Article by Larry Budd
Last week in the canyons was all about the 51st White Marlin Open. Despite a challenging bite year offshore and the threat of the remnants of hurricane Debby, the WMO did not fail to put on a show!
As registration approached the team at the WMO evaluated the situation and took feedback from anglers on a possible extension. While the first few days of the week looked fishable, Thursday and Friday were seriously in question. Much depended on the path Debby would take up the eastern seaboard. After much careful consideration the tournament was extended to add a 6th fishing day on Saturday. Crews were now able to fish 3 of 6 days instead of just 5. This was not an unprecedented move as the WMO has been extended in the past. In 2020 the tournament was extended to 7 days to provide more opportunity given that year’s weather forecast.
Fortunately for the area and the tournament, Debby ended up tracking more inland than projected. Still, the majority of the 318 boats in the event targeted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to fish.
Monday saw 199 boats head out. Turnout to the scales was light with only 5 boats weighing fish and the catch of the day was tuna, specifically bigeyes. The first eyeball came in on the “Right Place”. Angler Bob Hugin of Summit, NJ had just turned 70 and was excited to be in the WMO. His bigeye weighed 166.5 lbs. and lead the leaderboard for the day. As the second fished weighed for the tournament it was worth over $4 Million at the time! The crew of the “MJs” was hot on his heels bringing in 4 eyeballs with the largest a 164.5 pounder caught by Bob Wilson of Lumberton, NJ. In total, Day 1 saw 7 bigeyes and 2 yellowfins weighed.
Tuesday saw a similar crowd of 210 boats headed out to try their luck, and luck they did have. Thanks to the power of satellites and Starlink, we knew that some big fish were headed to the scales even before they opened. Sure enough, shortly after 4PM the “Waste Knot” tied up to the docks at Harbour Island with a white marlin aboard, the first billfish of the tournament. They spent the day in deep water outside the Poor Mans Canyon where they caught 2 whites, including the one boated by Ven Poole of Raleigh, NC first thing in the morning. It hit on a lure on an 80 wide, so it took only 20 minutes to get it to the boat. It measured exactly 70”, the minimum for the tournament, so on the scale it went. While at just the minimum length the true white had a girth of 14” so it weighed 77.5 lbs. Many a WMO have been won by a fish that size. It was challenged by only one other qualifying white and did win the 51st White Marlin Open and just about $3.7 million dollars!
The leaderboard changes were not done for the day. Three consecutive boats loaded up the calcuttas. First was the local boat “Stone Cutter”. Their catch had also been predicted, so the crowds were ready when they pulled up with a big blue marlin in the cockpit. Lance Blakemore of Horseheads, NY hooked up with the blue in the Poor Mans Canyon after it ate a plug. Apparently, it was a hard hit with the big blue leaving a “Volkswagen sized hole” in the water as it dove according to Lance. It took 2.5 hours to finally boat the marlin despite getting the leader 8 times. At 129” and 897.5 lbs. it easily slid into 1st Place for Heaviest Blue Marlin. It was the 5th heaviest blue in the tournaments history, and was not only Lance’s first blue marlin, but it was also his first marlin catch ever. I am sure he felt pretty secure he had a winner; however, he would have for face a challenger in the very next boat.
The “Bobojo” out of Pirates Cove, NC was next to the scales. They too had a big blue iced down in the cockpit. They were in deep water trolling south from the Baltimore Canyon toward the Washington Canyon. It was later in the day and they had yet to have a bite when they finally got one on a lure. Boat owner Hershel Martin from Montross, VA was the angler, and surprisingly was able to boat the fish in an hour. It measured 131” with a girth of 70” so the “Stone Cutter” was nervous! Fortunately for them, it was thinner and weighed in at 789.5 lbs. Still, it was another amazing marlin, Hershel’s largest by far, taking 2nd Place at the time, but slipping to 3rd Place overall.
The third boat in this sequence was the “Blue Runner”. They had a bigeye tuna to weigh. Team Buckeye member Rob Jones from Cincinnati, OH hooked up the big eyeball after it ate a skirted ballyhoo in the Wilmington Canyon. At 220.5 lbs. it rocked past the bigeyes from Day 1, taking 1st Place for Heaviest Tuna. Despite several other big tuna coming in, this one remained in the top spot. It was a great turn of luck for a boat that needed it. Read more about that in our WMO coverage starting on page 58.
The last boat in that day was the “Catch 23”. They brought a 32.5 lb. mahi to the scales caught by Patrick Field. It was only 1 of 2 mahi for the tournament, and almost one over $160K until a wahoo was weighed later in the event!
Wednesday saw the largest number of boats fishing, 272. The charter boat “Talkin’ Trash” kicked off the action putting 5 bigeye tuna on the dock. He was fishing in his secret spot that he may return to during the MidAtlantic next week! They hit a wolfpack. Of the 11 lines out, 9 got hit with 6 getting to the boat and 5 to the box. One got run over in all the action! The “Right Place” returned next with a 191.5 pounder caught by Mac Hugin.
Next was the “Mister Pete” with a white marlin. While it measured 70”, it did not meet the minimum weight of 70 lbs. You have to commend the WMO for their conservation efforts in this area. Their minimum lengths and weights are higher than NOAA regulations and many other tournaments. We still applaud the “Mister Pete” for taking a shot with a great fish.
The next two boats rattled the leaderboard on this day as well.
The “Warden Pass” brought in 3 eyeballs, saving the heaviest to weigh last! That one was 193.5 lbs. and caught by Jeff Green of Wildwood, NJ sliding into 2nd Place.
Next was the “Covered Up”. The 38’ Henriques with Capt. Keith Puller had started the day targeting marlin, but after no action they switched to bigeye fishing! Andrew Lohr of Mt. Airy, MD connected with a 164 lb. bigeye that took the top spot in the Small Boat Tuna and Small Boat Heaviest Fish. In addition, since no small boat marlin or dolphin were reported, they earned those calcuttas too for a combined payout of over $200K, the 6th largest of the event!
Thursday’s weather was better than originally forecasted, but still quite sporty. 196 boats chose to challenge that weather and head out. Again social media was abuzz with reports of a white marlin being boated by the epic “Billfisher” who won the Open in 2022 coincidentally with a 77.5 lb. white. They were first to the scales just a few minutes after opening. They had cut their fishing time short to head in early as marlin do shrink as they ride back to shore! This white was caught by the mate Capt. Noah McVicker. He was not supposed to be on duty for the right long, but angler Danny Goff who had just stepped inside the cabin when the reel popped! To be fair, Danny had already released 3 whites earlier in the day. Noah’s white measured 70” with a girth of 14” and weighed 76 lbs. It was the only other qualifying white so it took 2nd Place and a nice prize of over $1.7M.
The “MJs” returned to the scales with more bigeyes, this time from the Wilmington Canyon. They had 2 they caught in the Wilmington, both by Dante Soriente of Little Egg Harbor, NJ. These two were even bigger than Monday’s haul with the largest at 193.5 lbs. That one tied for 2nd Place with “Warden Pass”.
Days 5 saw no boats to the scales, and while 62 boats fished the extra Day 6 the only change to the leader board was from the “American Lady”. They had focused on catching a wahoo as that category was wide open and would be worth over $60K. Their plan came together when Ian Horowitz landed a 70 lb. speedster in the Poor Mans Canyon. It is also the Heaviest Wahoo caught this season.
While a lot of focus is on the marlin brought to the scales, the WMO is focused on conservation to continue to allow anglers the opportunity to catch these great fish. As you can see from the chart in this article, over 99% of the white marlin caught were released and 94% of the blue marlin. This is again due to the dedication of the tournament and anglers to the sport and the minimums set.
So another great tournament is in the books and there are even more on the horizon, so check them out below!
Upcoming Tournaments
This weekend is the famous Capt. Steve Harman’s Poor Girl’s Open at the Bahia Marina. This is considered the largest womens-only billfish tournament in the world with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research. Weigh-ins are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning at 4:00 PM.
The following Monday is the start of The MidAtlantic Tournament. This signature event anchors the big money tournaments of the season for our region with anglers fishing out of both Cape May, NJ and Ocean City, MD. It is a 5-day event with local weigh-ins at Sunset Marina each night from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
Until next week I will see you at the scales and keep sharing what you are catching! §
