Wind and rough seas cancel opening day of Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament

Thursday’s strong breeze felt good during heat indexes that hit around 100 degrees.

But they weren’t beneficial for anglers planning to head offshore for some action at the other end of the line.

What that means to the record 115 teams entered in the 21st annual Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament was that nobody fished Thursday’s opener.

So the $329,200 in prize money is still up for grabs.

“It was just too rough,” said founder Bob Sinclair. “But it looks like it will be good for everybody Friday and Saturday.”

The National Weather Service buoy forecasts show conditions improving throughout Friday.
The event concludes after Saturday’s angling. Teams are allowed to fish only one of the three days, but captains can host other teams for the second and third days.

Fishing is from lines in at 7 a.m. to lines out at 3 p.m.

Teams can weigh a total of three tuna, and there are divisions for dolphin and wahoo.

There also is a big fish division, and several other “separate pay” levels to make the competition even more exciting.

Thursday’s lack of competition made teams a lot more excited about the last two days of fishing.

So stay tuned for updates on how things go.