Loads of fun, and fish, at 2021 Washington Tuna Classic

By Dan Hammock • August 17, 2021 1:30 am
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic volunteer Will Llewellyn tosses a tuna on ice Saturday. A good portion of the tuna caught at the event was donated for processing at nearby Merino’s Seafood, canning and distribution to local food banks.
DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic volunteer Will Llewellyn tosses a tuna on ice Saturday. A good portion of the tuna caught at the event was donated for processing at nearby Merino’s Seafood, canning and distribution to local food banks.

The blue cart with “WTC” stenciled in white heading for the Westport Charter Boat Association derby weigh station drew a crowd more than 20 times on Saturday.

That sight signaled one of the 24 teams in the 2021 Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic had its five largest albacore tuna headed for the scales.

Westport was packed through the weekend as dozens of veterans and their families attended the annual event, either fishing in teams for cash or just sharing stories and soaking in the salt air with their military brothers and sisters.

Volunteer Will Llewellyn manned the scales. The buzz up and down the docks was that the tuna were close in and big — there were numerous fish in the 25- to near 30-pound range brought in by both the veterans teams and other charters and private vessels on Saturday. The tournament’s “big fish Friday” winner, for the largest fish weighed the Friday before the tournament, was 30.87 pounds, taken by team Sea-Ya-Later.

Team Chic Clique, made up of all women veterans, was pretty excited with its five largest fish when they brought them to the scales around 4 p.m. A crowd gathered as the team saw its five largest fish total more than 120 pounds. Later, the team could be seen with bags of fillets from the several more tuna they had caught that day.

When all was said and done, the Chic Clique came in third with 120.3 pounds. Taking second place was team Sea-Ya-Later with 122.42 pounds. Taking home the first place pot was team Usual Suspects with 122.56 pounds.

After the largest five fish were weighed, Llewellyn took them a few feet to large plastic bins next to the weigh shack, where they were placed on ice to be taken to Merino’s Seafood nearby for processing, canning and ultimately donation to local food banks. Teams could also donate additional fish if they wished — Team Allied donated the most, a whopping 41 total fish. Thousands of pounds are donated by the classic every year, including close to 10,000 pounds in 2019 alone.

Mission Outdoors is a nonprofit organization that works with veterans to provide outdoor experiences that help them with service-related issues like loneliness and feelings of isolation — their motto, “Hope grows outdoors.” For more on the tournament and the group’s mission, visit them at missionoutdoors.org.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD The Chic Clique, a team of all-female veterans who fished aboard the Beastmode, brought in a good haul of albacore at the Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic in Westport Saturday. Their five biggest fish weighed in at over 120 pounds total.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD The Chic Clique, a team of all-female veterans who fished aboard the Beastmode, brought in a good haul of albacore at the Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic in Westport Saturday. Their five biggest fish weighed in at over 120 pounds total.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic volunteer Will Llewellyn tosses a tuna on ice Saturday. A good portion of the tuna caught at the event was donated for processing at nearby Merino’s Seafood, canning and distribution to local food banks.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Mission Outdoors Washington Tuna Classic volunteer Will Llewellyn tosses a tuna on ice Saturday. A good portion of the tuna caught at the event was donated for processing at nearby Merino’s Seafood, canning and distribution to local food banks.