Tag: White Marlin Open

$3.7M for a 77.5-pound white marlin is among millions paid in tourney

Two other fish caught in the White Marlin Open, the world’s largest billfishing tournament, were worth over a million dollars.

An angler aboard the boat called Waste Knot landed a 77.5-pound white marlin that earned his team a whopping $3,699,630 in the prestigious White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland.

The catch made by Ven Poole of Raleigh, N.C., allowed his team to cash in on a variety of jackpots that contributed to the amazing cash payout out from the total prize money of $8.59 million.

Waste Knot wasn’t the only boat to make more than a million dollars in what is dubbed as the world’s largest billfishing tournament.

Noah McVicker of Ocean City boated a 76-pound white marlin that was worth $1,797,119 for the team of Billfisher. And Rob Jones of Cincinnati caught a 220.5-pound tuna to earn his team, Blue Runner, a nice prize of $1,007,012.

“We are incredibly proud of how this year’s White Marlin Open unfolded, despite the challenges posed by the weather,” said Jim Motsko, Tournament Director and Founder of the White Marlin Open. “The level of competition was outstanding, with some of the most impressive catches in the tournament’s history.”

Among the impressive catches was an 897.5-pound blue marlin caught by Lance Blakemore of Horseheads, N.Y., on the Stone Cutter and an 894-pound blue marlin landed by Phil Key of Millers Island, Maryland, aboard Moore Bills. Those fish were worth $520,374 and $410,936, respectively.

All told, 318 boats participated in the event with 1,824 pounds of fish donated to the Maryland Food Bank through a partnership with Catch-N-Carry.

Photos courtesy of White Marlin Open and Unscene Productions.

Angler catches 640-pound blue marlin worth a world-record $6.2 million

On the fifth and final day of the 50th White Marlin Open, a fisherman landed the first and only qualifying billfish of the tournament.

On the fifth and final day of the 50th White Marlin Open, a fisherman landed the first and only qualifying billfish of the tournament, and it was a whopper worth a hefty sum.

John Ols of Laytonsville, Maryland, caught a 640.5-pound blue marlin Saturday that paid a world-record $6.2 million from a $10.5 million purse.

Ols was fishing with a team aboard the Floor Reel, a boat based in Ocean City, Maryland, where the tournament is based. It was the third straight year a boat from Ocean City won the five-day event billed as the “World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament,” as reported by The Virginia-Pilot.

Ols’ fish was weighed Friday evening, and then the team had to wait three hours until the fish was declared the winner. It beat last year’s winning blue marlin by more than 100 pounds, and surpassed the record payout of $4.45 million set last year with a 77.5-pound white marlin caught by Jeremy Duffie.

Ols’ fish measured 118 inches, easily making the 114-inch minimum length to have it weighed.

“While there were unofficially 551 white marlin and 46 blue marlin caught, only three billfish were brought in and only two were weighed,” the tournament report stated.

“The Chaser out of Manteo, N.C., just missed with a 67.5-pound white marlin [the minimum for weighing is 70 pounds or 70 inches], and the No Limit out of Indian River, DE, brought in a blue marlin that missed our 114” minimum length by two inches, so it was not weighed.”

From The Virginia-Pilot:

No white marlin caught were deemed large enough this week to bring in to weigh, although more than 400 were caught during the week. It’s just the third time in the tournament’s history — the others were 1984, ‘85 and ‘86 — that no white marlin filled the winning categories.

Boats are permitted to fish three of the tournament’s five days, and 357 boats hit the fishing grounds Friday.

Fisherman catches a white marlin worth a staggering $4.5 million

At the end of the final day of the five-day White Marlin Open, Jeremy Duffie weighed a fish that set a world record for a winning fish.

At 6:20 p.m. on the final day of the five-day White Marlin Open, the boat Billfisher pulled up to the scale and angler Jeremy Duffie of Bethesda, Maryland, weighed in the winning fish that was worth a staggering $4.5 million.

Duffie’s white marlin weighed 77.5 pounds and took the lead away from Keeley Megarity, the Houston fisherman who had caught a 71.5-pound white marlin the day before. Megarity on the boat C-Student took $197,000 for second place.

The actual payout for Duffie was $4,536,926, a world-record payout for one fish, surpassing the previous record of $3.2 million from last year’s White Marlin Open.

The tournament, based in Ocean City, Maryland, drew 408 boats that vied for $8.6 million in total prize money. The fishing was slower than usual this year with only 151 caught-and-released billfish compared to the average of 800.

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The White Marlin Open is primarily a catch-and-release tournament with the biggest payouts reserved for the heaviest marlin. Tournament director Jim Motsko told Sport Fishing that the event averages a 97 percent release rate.

Bill Britt aboard Cabana weighed in a 511-pound blue marlin, the only qualifier in that division, and took home $1.2 million. But it was the Duffie catch that made the biggest headlines.

“My brother and I have been fishing out of Ocean City since we were born,” Duffie told Sport Fishing. “Winning has always eluded us, now we’ve done what we wanted to do.”

“As a family, grandparents, sisters and sisters-in-law, brothers, and friends, it’s something you’ll never be able to replace,” Duffie told FOX5. “It’s like the Super Bowl of fishing for people like us who do it. You try to win this tournament your whole life.”

Photos courtesy of the White Marlin Open and Wikipedia Commons.

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