2026Battle for the Buckle Fishing Tournament
- Dates
- June 25–28, 2026
- Location
- Ocean City, MD
Overview
Fourth-annual 'saltwater cowboy' offshore meat-fish tournament at Sunset Marina (June 25-28, 2026) paying heaviest fish and heaviest stringer with championship belt buckles.
Battle for the Buckle is a charity offshore tournament headquartered at Sunset Grille/Sunset Marina in West Ocean City. Teams of up to six fish one of three days; eligible species are bigeye, yellowfin, bluefin and longfin tuna, mahi, wahoo, swordfish and shark, with heaviest fish and heaviest stringer winning 'Heavy Weight' and 'Heavy Stringer' buckles. Entry was $500 early / $750.
2025 top prize money was $14,450 for a 300 lb thresher; 2024's biggest fish was a 125 lb swordfish worth $31,329.
ScheduleEastern (US) time
- ThursdayJun25June 25, 2026
- 4:00 PM– 8:00 PM
Registration and Captain's Meeting
Sunset Grille, 12933 Sunset Ave, West Ocean City
Captain's meeting 8 PM
- FridayJun26June 26, 2026
- All day
Fishing Day 1 (fish 1 of 3) / Weigh-in
Sunset Grille docks
Weigh-ins 4-8 PM
- SaturdayJun27June 27, 2026
- All day
Fishing Day 2 (fish 1 of 3) / Weigh-in
Sunset Grille docks
Weigh-ins 4-8 PM
- SundayJun28June 28, 2026
- All day
Fishing Day 3 (fish 1 of 3) / Weigh-in / Awards
Sunset Grille docks
Weigh-ins 4-7 PM; awards 8 PM followed by after party
Results
Final results are published on the official tournament site.
Get results and schedule updates
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