White Marlin Open Photos

Angler Robert Farris of Charlotte, North Carolina aboard the No Problem out of Fenwick Island, Delaware set a tournament and a state record with his blue marlin at 1,062 lbs. After fighting the fish for over three hours on 80-lb tackle, the crew brought the fish, currently worth about $555,000, to Harbour Island.

Angler Jamie Gill aboard the Lisa out of Ocean City brought in a new first place shark, a big scalloped hammerhead tipping the scales at 254 lbs. The shark moves into first place, and snags $4,500.

For a boat that has been having a great deal of success this year, it’s no surprise to Ocean City locals that the Nontypical just showed up on the leaderboard. Captain Jim Hughes was aboard when he landed the state-record mako shark earlier this summer (876 lbs.). The Nontypical brought us a second-place worthy white marlin at 83 lbs., caught by angler Terry Layton.

Sean Healey hooked his second white marlin ever at 9:30 a.m. this morning. After an hour long fight on a disabled boat, Sean and his crew boated a 93.5 lb. white marlin, the largest white since 1980. The fish, which the crew of the Orion brought in by truck, currently stands to win $890,000.

As soon as Sean hooked the white, the transmission on the Orion died. The boat, which was stuck in forward, could only circle in wide loops. Sean had to walk around the boat, fighting the fish for an hour as it jumped in and out of the water before he finally brought it aboard. An amateur marlin fisher, Sean had no idea what he had just caught, but his crew certainly did.

We’ve had a whole slew of dolphin and tuna brought to the scales at Harbour Island, and the leaderboard has changed considerably.

The Out of Bounds brought in two dolphin, good for first and third, but was bumped out of the top spot by Gerard Wittstadt on the Two Days. That fish, 37 lbs., takes that $13,500 purse for now. The Shadowfax (tournament boat #1) swept into first in the tuna category with a 249 lb. big eye, caught by angler Doug Salter.

Robert Wagner moves into first place in the tuna categories with a 150.5 lb. bluefin caught aboard the Emmanuel. Robert’s fish takes that $170,000 prize, as long as he can hold on.

After several attempts by other boats, Mike Fulgham on the Phat Mann finally cracked the minimum weight for dolphins with a 25.5 lb. fish. Since the Phat Mann was entered in the Daily Meat Fish calcutta, Mike’s fish is currently worth over $13,000.

Angler Dan Deer is no stranger to the White Marlin Open. Fishing with the tournament for the past 22 years, he was the top angler in 1989 (600 points) and has been to the scales a number of times since then. This year, however, he was first on the board with a 67.5 lb. White Marlin caught on the True Grit. The fish currently stands in first place and will probably take home $860,000 if he remains in first all week.

An hour after the scales opened for the first time this week, we’ve seen a pair of contending tuna, two undersized whites and a small blue. George Cumberland on the Why Not was waiting as the scales opened at 4:15 today with his first place 142.5 lb. tuna. The tuna currently stands at $170,000. In second place is the 133.5 lb. fish caught by Don Del Gavio on the Rehab. Second place will net Don just over $60,000 if he can hold on till Friday. According to several of the anglers at the scales today, the off-shore weather was surprisingly accommodating, with relatively calm seas.

The skies are blue and the breezes are warm here at Harbour Island, just two days before lines go in the water at the 2009 White Marlin Open. This year, the 36-year old world’s largest billfishing tournament is expecting more than three hundred boats to compete for millions of dollars of prize money. Boats from up and down the eastern seaboard are registering for added entry levels, hoping to catch the big white. There is one more day of late registration tomorrow, and the Captain’s Meeting here on the dock at 7 p.m. Spectators are already planning to watch the boats go past the Ocean City sea buoy early on Monday morning. Stay tuned to WhiteMarlinOpen.com for the latest tournament information all week!