The second annual Spring Edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod 36hr Grind Surfcasting Tournament is in the books — and it delivered one of the most memorable weekends in the tournament’s history.
Fifteen teams took to Cape Cod’s beaches from Friday, May 29th through Sunday, May 31st, chasing striped bass in a catch-and-release format. Anglers could fish as much or as little as they wanted across 36 hours. What they got was far more than just great fishing.
Calvin Toran-Sandlin of team Cape UFO Coalition with a beautiful bass caught during the tournament.
The Conditions
Friday evening started beautifully — calm, promising, and full of anticipation. Then the Cape had other plans. Late Friday night, a heavy storm front rolled through, bringing driving rain and winds that would climb to 50 knots by Saturday. As if that weren’t enough, Saturday afternoon brought something none of us will ever forget: a three-foot meteor exploded in the atmosphere over Cape Cod, sending a sonic boom rattling through homes across the region. Some teams were on the beaches for all of it.
Winds of up to 50 knots blew across the Cape on Saturday - and then a meteor exploded in the atmosphere causing a sonic boom that shook houses.
And the fish? Apparently they could not have cared less about the sonic boom or crazy weather, because some absolute monsters were caught during this tournament.
Marshall Roy of team Cape UFO Coalition with an absolute hog caught during the tournament.
The Results
Despite — or perhaps because of — the chaos, the fishing was exceptional. Big bass over 40 inches were caught throughout the tournament, and we may be looking at new overall inch records when the final numbers are reviewed.
1st Place — “Cape UFO Coalition” | Calvin Toran-Sandlin @Sandbar1 & Marshall Roy @marshallr | 135.5 inches
2nd Place — “Salt & Steel” | Grant Stark @Stark134 & Owen Maloney @osmalones | 121.5 inches
3rd Place — “Slack Tide” | Ian Lumsden @ianlumsden & Pat Spenard | 120 inches
The longest fish award ended in a dramatic tie — both the Cape UFO Coalition and Slack Tide landed 47-inch stripers. A testament to just how many quality fish were in the water this weekend.
A Note on the 2nd Place Results — Noah Ezickson & Nick Beltramini**
Nick Beltramini @Belty with a nice fish he landed with his team @nezickson
With 130 total inches, Noah and Nick put together a catch that would have landed them squarely in second place — a remarkable performance by any measure. Unfortunately, their scorecard didn’t make it through by the 7:15am deadline, and under tournament rules, the team couldn’t be included in the official results.
Did the website time out at the worst possible moment? Did the Cape Cod fog interfere with the wifi signal? We may never know. What we do know is that 130 inches of striped bass is nothing to hang your head about, and Noah and Nick’s fish speak for themselves. There’s always October, gentlemen, and I"ll be looking into the scorecard issue and figuring out a more bullet proof solution for the fall grind.
The Moments
The scoreboard tells part of the story. The rest lives in the moments that only the people on those beaches will fully understand.
Grant Stark of team Salt & Steel
The Cape UFO Coalition described their most memorable moment as the storm front itself — big weather, electric conditions, and an intense feeding window dominated by large fish. When the winning team says the storm was the highlight, you know it was something special.
Over on Team “No Eels,” Tim Donnelly @mabeerbrewer made what might be the catch of the tournament — launching a full layout dive into the surf to rescue a 41-inch bass that had come loose at the water’s edge. He came up cradling it like, in his teammate Scott Silver’s @ssilver words, “a giant scaly baby.” The fish was measured. The dignity was not recovered.
Team “Salt & Steel’s” Owen Maloney had his own brush with the surf — stepping off a 10-foot sod bank drop-off in the dark, waders filling instantly. Thank goodness he survived. The story will outlive him.
Owen Maloney landed some terrific fish during the tournament, but also had a close call when he fell off a sod bank into the water.
Mike Remlinger @Rem and Connor Swartz of “Big Stinky” felt the heartbreak every surfcaster knows too well, when Connor broke off what sounded like a serious fish after it wrapped around a boulder. And the Slack Tide team summed up their weekend in three words: fishing in the storm. Sometimes that’s all you need to say.
Thank You
To every team that registered and fished this spring — thank you. This was only our second Spring Edition of the 36hr Grind, and weekends like this one are exactly why we keep doing it. Fifteen teams, 30 anglers, one meteor, and a whole lot of big bass. We couldn’t ask for more.
Now — Eyes on the Fall
The 36hr Grind awards meetup at Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable.
The Spring Edition is the warm-up. The Fall Edition is the main event.
This October, the fall edition of The 36hr Grind returns for its 5th year — and we’re setting an ambitious goal: 50 teams, 100 anglers on Cape Cod’s beaches for the biggest Grind yet.
Pre-registration is now open for the Fall 2026 edition (October 2–4), and we’re putting together a special pre-registration prize package for early sign-ups — details on that coming soon. What we can tell you is that prizes will be awarded at our Fall Awards Ceremony: Sunday, October 4th at 8:00 AM at Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable. The full experience — coffee, community, raffle prizes, and fish stories — is back.
If this spring showed us anything, it’s that Cape Cod doesn’t do ordinary. Come October, let’s see what 50 teams can do.
Pre-register for the Fall 2026 36hr Grind here
Teams — the floor is yours.
I’ve shared my version of the weekend, but you were the guys actually out there on the beaches. Now I want to hear from you.
Drop your most memorable moment from the tournament in the comments below — whether it was the storm, the sonic boom, a fish you landed, or one you didn’t. And if you’ve got a photo of a big fish from the weekend, share it. We want to see them all.
One question I’m dying to know the answer to: what worked best for you guys out there? Needlefish? Eels? Metal lips? And what sort of areas dd you find the fish?
The 36hr Grind exists because of anglers like you — MFCC members willing to fish through a storm, dive into the surf, and step off a sod bank in the dark just to find the next big fish.
I’m looking forward to reading your comments below.
Tight lines!
@marshallr @Sandbar1 epic fish guys. Well deserved staying out there in those conditions
Cal and I were fortunate to have landed these fish on Friday night (a couple haunting us). The bite turned electric as well as the storm when it rolled through, and we were able to capitalize landing 2 of these fish during that period. By Saturday afternoon, another round of storms, fluctuating pressures, turbid water, and strong N winds had changed the bite.
Live eels, field dressed eelskin plugs, and high hook needlefish made the rotation and all produced.
It was a great weekend on the water and an added bonus getting to meet some of the other anglers in the tournament. Kept the pressure on seeing others grinding it out alongside us in tough conditions.
Our bag:
• 44½” – low 20 lbs – 11″ High Hook Needlefish
• 44″ – mid 30 lbs (heaviest) – Live eel
• 47″ – mid 30 lbs – Live eel
The Marshall I was looking for doesn’t single handedly keep Bud Light Limes in business. Off to the next obscure fishing spot to find that guy.
Glad that you’re okay. Walking across marsh areas at night can be treacherous even though you can still see reasonably well. Lots of holes and drop offs that can be unseen until it is too late. My friend Tom tripped over a large stump that had washed onto the wrackline and he went flying one night. Totally unseen in the dark and unexpected. I’m starting to experiment with red light. Keep a duffle bag in the truck with a full change of clothes.
nothing to look at here, slow night :joy: hope you found the Marshall guy you were looking for.
Those look like a couple ok fish @marshallr. Sorry, I mean not Marshall.
On a serious note:
One time when I was meeting with Carl Johansen he emphasized the need to have a knife handy when wearing waders and be able cut the straps if the waders fill with water. He told me that someone close to him (his brother?) lost his life when the waders filled up with water and he drowned. He then agreed to sell me a custom rod and a vintage Penn spinner. When he handed the rod to me he first kissed it! I think it was the rod his brother used. I still have the rod and reel and think of Carl every time I use it.
Thank you, scary situation when you’re expecting to step on solid ground. I got an assist from my brother bringing me a whole new set of clothes when I warmed up. I wasn’t familiar with this spot and had no light on due to the full moon.
You earned, and are the 2nd place finisher. I know you entered your scorecard and you definitely deserve a spot on the podium…
Was great to fish with you as always @nezickson @belty. You may not get a t-shirt…but you definitely have bragging rights.
What a grind! Flew in from Colorado on Monday, did some pre-fishing during the week, and put in the time with @Belty Friday and Saturday night. Caught some huge fish both nights, Friday being the better of the two. They were finicky and picky, but we were able to weed through and find some really nice fish.
Ended with 130″ total: the three fish were 45.5″, 42.5″, and 42″.
We submitted our scorecard but unfortunately it didnt go through. Still an amazing weekend to be on the cape, fight some big fish and bump into some great fishermen. Congrats to the top 3 and looking forward to the fall grind!
Thanks Ryan.
Would it be possible to post the full results like they do with the Cheeky Tournament?
I wish I had a picture of me bear hugging the fish. Thankfully it was a warm night otherwise it would have been the end of the day for me cuz I was completely soaked.
@osmalones so glad you were able to right yourself and get back on dry land. I fish a couple places where that’s a risk and it’ in the back of my head what I need to do is that ever happened.
I have a number of thoughts about possible changes to these tournaments. I’ll save it for a later day.
Absolutely crazy conditions on Saturday morning. The adrenaline rush of catching big fish in those conditions was unbelievable.