Article by Larry Budd
This Week Last Year
• The 47th Annual White Marlin Open concluded with “Canyon Blues” taking the top prize of $1,850,000 for their almost record setting 97 lb. white marlin. Other top earners were 2nd Place Tuna winner “Restless Lady II” taking home $1,414,000 and a big with in the new Heaviest Fish Division and Small Boat Heaviest Category from “Jersey Boy” winning $375,000 for their 273.5 lb. swordfish.
•On Day 5 of the WMO Matt Wagner from LaPlata, MD caught a 73.5 pound bull dolphin while fishing on the “Backlash”. This mahi set a new tournament record breaking the previous record that stood for 34 years.
There is no doubt that last week was an exciting one for offshore fishing! With 444 boats entered and a purse of over $9M dollars, the 48th Annual White Marlin Open did not fail to deliver on exciting catches and dramatic turnovers of the leader board. The tournament also set new standards in conservation by raising the tournament limits for white marlin to a minimum lower jaw fork length of 70”, up from 68” last year, and establishing a minimum weight of 70 lbs. These are much higher than the Federal limits of 66” without an additional weight criteria. Likewise the WMO blue marlin limit of 114” lower jaw fork measurement is also significantly higher than the Federal standard of 99”. These changes increase the number of whites and blues released as well as increases the competitiveness of the event as was reflected in this year’s species count. 97% of the 515 white marlin caught were released as were 96% of the 69 blues.
As with most White Marlin Opens, the weather plays a part as well as Monday and Friday fishing days. This year’s weather played out well for this pattern with a front moving through on Wednesday and Thursday. Given the ‘fish 3 of 5’ day format of the event, most boats chose to fish Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
Day 1 saw quite a bit of action as 421 boats headed out to try their luck. The first boat to the scale was the “Fender Bender” from Virginia Beach, VA with appropriately a white marlin to weigh! Angler Mike Atkinson absolutely set the bar catching an 82.5 lb. white outside of the Poor Man’s Canyon while trolling in 1000 fathoms. Most thought the winner was set as that white would have one 4 of the last 10 opens and the marlin bite had been off for the past few weeks. The next big catch to the scales came from the NE corner of the Wilmington Canyon. Angler Lawrence Morejohn on the “SEVEN” boated a 137 lb. bigeye tuna after an extended fight on a TD30 with a 7/0 hook. Clearly they were not looking for tuna! Not long after that we saw the first of two sharks caught with the “Go Fish” presenting a 132.5 lb. tiger shark they caught in between the Hambone and the Baltimore Canyon wall. Rounding out Day 1 was the “Mama C”, also from Virginia Beach, VA. They too were outside the Poor Man’s Canyon around the 615/935 mark where they connected with a 116 1/2” and 559.5 lb. blue marlin. This one came up on a teaser and took a pitch bait the crew put out once they got eyes on it! An extraordinary Day 1 concluded with solid fish in all the major levels with only dolphin and wahoo remaining open.
Day 2 saw ‘sporty’ conditions in the morning, but 420 boats still headed out. A new 1st Place wahoo was set by the “Island Hopper” for the 48.5 lb. fish they found south of the Baltimore Canyon as was a 2nd Place 83 lb. Tuna from the “Reely Chaotic”. The big fish of the day was another blue marlin caught by the “Canyon Lady”. Angler Scott Zurawski was also outside of the Poor Man’s Canyon where he landed a 115 1/2” and 511 lb. blue marlin to move into 2nd Place in that Category.
Most boats stayed in the slips for Wednesday and Thursday as the weather moved through, and no notable changes to the leaderboard occurred, however as Friday came upon us, it was clear it was a new day for the tournament!
In an eventful day that did not end until 10:30PM, almost all the top spots changed on Friday. The “SEVEN”, already leading the Tuna Division brought both a blue and white marlin to the scales! Both were caught in the Wilmington Canyon only 1/2 mile apart, but at much different depths. First caught was a 77 lb. white marlin that they hooked in 800’ that briefly held 3rd Place followed by their 775 lb. big blue marlin that popped up on a teaser while they were in the flats in 300’. A quick pitch bait to get hooked with a 4 hour fight to follow put this category winner in the boat. One of the last boats in was the “Jersey Boy” with a new Maryland State Record swordfish at 318.5 lbs! They were also southeast of the Poor Man’s Canyon in 1400 ft. connecting with this one late day and taking 2 hours reel in. Of course the biggest upset came almost at the end. After dozen’s of boat came in, it was finally the turn for the “Sushi”. Capt. Charlie Pereira had suffered a bent prop earlier in the week, but was able to work with Sunset Marina and Duffie Boatworks to get back in the game so when word reached the scales that they were bringing a white, excitement was high! They had ventured deep to the south in the Norfolk Canyon in 70 fathoms to find this white. With a length of 76” and a girth of 14” it was not a surprise this white became the new leader at 85 1/2 lbs. earning the single largest payout in tournament history of $3,238,155! A fitting end to one of the most exciting final days in WMO history. There is more coverage and more detail in our Tournament Section starting on page 66.
No coverage of this year’s White Marlin Open would be complete without recognition of and thanks to the crew from the “Fishbone”. On Monday last week the heard a distress call from the “Knot Stressin’“ who were taking on water and sinking. Realizing they were only about a mile away from them, Capt. Billy Chapman and crew pulled the lines and speed to their rescue. All lives were saved as well as the few belongings that floated.
There were very limited reports from offshore last week as most boats were either in the tournament or in the slip due to weather. Overall the big blues and whites came from outside the Poor Man’s Canyon with the winning tuna and many billfish releases north in the Wilmington and Spencer Canyons. Hopefully the front that moved through improved the bite on Friday will stay with us into this week.
Upcoming Tournaments;
• The 28th Annual Steve Harman Poor Girl’s Open is back after a pandemic hiatus last year. This is a ladies only billfish release event benefiting breast cancer research. Held at the Bahia Marina on August 12th thru 14th, the event is always fun filled with a vendor village, colorful outfits from the anglers and great food at Fish Tales. Scales are open from 4 - 7:30 PM each day.
• The 30th Annual Mid-Atlantic Tournament will be held from August 16th thru 20th with weigh ins from 5 - 9PM at both the Canyon Club Marina in Cape May and at Sunset Marina in Ocean City. This is another tournament with a multi-million dollar purse sure to bring big fish to the docks!
Follow our Tournament Schedule in the paper and on-line to keep up to date!
Until next week, I will see you at the scales! §
