Article by Larry Jock
As always this time of year, the fishing community was buzzing last week over the White Marlin Open, and this year, with 329 boats competing for over $4,451,000 in prize money, anticipation was high for who was going to bring in the heaviest white marlin.
The weather forecast was good for the first 4 days of fishing, with only Friday looking to be the roughest of the week, so most boats fished on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday:
Monday 283
Tuesday 249
Wednesday 185
Thursday 242
Friday 28
The major headline of the tournament was the record $2,818,660 won by Phil Heasley for his 76.5 lb. white marlin that took first place in the White Marlin Division. The other highlight of the tournament has to be the 1,445 billfish boated and released during the 5 days of fishing (1,420 released and 25 boated). This equates to a 98.3% release percentage.
Throughout the tournament, we saw several white marlin that hit the 67-inch minimum length requirement but didn’t reach the minimum weight of 70 lbs.
The first day of the tournament was dominated by white marlin that were just under the minimum weight with most boats heading to the Spencer and Wilmington Canyons. Most of the whites were in the 70 to 72-inch range with a 24 to 26-inch girth, putting them in the mid-60 lb. range.
In the Tuna Division, the “Fish Whistle” threw a 71.5 lb. yellowfin caught in the Baltimore Canyon on the scale to take the early lead.
In the Dolphin Division, the day ended with the a 34.5 pounder in first place. The dolphin was caught on the “Delta Dawn” by Thomas Bennett outside the Rockpile.
The last boat to arrive on the first day of the tournament was the “Get Reel”, a 36-foot Grady White. On board was a huge blue marlin caught by Jim Conway, in 700 fathoms northeast of the Baltimore Canyon. The interesting thing about this catch, outside of the fact that the fish was huge, was that the tail was detached from the rest of it’s body. Because the blue marlin was too large to get into the boat, the anglers positioned the fish, bill first, through the transom door and secured the bill to the T-top. A rope was also placed around it’s tail and secured to the T-top, putting a bow in the tail as it hung past the transom. Everything was fine until they hit some rough water, causing the tail to bounce and eventually snap. All of this was filmed by the crew and showed to tournament officials. When the fish arrived at the scale, the first thought was that it should be disqualified under I.G.F.A’s “mutilation” rule. However, the rule states that mutilation can only occur before the fish is boated, making the “Get Reel” catch legal, based on I.G.F.A. rules. The blue marlin’s body weighed 790 lbs. and the tail weighed another 29 1/2 lbs., but the official tournament weight only recognized the weight of the body, which still gave them 1st place.
The second day of the tournament started off with Phil Heasley’s 76.5 lb. white marlin being the first, and subsequently only, white marlin that hit the 70 lb. minimum weight requirement. Phil hooked the white marlin in 500 fathoms in the Baltimore Canyon and was 1 of 3 Phil hooked that day.
Right behind Phil’s white marlin was a 233 lb. bigeye, caught by Mark Hutchison on the “Magic Moment” that took the lead in the Tuna Division. This looked like it would be a tough fish to beat after Mark hooked it in 200 fathoms in the Washington Canyon, but it ended up getting beat out and finished in 2nd place.
A few boats later, last years Top Angler, John Gudelsky brought a 36 lb. dolphin to the scale, jumping into the lead in the Dolphin Division. John caught the bull just above the Washington Canyon and ended up in a tie for 2nd place.
“Two Timing Connie” arrived next with a 79 lb. wahoo, caught in 30 fathoms inside the Poor Man’s Canyon by Richard Hammond and ended the tournament at the top of the Wahoo Division. Brian Leader on the “Second Chance” boated a 54 lb. speedster in the Poor Man’s Canyon and ended up in 2nd place.
There were only a couple of changes to the leaderboard on Day 3. Brian Russell on the “Sea Wolf” caught a 36 lb. dolphin in 700 fathoms below the Poor Man’s to jump into a tie for 1st place with the “Reel Joy”. Next up was the “MJ’s” with a 260.5 lb. hammerhead that was caught in the Norfolk Canyon and ended the tournament in 1st place in the Shark Division. The last boat to show up was the “Hubris” with a 236.5 lb. bigeye caught in the Wilmington Canyon that ended the tournament in 1st place in the Tuna Division.
The 4th day of the White Marlin Open is considered “moving day”, and usually has a lot of movement on the leaderboard, but this year we saw only a couple of changes. After a couple of “light” white marlin and some dolphin weighed, the “Got Fish Too” arrived with a 41 lb. wahoo caught at the Rockpile that gave them 3rd place in the Wahoo Division. The only other change came when the “American Lady” weighed a 71.5 lb. yellowfin that ended the tournament tied for 3rd place in the Tuna Division. The yellowfin was hooked in 600 fathoms outside the Poor Man’s Canyon.
With only 28 boats fishing on the final day, everyone settled into their lawn chairs at the scale, but the inactivity didn’t last long. The “Rumor Has It” showed up with a 223 lb. mako shark that was caught on a whole sardine in 500 fathoms in the Washington Canyon. This put them in 2nd place in the Shark Division. Right behind was the “Sea Flame” with a 39 lb. dolphin that jumped to the lead in the Dolphin Division. The big bull was caught on a ballyhoo in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Hats off to all of the tournament organizers and volunteers for another successful and exciting tournament.
Flounder
There is plenty of flounder action in the bay, but you are going to have to spend considerable time weeding through short fish to get your keeper. Luckily, larger croaker have entered the bay giving anglers more opportunities to bend a rod. Most of the flounder bites are occurring in the East Channel, behind Harbour Island and in the Thorofare. As always, look for the deeper holes where water temperatures are cooler.
The dynamite flounder action is on the ocean reefs and wrecks right now. Anglers are returning with a good number of flatties and big ones as well. Dropping Gulp!, squid, mahi belly, flounder belly and strips of sea robin will give you the best shot at a doormat.
Upcoming Tournaments
Starting on Thursday, August 18th, is the world famous Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open at Bahia Marina. Billed as the worlds largest womans-only billfish tournament, the Poor Girls is one of the top local tournaments of the year and definitely one of the most fun to watch at the scale. Not only do the ladies put some impressive catches on the dock, but they also have a good time doing it. As with all tournaments at Bahia Marina, spectators can get close to the action with weigh-ins on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
This coming Monday, August 22nd, The MidAtlantic rolls into town with weigh-ins held Monday through Friday from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM in Cape May, NJ and at Sunset Marina in West Ocean City. Last year, 139 boats competed for over $2,800,000 in prize money with the majority of boats fishing out of Ocean City. This tournament has really gained in both stature and participation in Ocean City, so it’s a great place to grab a table at Sunset Grille and watch the action.
See you at the scales!
