Boat captains around Annapolis can now register for the 2026 Fish For A Cure tournament, a Chesapeake Bay fishing competition that has pulled in more than $7.7 million over the past 19 years for cancer patients and their families in the community. The tournament and its companion fundraising challenge will take place Saturday, November 7, at Safe Harbor Annapolis, with boat registration open through Monday, November 2.
The event, first detailed in a report from Eye On Annapolis, raises money specifically for the Cancer Survivorship Program at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute. That program serves more than 2,000 patients and families annually, offering nurse navigation, nutrition counseling, oncology rehabilitation, and psychosocial care, according to Luminis Health. Because insurance rarely covers those kinds of non-medical support services, tournament proceeds go directly toward sustaining them.
How the Tournament and Fundraising Challenge Work
Captains registering a boat for 2026 will pay $600 to cover themselves and up to three anglers, with additional anglers costing $175 each, per the tournament's official rules. Each entry is expected to raise a minimum of $1,500 in donations. Fishing itself follows a catch-and-release format using the iAngler smartphone app, where anglers photograph eligible catches against an officially labeled F4AC measuring stick — with indicator labels emailed to team captains the night before the tournament.
Anglers compete across several categories, including Striped Bass, a Perch stringer division, an Invasive Species category covering catfish and snakehead, and a Grand Slam category that requires landing three unique Bay sportfish species. Non-sport species like menhaden and spot don't count toward scoring. Running alongside the fishing competition is the Paul C. Dettor Captain's Challenge, a separate fundraising contest that organizers restructured in 2023 into two divisions: the Legends League for previous challenge winners and the Open League for everyone else, with Open League winners earning the option to move up to the Legends League the following year.
Record-Setting Fundraising From Past Years
The competitive stakes among top fundraising teams have grown steep. Team Reel Counsel, which fishes aboard the vessel Miss Grace, won the Legends League in both 2024 and 2025, raising $228,615 and $217,413 in those years, respectively — putting the crew on track toward $1 million in cumulative donations since 2018, according to figures from Luminis Health. In the Open League, team AllTackle set a record for that division in November 2024 by raising $49,274.61, a win that earned the team promotion into the Legends League the following year.
Those totals build on a tournament that has become a genuine regional institution. The 18th annual event in November 2024 raised a record $1.1 million through nearly 2,700 individual donations, supported by 58 registered boats and 123 anglers, with individual contributions ranging from $1 to $25,000, Eye On Annapolis reported at the time.
Shore Party Caps Off the Day
Following the fishing, the tournament's Shore Party celebrates the top boats, fundraisers, and overall tournament impact with food, drinks, and live music. The party was named Best Nonprofit Event in the 2026 What's Up Best of Awards and will return as part of this year's event. Tickets for non-registered guests to attend the evening celebration were priced at $150 per person in 2024, when the event ran from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Safe Harbor Annapolis in Eastport, according to the Severna Park Voice.
Fish For A Cure operates in direct administrative partnership with the Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that handles financial stewardship and donor tax deductions, with the tournament's volunteer board working alongside foundation staff to execute the event, per the organization's own FAQ page. Captains can register boats for either the Open League or the Legends League, and the tournament's website includes donation information, sponsorship details, and fundraising leaderboards for those tracking team progress. Organizers are encouraging participants to sign up early and begin fundraising ahead of the November tournament date.
