08/12/2026
49th Annual Boys/Girls Fishing Tournament
The City of Ocean City and the Ocean City Fishing Club celebrated their 49th Annual Children’s Surf Fishing Tournament on August 8, 2026.
We had 155 children pre-register for the event and 15 walk-ups in the morning. The kids fished from 9 AM until 11 AM under sunshine and calm southwest winds. This bright sun with a dead low tide at 10:06 AM made for unfavorable conditions to catch fish. The young anglers smashed it!
57 children caught at least one fish
489 total fish points were awarded
17 flounder
10 kingfish
1 needlefish
1 ray
25 sharks
6 skates
23 spots
The first fish scored of the day was a 13-inch flounder, caught at 9:05 AM by 12-year-old Maddie Bauer. Great job, Maddie!
8-year-old Sal Judice had an incredible day, scoring the most fish points of the entire tournament with 44.5 points. Sal landed a tournament-high six fish.
The largest fish of the tournament was a 15-inch flounder, caught by 13-year-old Mason Law. Mason fishes with the Atlantic City Fishing Club, an organization run by Kyle Eisenbeis, a former Atlantic City police officer. Kyle and the Atlantic City and Pleasantville police departments operate a program that introduces local youth to the sport of surf fishing. The club did not receive its full grant money this year, and unfortunately, most of the kids could not participate. We were also pleased to have 14-year-old Jason Vargas, another member of the Atlantic City Fishing Club, participate in our tournament—a big shout-out to Jason's mom, Liliana, for making the trip to OCNJ.
16-year-old Nate Symchik caught a 3.5-inch needlefish, earning the distinction of catching the smallest fish of the tournament!
The award for Strangest Catch went to 10-year-old Owen Bryce, who pulled a plastic bag out of the ocean. Our runner-up was Margot Fallaize, who managed to snag a sand flea. Other unusual catches included spiders, blue claws, horseshoe crabs and seaweed.
We celebrated two birthdays on the beach. A crowd of about 300 people sang Happy Birthday to Jack Conte (8) and Hooper Irvin (11).
Our Judging Teams
A special thank-you goes to Bobby Gioiosa and Joel Richman Sr., who registered the most catches among our judging teams, with an impressive 18 catches scored. Joe McCormick was right behind them with 15 catches scored.
We also want to recognize 16-year-old Ethan Herzberg of Woodbine, NJ. Ethan attended the tournament with his mom and three younger siblings, who were all fishing. Ethan asked if he could help out, so we put him to work as a judge. He did a great job and recorded 10 total catches!
One of our club members found a locked iPhone on the beach. Drew Furst’s son Mason successfully asked Siri to “call mom,” and connected. It wasn’t a fish, but “hooking Mom” may be the catch of the day. The phone was returned Saturday afternoon.
A Great Day for the Club
Most importantly, the tournament once again allowed us to introduce young people to the sport we all love.
A huge thank-you to the City of Ocean City, all of our members, volunteers, sponsors, donors, judges, and everyone who helped make the tournament possible. From preparing 170 gift bags and loads of prizes, to registering the children, judging the catches, keeping score, and handing out the awards, cleaning up and packing tents, chairs & tables, this event takes a tremendous amount of effort.
And judging by the smiles on the kids' faces and the personal emails that I have received from parents, it was well worth it!
Thank you to everyone who helped make our 49th Annual Children’s Surf Fishing Tournament a success. We’re already looking forward to number 50!
Ed Parkinson
Tournament Chairperson
