The official Rockfish tournament and festival of Maryland are once again upon us. The Monster Rockfish Tournament, now in its third year takes place on the last weekend of October, as always. This year there are a few new twists. Instead of being a one day tournament as in previous years, anglers have the option to fish either Friday or Saturday, October 26th or 27th. Sunday is a make-up day if either of the previous two days are deemed unfishable. This allows for much more opportunity to fish in the tournament if bad weather is a factor. Another big change in the tournament is the scoring criteria. In past years the tournament winners were determined by the single biggest fish caught. This year the format was altered to allow a little less luck and a little more skill to determine the prize winners. To win top prize, which could be in excess of $110,000 you must have the heaviest combined weight of your three biggest fish in a single day.
Tournament contestants must fish by boat and can weigh in at any of the six weigh stations throughout the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Four of the six weigh stations are located in Southern Maryland. These include Point Lookout Marina, Calvert Marina, Breezy Point Marina, and Rod and Reel Marina. The other two locations are Bay Bridge Marina and Slaughter Creek.
Also unique to the Monster Rockfish Tournament is that one of the sponsors, Creative Concepts Taxidermy, mounts the largest single fish caught tournament wide for the angler that caught it, at no charge. Lastly all the fish that are entered into the tournament are donated to the Greenwell Foundation to be used in the preparation of dishes to be served at the Monster Rockfish FEASTival to be held on the same Sunday of the tournament weekend, October 28th.
The Monster Rockfish Tournament is supporting the Greenwell Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake, Leadership Southern Maryland, and the Calvert County United way this year. To register for the tournament anglers can log on to the website, www.MonsterRockfishTournament.com or sign up at one of the local captains meetings. Meeting locations and dates are on the website as well.
If you’re not a fisherman but enjoy eating Rockfish, Sunday will be more your speed at the Monster Rockfish Festival. This year, Greenwell Foundation has changed the format of the festival and has declared it a “Feastival”. Sunday October 28th, at 1:00PM the doors to the Manor House will be opened to foodies who will have the opportunity to sample rockfish in multiple forms. Chef Dan Roys and Morris Point Catering have teamed up to provide four hours of butler serviced tastings of Rockfish dishes that will not disappoint. Beer and wine will be served, and the Redskins game will be available for viewing compliments of Best Buy. Some of the dishes you can expect to sample include Rockfish Tacos, Wine Poached Rockfish with Spinach and Cherry Tomatoes, Rockfish Stew, and several other dishes dedicated to our state fish.&nb
