lot of it is a gamble, but it can really pay off.”

You never know at the MA500. Last year South Jersey angler Steve Castellini hooked the heaviest white marlin and walked away with over $800,000 in prize money. Not bad for a week’s work. And at the MA500 you’re never out of it either.

“The Mid-Atlantic’s heaviest-fish format ensures that every team is still in the running until the last minute of the last day. The winning fish is only one bite away,” said John Leek IV, product development engineer at Ocean Yachts Inc., a tournament sponsor.

A gambler’s mentality can pay off big at the MA500. The tournament awards $500,000 in prize money for the top catches but it’s the “calcuttas,” or the side bets, that really drive the stakes high and make things interesting. Last year the side bets amounted to $1 million.

“You must use your days wisely,” said John. “You try to fish not only in the best weather but during the best fishing action.”

The Mid-Atlantic $500,000 – don’t call it the “half-million” – is a five-day event billed as the richest marlin and tuna tournament in the world. The tourney attracts affluent yacht owners from all over – sponsors include Rolex, Mercedes Benz and a host of yacht builders, marine distributors and manufacturers. It’s also a who’s who of sportfishing A-listers who are expected to bring their A-game. Participants fish three of the five available days, and much of the daily action centers around the weigh-scale as anglers arrive back at the dock with their entries.

I fished the MA500 a few years back – yeah, that’s right, I’m an old salty, seagoing, sportfishing dog (with a Rolex). Ok, actually, I just accompanied a crew of seasoned fishermen on one of their trips out looking for the winner (and I own a Tinex – couldn’t afford a real Timex). They fished, I up-chucked, they laughed – it was all one big testosterone party. But it was definitely worth the trip.

It can be a handsome payday, but it’s not all about the money. For many, the tournament is also a gathering of like-minded sportsmen, businesspeople and friends who’ve known each other for 25 years, but maybe only see each other once every twelve months.

“It’s one of the biggest events in sportfishing, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the nicest put-together. It’s well-run, there’s good food, drink, camaraderie and there’s a lot of business too,” said John. He is the latest in a long line of Leeks to take up the family business. Ocean Yachts Inc. is a family-owned yacht building company that traces its American shipbuilding roots to the early 1800s. Weekstown-based Ocean Yachts has been a sponsor of the tourney since its inception and each year they bring their company boat, the Ocean 62, up from the Caribbean Sea for it.

“For me and for most people, it’s about catching up with old friends as they converge on Cape May for the week,” said John. “There are boat companies, fighting chair and motor distributors – it’s definitely a selling environment too. What’s nice is that the distributors and vendors are involved in the sport themselves.”

And it’s a scene, baby. There’s plenty of bling – more Rolexes than an Alan Iverson birthday bash – and the vibe has that relaxed scent of money. But it’s not about the bling, that’s just the trappings of success. If you don’t live to fish and don’t understand those who do, the MA500 might provide a glimpse into their world.

“One of the reasons folks like the tourney is because we bring them all together each night in one place and that fosters a great sense of camaraderie,” said Glover. “A lot of these guys will tell you that it’s not because of the money, but because of the camaraderie and being with other big-game fisherman. It brings everybody together.”

There’s plenty of action on the open water, but each night the crews gather under the dockside hospitality tent for dinner, a little socializing and some networking.

“There have been so many fun times – so many – too many to list. The very first year we had to postpone it a day because it was blowing so hard. The boats couldn’t get here, we had to call everybody and push it back a day. That was memorable, but we pulled it off,” said Glover. “One year a guy brought in the winning blue marlin with nine minutes to spare.”

The yearly event may be a chance for friends to catch up and have a beer, but make no mistake about it, with a total prize purse of $1.5 million, there’s some serious fishing going on. In fact, the fishing starts way before August.

“Before we arrive, we make sure the boat is tournament rigged, that everything is in tip-top shape, so all we have to worry about during tourney week is fishing,” said John. “We do maintenance on the reels, new lines, new leaders, new swivels, sharpen hooks, everything. We do our food shopping and stock the boat. We gather reports and talk to other fishermen. Throughout the summer we’re paying close attention to sea surface temperature charts and observing sea surface temperature patterns. Then right before the tourney, we spend a week or two offshore fishing out of Cape May to get a feel for where the fish are.”

I was lucky enough to accompany the crew of Ocean 62 – John IV, his father and Ocean Yachts president John III, younger brother Ryan, captain Gene Hawn and mate Mike Scheimreif – a few years ago during one of their fishing days at the tourney. I showed up dutifully at 4:00 a.m. and was greeted by a sleepy (and still grumpy) crew. The first thing John said to me was “It’s gonna be rough out there today – probably five-foot waves – you sure you wanna go?” I went. It was worth it. I was green the whole time – mal de mer, don’t you know. But it was worth it.

The first two hours of the trip consisted of the Ocean 62 crashing through five-foot waves at 25 knots on the way to our designated fishing spot, Baltimore Canyon. The next hour consisted of me crawling – I mean crawling on my belly because if I raised up onto my hands and knees I’d fall over – on my way to the sink. Granted it was a very nice sink – the Ocean 62 was nicely appointed with luxurious accommodations – but I really didn’t want to get that personal with it.

Everybody else slept, yawned, stretched, ate and generally acted like they were in their living room, except the captain who was driving.

Still, being a part of the MA500 was worth it. It was just what I expected – five alpha males pursuing a passion. They joked, told stories and conducted their business carefully and professionally. They were gracious hosts and thankfully didn’t do any of that “let’s freak-out-the-new-guy” sort of stuff. Well, except for occasional lines like “Throw the reporter in, see if anything bites,” or “Anybody else know you’re out here?”

They were also helpful. For instance I now know to “get your face in the wind” to help alleviate sea sickness. Actually it doesn’t alleviate sea sickness, but it helps. And don’t drink alcohol the night before you go out on rough seas. Not good.

John tells a good fish story too. You can tell he’s into it.

“One year a pocket of clear, blue Gulf Stream water loaded with white marlin broke off from the Gulf Stream and drifted to the north towards the tournament grounds. We bided our time betting that the pocket of warm water would move within tournament boundaries and hoping the good weather would hold out. We wound up fishing in one of the largest concentrations of white marlin anyone had seen in many years. You could ride right past the schools of baitfish and watch the white marlin feed on them. We caught six fish that day. We didn’t have the winner. The winning fish came on the last day at the last minute, right from the spot we were in.”

You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em.

“From the beginning this whole tournament was a gamble,” said Glover. “When we started this tournament in 1992 the economy was just coming out of a recession. We had seen a huge drop-off in people using their boats and the economy, hmph – do you remember the economy in ‘92?

“We took a gamble that people wanted to use their boats again, that people wanted to get away from business for a while. When we put this out there – with the entry fee and the prize money and – it created a buzz. It was a gamble from the get-go whether we would even get a response. But we went off with 125 boats that year and it’s grown ever since.”

  The whole tournament is a gamble. Come home empty handed and you’re out six grand. Play your cards right and you’ve got yourself a $800,000 payday. And in between it’s a great party.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August 2006 issue of Cape May Magazine

The 2007 MA500 is set for August 19-24.
For more information, click here for SouthJersey Marina‘s website.
  “Boat for boat, the richest marlin & tuna tournament in the world!  2006 Total Purse: $1,998,150