The 45th White Marlin Open
Each year during the first full week in August, all eyes turn to the White Marlin Capital, Ocean City, MD in Worcester County for the biggest fishing tournament in the world. This year, the 45th White Marlin Open held up to its namesake with record entries and a record tournament payout with the lion's share going to a single fish. Everyone in the tournament has a chance and the excitement is palpable.
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The sleepy little condo village and marina called Harbor Island transforms itself into the hub of activity centered around the scales. Some folks plan their vacation around White Marlin Open week, making the pilgrimage at 4 pm every afternoon to the giant party around the scales to see who might bring in fish that can be worth millions of dollars. It’s a party unmatched in the sportfishing world.
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Meanwhile in West Ocean City at Sunset Marina, you can spend a couple of hours strolling down “C” dock gawking at what is possibly the largest gathering of jaw-dropping, gleaming 60- to 95-foot sportfishing machines, with an estimated worth over a billion dollars. Manned by sunburned crews who leave well before dawn (heading out to the Canyons offshore where the ocean giants roam) each works hard through the day to capture big white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, wahoo, and mahi-mahi in hopes of bringing a monster back with them to the scale.
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On day one, the team on “Auspicious” (Palm Beach, FL) came into Harbor Island with a boated blue marlin flag flying high in the riggers as the crowd swelled and pressed in towards the scale. The fish was first checked by the judges, then pulled up on the scale—a massive 881 lbs to take the early lead! With no qualifying whites worth well over $3 million, there was a lot of fishing to come.
On day two on “Robins Nest” (Annapolis, MD), we had a blue marlin on the line that looked big enough to weigh and move into second place on the leaderboard, but after a short fight the giant fish parted the line and disappeared into the depths. We had a couple of fat white marlin, too, but they did not meet the tournament minimum length. Like most of the marlin caught in the tournament, they were released to fight another day.
Angler Roddy Jabin with Capt. Rod Jabin on “Robins Nest” check length and release a white marlin.One qualifying white marlin was weighted at the scales by “Lights Out” (FL) at 75 lbs, setting the target for the rest of the teams. Days three and four produced excitement at the scales with lots of meat fish and a new tournament leader in the White Marlin division: the “Under Dog” (Virginia Beach, VA). They weighed an 83 lbs. fish (by white marlin standards a very nice fish) and stood to win $2.6 million—if nothing bigger came along.
Day five, the last day of the tournament, with new water moving into the northern canyons and fat fish in the southern canyons, the boats had high hopes, tough decisions, and long offshore runs. At the end of the day, “Weldors Ark” (Moorhead City, NC) returned to the dock with an 83 lb White Marlin, tied for first with the “Under Dog,” but winning the tie-breaker, “Weldors Ark” won the $2.58 million, with “Under Dog” taking home $129,000. The other big winners were “Auspicious” with $924,000 for the Blue Marlin category and “Buckshot” (Ocean City, MD) with $904,000 for the biggest tuna.
Team Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar aboard “Skirt Chaser”So how do you get involved? You can bring your own boat and you will need to round up a good crew and prepare your equipment to be flawless, as every bite counts. Or, you can form a syndicate and buy a space aboard a team. I have managed “Team Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar” aboard the “Skirt Chaser” (Manteo, NC) for 5 years. With a professional captain and mates, each spot is filled by anglers keen to have a shot at the grand prize. This is a pay-to-play operation but a fraction of the cost of buying a boat. Start planning now for 2019 now as the logistics of boats, dock space, and accommodations fill up early. This is an open tournament; all comers welcome to capture the biggest prize in fishing.
Until next year!
This post was written by Capt. Tom Weaver with FishWithWeaver.com
Images courtesy of the author and WMO