THE OCEAN CITY CUP
A History of the Ocean City Casting Tournament and The Cup
By R. Bruce Balderson
It was mid-August 1913 on what must have been a sweltering day in the
sun. On the beach in Ocean City, three surf anglers - Churchill Hungerford,
Sr., Fred H. Campion, and Peter F. Wright – had fished the entire flood
tide and most of the ebb tide without a single catch to show for their efforts.
After bemoaning their bad luck, Campion looked down the hard-level
beach as far as he could see, stepped forward a few paces, and, with the
wind at his back, completed a cast that was stepped off at 175 feet. Wright
and Hungerford quickly followed.
The trio continued their good-natured competition right up until dusk, with
Hungerford holding the winning distance at 216 feet.
That day was the genesis of Tournament Casting in Ocean City, a
competition that would attract the best surfcasters from throughout the
East Coast for 70 years.
In 1914, Charlie Magennis, an ardent surfcaster and member of the Ocean
City Fishing Club (incorporated on September 4, 1913), conceived the
idea of expanding the competition to include other fishing clubs. To
implement his plan, the Ocean City Fishing Club decided to create a
Trophy Cup which would be awarded annually to the winning team to be
held for one year.
With the help of a $500 appropriation from Ocean City’s advertising
budget, Magennis and the fishing club, through the J.E. Caldwell
Company of Philadelphia, commissioned the Gorham Silver Company to
craft the Cup.
The result was a truly magnificent trophy - a sterling silver Cup that
measured 43 inches in height, including the wooden base on which it was
firmly attached. The silver weighed 220 ounces. The workmanship was of
the highest class. Perched at the top of the Cup was the winged Roman
goddess, Victory, along with a mermaid employing a triton to protect the
capture of a fish.
Atop the obverse side was the seal of Ocean City mounted over two
crossed casting rods surrounded by sprays of laurel. A panel extending
down the front was produced by placing a casting rod on one side and a
gaff on the other. In the panel the following words were inscribed:
OCEAN CITY CUP
A perpetual Trophy
For Annual Competition
In Casting
Presented by
Ocean City, New Jersey
To The
Ocean City Fishing Club
The reverse of the Cup was left plain for engraving the names of the
winning teams for years to come. When the names of the winning teams
filled the Cup to capacity, a bottom base was provided for the names of
future winners.
The Ocean City Fishing Club is the only club to field a team in every
tournament during the history of the contest. The first Ocean City Cup
Casting Tournament was held on August 12, 1916. The clubs entering the
competition would send five men, each of whom made five casts, and the
team whose twenty-five casts averaged the greatest distance would be
declared the winner. The Cup would be awarded to them for the ensuing
year. It was not until August 7,1918, that the Ocean City Fishing Club team
would win the Cup. The club’s 1919 Yearbook reflects the exhilaration as
members learned that the coveted trophy was returning home to Ocean
City.
“Come, fisherman, in trousers white and caps of royal blue;
With fishing poles on your shoulder, come join the Grand Revue!
We won the Ocean City Cup, and proud the flag we fling;
Back Home to Stay Forever, is the joyous song we sing.”
The spirits ran so high, the Yearbook reported, that on August 29, 1918
the Club members “marched from the Clubhouse to the Music Pavilion,
carrying rods and reels.”
Below is a list of all the winners from 1916, when the casting tournament
began, to1986, after which the Cup was retired. During World War II, 1944
and 1945, there were no winners recorded on the Cup.
Ocean City Fishing Cup Winners
70 years of surf casting competition 1916 - 1986
Engraved on the back of the Cup, top to bottom:
1916 ASBURY PARK FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 292FT. 7 3/5IN
1917 ASBURY PARK FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 299FT. 11 17/25 IN.
1918 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 310FT. 2 12/25In.
1919 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 322FT. 9 17/25IN.
1920 ANGLERS' CLUB OF OCEAN CITY-AVERAGE 342FT. 21/25IN.
1921 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 347FT. 2 4/5IN
1922 ANGLERS CLUB OF OCEAN CITY-AVERAGE 344FT. 5 3/25IN.
1923 ANGLERS CLUB OF OCEAN CITY-AVERAGE 386FT. 5IN.
1924 ASBURY PARK FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 380FT. 10 11/25IN.
1925 LONG ISLAND CASTING CLUB-AVERAGE 398FT. 10 3/5In.
1926 LONG ISLAND CASTING CLUB-AVERAGE 367FT. 2IN.
1927 LONG ISLAND CASTING CLUB-AVERAGE 355FT. 6IN.
1928 BELMAR FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 371FT. 4IN.
1929 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 383FT. 5IN.
1930 BELMAR FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 361FT. 11IN.
1931 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 346FT. 10 4/5IN.
1932 ANGLERS CLUB OF ABSECON IS-AVERAGE 331FT. 7 12/25IN.
1933 TRENTON ROD & GUN CLUB-AVERAGE 395FT. 6IN.
1934 TRENTON ROD & GUN CLUB-AVERAGE 397FT. 3 19/25IN.
1935 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 370FT. 9 12/25IN.
1936 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 383FT. 11 12/25IN.
1937 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 373FT. 8IN.
1938 BELMAR FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE 368FT. 6IN.
1939 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE-369FT. 11IN.
1940 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE-419FT. 10IN.
1941 DOVER FISHING CLUB-AVERAGE-380FT.
1942 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 339FT. 7IN.
1943 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 342FT. 2IN.
1946 DOVER FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 442FT. 3IN.
1947 DOVER FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 435FT. 6IN.
1948 DOVER FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 470FT. 11IN.
1949 NEW YORK CASTING CLUB AVERAGE 372FT. 1IN.
1950 DOVER FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 419FT. 9IN.
Engraved on metal plaques on wooden base, front side below the Cup
1951 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB 251 FT 8 IN
1952 BEACHCCOMBERS SURF & GUN CLUB 282FT 6 IN
1953 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB 273 FT
1954 DOVER FISHING CLUB 293 FT 5 IN
1955 BEACHCOMBERS SURF & GUN CLUB 319 FT 3 IN
1956 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 331 FT
1957 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 351 FT 2 IN
1958 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 382 FT 11 1/4 IN
1959 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 376 FT 10 IN
1960 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 354 FT
1961 VIRGINIA BEACH ANGLERS CLUB 337 FT. 8 IN
1962 VIRGINIA BEACH ANGLERS CLUB 363 FT. 3 IN
1963 VIRGINIA BEACH ANGLERS CLUB 358 FT.
1964 VIRGINIA BEACH ANGLERS CLUB 348 FT. 10 IN.
1965 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 355 FT. 8 IN.
1966 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 343 FT. 6 IN.
1967 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 348 FT. 9 IN.
1968 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 392 FT. 8 In.
Engraved on metal plaques on wooden base, right side below the Cup
1969 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 374 FT. 4 IN.
1970 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 365 FT. 9 IN.
1971 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 355 FT. 7 IN. AVG
1972 N. PHILA. SURFISHING CLUB 397 FT. 7 IN. AVG.
1973 TIDEWATER ANGLERS CLUB 407 FT. 3 IN.
1974 TIDEWATER ANGLERS OF NORFOLK, VA. 351 FT., 7 INS.
1975 OUTCASTER CLUB OF LONG ISLAND, N.Y. ASAC RECORD-
417 FT
1976 TIDEWATER ANGLERS OF NORFOLK, V.A. ASAC RECORD-
427 FT., 10 INS.
1977 THE OUTCASTER CLUB OF L.I.N.Y. AVERAGE 409 FT. 3 INS.
AUGUST 13, 1977
1978 TIDEWATER ANGLERS OF NORFOLK, VA. AVERAGE 406 FT.
3 INS. AUGUST 12, 1978
1979 THE SHORE SURF CLUB WON WITH AN AVERAGE OF 424 FT.
2 IN.
1980 THE SHORE SURF CLUB WON WITH AN AVERAGE OF 416 FT.
INS.
1980 SHORE SURF CLUB WON WITH AN AVERAGE OF 417 FT.
11 INS.
1981 TIDEWATER ANGLER OF NORFOLK, VA. CONVENTIONL
GEAR AVERAGE 425 FT., 6 IN AUGUST 8, 1981
1982 TIDEWATER ANGLERS NORFOLK, VA. WON WITH AVG 445
FT. 2 INS.
1983 TIDEWATER ANGLERS NORFOLK, VA. WON WITH AVG 459
FT. 4 INS.
1984 SHORE SURF CLUB AVER. CAST 516 FT.
1985 TIDE WATER ANGLERS AVER. CAST 475 FT.
Engraved on metal plaques on wooden base, left side below the Cup
1986 OCEAN CITY FISHING CLUB AVERAGE 399.Z FT.
There are 18 plaques on each of the front and sides of the wooden base.
On the left side is the 1986 Ocean City Fishing Club’s plaque there are
17 blank plaques.
Note: All periods, commas, dashes, text size (capital or small letters),
etc. are as engraved on this Cup/trophy. Fractions of inches are as they
are engraved.
Sadly, the original Cup was destroyed in 1920 during a devastating
Boardwalk fire. Fortunately, the Ocean City Fishing Club asked J.E.
Caldwell to fashion an exact reproduction in order to continue the proud
tradition. Metal from the original Cup was salvaged and used to make
silver medals. These medals were awarded to tournament winners in the
late 1920s. (Below are front and back pictures of this medal.)
The last time the Ocean City Fishing Club won the casting tournament
was in 1986 - with an average cast of more than 399 feet. The Cup was
retired after that accomplishment. One of the reasons was that over the
years there had been many improvements to rods, reels, and casting lines,
making it difficult to establish consistent “ground” rules.
With the end of the casting tournaments, the Cup was on display at the
entrance to the City, in City Hall, and then Ocean City Bayside Center
before being moved and stored in a locked vault at City Hall at 9
th
and
Asbury Avenue.