Article by Larry Jock
The busiest week of the fishing season is now behind us, with the 2015 White Marlin Open in the books. Rough seas plagued boaters all week, making tournament boats basically the only ones heading out the Inlet.
White Marlin Open
Many local tournaments have seen an increase in participation this season, so many people were wondering if the White Marlin Open was going to see the same results. Last year, 288 boats entered the event and this year, they saw a 19 boat increase, bringing it to 307 boats, the first time in 7 years the count has been over 300. The tournament would have probably seen even more boats entered if the weather forecast was better. It basically came down to a Monday/Wednesday/Thurs-day tournament with almost every boat sitting at the dock on Tuesday.
Day 1 - 294
Day 2 - 5
Day 3 - 238
Day 4 - 294
Day 5 - 90
Total prize money this year was $3,875,000, a significant increase over last year’s $2,770,000. A major reason for the increase was the $10,000 Winner-Take-All Calcutta added this year that attracted an incredible 92 boats. This calcutta really made things interesting, and for the 1st time in tournament history, the top 2 white marlin each earned over $1,000,000 in award money since the boat that weighed the 1st place white marlin was not entered into the new calcutta.
With 294 of the 307 boats fishing on the 1st day of the tournament, we had a feeling it was going to be a busy day at the scales. After a couple of white marlin arrived that didn’t meet the minimum weight for the tournament and the “Burn’ N Bills” weighed a couple of bigeyes, the crowd was on its feet when the “Goin’ in Deep” arrived with a 551 lb. blue marlin caught by Larry Hesse, Jr. in the Poor Man’s Canyon. The blue marlin measured 137.5-inches (LJFL) and had an overall measurement of 156-inches. Larry’s blue marlin was the only one brought to the scale and earned his team over $778,000 in award money.
Later in the day, “Warden Pass” mixed things up when they brought in a 45 lb. wahoo that ended up winning the Wahoo Division and $33,646 in award money.
We expected bigeye tuna to dominate the Tuna Division like in previous years, and that is exactly what happened. “Rumor Has It” arrived with a 177 lb. bigeye, caught at the Bigeye Hole, that ended up in 2nd place in the Tuna Division. Several other nice size bigeyes were weighed on the first day, including a 157.5 pounder that came in on the “Green Turtle”, but unfortunately, was caught just over the 100 mile limit.
Dolphin also took up most of the time at the scales with several mahi weighing over 25 lbs.
The second day of the tournament saw very nasty seas which kept 98% of the boats at the dock. The only boat we saw at the scale was the “Ahi” that limped home after landing a 19.5 lb. dolphin that just missed the minimum weight requirement of 20 lbs. With broken riggers and antennae, the anglers sure could have used the $13,000 they would have won for the daily dolphin calcutta if their fish was only a 1/2 lb. heavier. I don’t think there was a person at the scales who wasn’t rooting for these dedicated anglers.
Day 3 of the tournament started on a high note when the “Backlash” out of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center arrived with a fat, 94 lb. white marlin caught by Cheryl McLeskey.
Cheryl’s fish is the third heaviest white marlin caught in tournament history and Cheryl is the first lady angler to catch the winning white. The white marlin sported a hefty 31-inch girth and only took Cheryl 10 minutes to get to the boat.
The next boat to arrive at the scale was the “Sweet Water” with a?43.5 lb. wahoo that ended up in 3rd place in the Wahoo Division. After a few dolphin and tuna were weighed, the “Tra Sea Ann” showed up with Chris Manetta’s 42 lb. dolphin that temporarily took over 1st place. In addition to the big dolphin, the “Tra Sea Ann” team released 4 white marlin during their trip. The rest of the third day was spent weighing nice size dolphin and bigeye tuna with a few white marlin that didn’t qualify.
With Friday’s forecast turning bad, the vast majority of boats decided to make Thursday their final day for fishing. After a couple of non-qualifying white marlin were brought to the scale, the “Just Right V” showed up with a 44 lb. wahoo that took over 2nd place in the Wahoo Division and never looked back. Shortly thereafter, the “Streaker” arrived with a huge dolphin, weighing 46.5 lbs., to take over 1st place in the Dolphin Division. The winning dolphin was caught on a ballyhoo in 350 fathoms in the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Bigeye tuna ruled the rest of the weigh-ins on Day 4, but none cracked the top 3 positions.
With only 90 boats fishing on the final day, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but historically, this day is always an exciting one in the White Marlin Open.
The first boat to arrive at the scale was the “Lights Out” with only the second qualifying white marlin of the tournament. Bill Haugland of Coral Gables, FL weighed a 79 pounder that was caught in 70 fathoms above the Poor Man’s Canyon with only 6 minutes left in the day. Bill’s catch put his team in 2nd place in the White Marlin Division, which is where they stayed.
Being in the new $10,000 calcutta pushed the “Lights Out” winnings to over $1,006,000.
The next boat at the scale was the “MJ’s” with a pair of bigeyes caught at the Bigeye Hole.
Their largest fish, weighing 176 lbs., temporarily gave them 2nd place in the Tuna Division. The final weigh-in of the tournament was the “Miss Annie” with a 200.5 lb. bigeye, also caught at the Bigeye Hole, that vaulted them into 1st place in the Tuna Division and gave them over $399,000 in award money.
Overall, it was another good White Marlin Open. We didn’t see as many white marlin come to the scale as previous years, but the 649 white marlin released was a significant increase versus the 411 released last year. It was great to see such an increase in the number of boats participating and the new $10,000 calcutta will certainly make things interesting money-wise in future tournaments.
Flounder
Flounder fishing was not very good last week. Action in the bay was sluggish until Sunday morning when the best bite occurred just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge. Unfortunately, this bite didn’t last very long and the bite turned off on Sunday afternoon.
Bad weather made it difficult, if not impossible, for boats to get to the best spots this season, the inshore reefs and wrecks.
Spot are starting to show up in our bay, so if you get a chance, get your spot traps out and catch some of the best flounder bait you can get. Minnows and Gulp! are good, but if you are looking for big flounder, live spot can really do the trick.
Upcoming Tournaments
This weekend is the Capt. Steve Harman Poor Girl’s Open at Bahia Marina. Weigh-ins are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM. The Poor Girl’s is billed as the largest female-only billfish tournament in the world and is a great one for both anglers and spectators.
Next Monday starts the MidAtlantic (formally known as the Mid Atlantic $500,000). This is one of the premier fishing tournaments on the East Coast with weigh-ins held at the South Jersey Marina in Cape May, NJ and at Sunset Marina here in Ocean City. This tournament has really taken off in Ocean City and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more boats sailing out of Ocean City than out of New Jersey in the next few years. Weigh-ins are Monday through Friday from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. and can easily be viewed while you are eating dinner at the Sunset Grille.
See you at the scales.
