Someone in the MONGO 2024 East Coast Division is going to win a lot of money for catching a blue marlin this year. Someone, somewhere between Florida and Massachusetts is going to hook a big fish, catch a big fish and win a big check.
$62,000 rollover money from last year is up for grabs. This money adds to this year’s entries, creating a big pay day for someone.
This fish might be caught on any day of a stretch that spans 153 days. It might be caught by a charter boat fishing one of his regulars. Maybe it will be caught by a private boat on a day of fun fishing. It might also be a blue marlin that simultaneously wins both a MONGO check and another tournament at the same time.
That’s the charm of the MONGO. The tournament is simple. Its format is straight forward. The MONGO is made for fishing.
One entry gains you eligibility for a whole season. Eligibility for all of the anglers that fish on your boat over the course of the season. Eligibility for all of the fish that you catch (if you weigh a fish and that fish is overtaken later in the tournament, you can weigh another one without needing to re-enter).
The MONGO is always fun. It’s always exciting. But this year brings something more.
The 2024 East Coast Blue Marlin Division brings something extra this year. It brings a whole pile of carryover cash.
In 2023, plenty of boats fishing on the East Coast caught blue marlin that would have won the MONGO. None of these boats, however, were registered for the tournament. Plenty of people accidentally left quite a bit of money on the table. That will not happen this year.
All of the money in last year’s pot rolls over into this year’s East Coast Blue Marlin Division. It builds, automatically, with new entries into this year’s contest. That’s what makes the 2024 East Coast Blue Marlin Division even more special.
$62,000 is rollover money adds to the pot from 2024 entries. The result will make the winning blue marlin a big pay day for a big fish.
MONGO 2024 Specifics
The MONGO kicks off May 1 and runs through September 30. Registration opens soon. Base entry into the East Coast Blue Marlin Division is $2,500. If you’re fishing regularly, you might not even notice this expense (but you’d certainly notice the trophy and giant check you’d get for winning).
There are three additional optional blue marlin pots– $1,000 for the biggest fish of the season, $500 for the largest fish by the midpoint of the season and $2,000 for the biggest overall, Gulf and East Coast Divisions combined.
For a blue marlin to qualify as a MONGO, it must measure 118” short length. The MONGO is a boat-based tournament. A boat’s entry qualifies all anglers who fish aboard it, all season. There are no additional fees or entries required. All you need to do is to fill out your trip information in the MONGO app as you’re leaving the dock. You list your anglers for the day and register the trip with the tournament.
Your one-time registration takes care of everything. If you catch a qualifying fish in June and that fish is beaten in July, just keep fishing. If you catch another qualifier you’re still in the game.
More than Just a Blue Marlin Tournament
The MONGO is more than just a blue marlin tournament. It includes mahi, tuna, wahoo, and swordfish divisions too. Each division works the same. There’s a separate entry for each. You can enter all of them or just one.
They all work the same way– the dates are the same, the format, and rules. The biggest fish of each species wins. All you need to do is enter your boat and go fishing.
This is part of what makes the MONGO such an interesting tournament. It’s great for charter boats—it makes every day a tournament and lets people from all walks of life participate.
It’s great for private boats and weekend warriors too. The MONGO is perhaps the most accessible offshore tournament in the world. In its five-year history, boats from 18 to 105’ have participated.
The tournament lasts 153 days. That’s by design. This means that small boats can pick weather windows. Because it’s a biggest single fish tournament, you don’t need an Omni to compete.
MONGO: A Trusted Name in the Sportfishing Community
For those on the East Coast just hearing about the tournament, there’s more to the MONGO than meets the eye. Beyond the prospect of winning big money in the blue marlin division, beyond the ability to tournament fish every time you leave the dock, beyond making offshore tournament fishing accessible to thousands of anglers every year, there’s something else that makes the MONGO special.
The tournament was born on the Gulf Coast. The inspiration of three veterans of the Gulf Coast sportfishing community, brothers Captain Jeremy Cox and J.D. Cox and their longtime friend Brian Johnson, the MONGO was born of sportfishing.
In its third year, the MONGO set the Gulf Coast record for participation in an offshore fishing tournament.
The tournament’s innovative idea was part of the reason for its success. More fundamentally, the tournament has grown and expanded because its run by good, honest people who understand fishing.
The MONGO Offshore Challenge is still relatively new on the East Coast. As the MONGO grows and expands, it will host more boats in farther reaches of the East Coast. The tournament’s foundation of being straight forward, honest and rooted in the fishing community continues to be the MONGO’s calling card.
You can feel good about your entry and about how the tournament is organized and operated. We’ve got a wide network of participating marinas and weigh stations up and down the coast. You can feel good about fishing with us and we’re excited about what is to come.
Someone is going to win a lot of money in the 2024 East Coast Blue Marlin Division. That someone might be you. That said, you can’t win unless you enter.
2023 was a banner year for the MONGO– 2 divisions, 163 teams, 16 states, 3,000-plus anglers and some giant fish. 2024 is shaping up to even bigger.
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