Trio of white marlins caught on pleasant Wednesday at White Marlin Open
The first truly seaworthy day of the week kicked the action into overdrive Wednesday at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City.
Due to inclement weather, 136 of the 353 total boats participating in this year's tournament hit the water Monday, and a mere 19 set out Tuesday.
On Wednesday, however, 297 of the 353 registered boats set out to compete for the prize money, according to White Marlin Open Director Andy Motsko.
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“Monday we had 196 (registered boats) out but the weather deteriorated so quickly it was basically a half-day of fishing,” he said. “Over today and the next two days we’re expecting a lot of activity.”
Motsko said that from early reports, he’s optimistic, and expected at least a few white marlins to be brought in.
Nearly $5 million is on the line — literally and figuratively — for participating anglers, marking a record purse for the annual event, now in its 44th year.
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In attendance for the second time in two years were Kathy and Willard Strunk of Easton, who said last year’s event drew them out again this year.
“We came last year and were absolutely enticed to come out again,” Kathy said. “We do some smaller-scale fishing, so this is just fascinating to us. To see the large boats come in with these massive fish — we’ve just never had the opportunity to see it in person other than here.”
“This is the big league,” her husband, Willard, said. “You don’t get to see this, except for on television.”
The weather Monday and Tuesday kept the two retirees home, but positive forecasts Wednesday convinced them to hop in their car.
“It just looked like it was going to be so beautiful out, we couldn’t say no,” Kathy said.
The first white marlin of the day brought onto the dock was caught aboard the “Top Dog,” captained by Todd Dickerson of Damascus, Maryland. Although it had the length to qualify, at 67 inches, its 59 pounds were just shy of meeting the tournament standards.
In spite of that, Dickerson was enthusiastic.
“We got a hit and it was on,” he said. “It was a beautiful day on the water and we thank everyone here for hosting us.”
The second white marlin brought to shore, however, showed more potential. Landed by “The Business,” captained by Michael Logan of Beach Haven, New Jersey, it measured 71 inches and weighed 76 pounds.
As of 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Logan's fish is in second place. The current first place holder is Mike Donohue, captaining the Griffin, whose white marlin weighed in at 86 pounds.
Third place in the white marlin category was Casey Roohan of the “Team Player” of Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Roohan’s white marlin came in at 70.5 pounds.
The tuna category also saw a change in leader on Wednesday.
Joe Sandler on "Intents" from Jupiter, Florida, grabbed the top spot with a 68.5-pound tuna, eclipsing James Boynton's 67-pound catch on Wednesday.
The wahoo category went unchanged, with Gary Capuano's opening day 55-pound catch aboard the "Hog Wild" from Manteo, North Carolina.
According to Andy Motsko, 98 percent of all fish caught during the tournament are released. Those that aren’t have samples taken from them by Salisbury University biologists before they are portioned into steaks and donated to the Maryland Food Bank.
Butch Langenfelder, food sourcing manager for the Maryland Food Bank, said that the event has an amazing effect on feeding the area's impoverished population. He said that over the food bank's eight years of working with the event, an average of 2,000 pounds of fillets go to Ocean City soup kitchens each year.
"I'll tell you what, this is the biggest area event where this much protein is donated to us," he said. "The biggest thing is that the anglers and the crowd are just so enthusiastic about this food not going to waste; about seeing it go to a good cause and right back to the community."
Langenfelder said that the meat doesn't leave the area.
"These fillets will go right into Worcester County," he said. "It'll stay right here and be delivered within 24 hours to Ocean City soup kitchens."
Leaderboard
White Marlin
1. Mike Donohue, Griffin, 86 pounds, $2,600,000
2. Michael Logan, Business, 76 pounds, $120,000
3. Casey Roohan, Team Player, 70.5 pounds, $80,000