White Marlin Open Day 1: Several big tuna amid tornado warnings

Heavy rain, gusting winds and dangerous storms pounded the Delmarva Peninsula on Monday, putting a damper on Day 1 of the 2017 White Marlin Open in Ocean City, the 44th edition of the tournament. 



At the Harbour Island Marina near 14th Street on the bay, a smaller crowd than usual surrounded the scales, which were open from 4-9 p.m. The weather had spectators flocking to various tents and the probably overcapacity Reel Inn for cover and refreshments. 



Of the 353 boats participating in this year's tournament — the largest billfish event of its kind — 136 hit the water Monday, officials said early in the day. 



According to officials, reports were coming in that a lot of boats turned back in early, making for a little less action than normal around the scales. 



"We just want to make sure everyone is safe," said Open official Jeff Rowan. "That's the priority. There aren't a lot of boats coming in at the moment."



Still, though, there were some qualifying fish, with boats looking to take home a portion of the $4.97 million to be given out in a variety of categories. 



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The largest on the scales as of about 8 p.m. Monday was a 64-pound tuna caught aboard the Milling Around, a boat out of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, with angler Jim Stavola. 

The next-largest fish was also a tuna, at 57 pounds, brought in by angler Tom Parlacoski aboard Slabjack, a boat out of Bay Head, New Jersey. 



The only white marlin brought to the scales by Monday evening came in off the boat of Wayne's World, but at 53 1/2 pounds, it didn't reach the white marlin qualifying limit of 70 pounds. 



While weather was treacherous on land, competitors, who are used to traversing hazardous waters, didn't have too many complaints on the dock.

LEADERBOARD: 64-pound Tuna tops White Marlin Open Day 1



Tyler Sudbrink, a mate on Hog Wild out of Manteo, North Carolina, said the weather Monday wasn't anywhere near as bad as he's seen it. 



Hog Wild, captained by Jim Horning with angler Gary Capuano, registered a 55-pound qualifying wahoo. 



"It was a little snotty," Sudbrink said. "The wind was blowing our lines around a lot."



Sudbrink said Hog Wild also caught a white marlin, but as it was around 50 pounds, they released it knowing it wouldn't qualify. 



Horning recalled coming in second place in the blue Marlin category in 1999 with a 536-pound blue marlin. 



This time, he said he wouldn't make the mistake of not fishing on the last day, so Hog Wild expects to be on the water Friday. 

The weather is not likely to be the story after Monday. But it certainly was on the tournament’s first day. 


At about 4:45 p.m, as rain started to fall on the marina and just hours after a reported tornado touched down in Salisbury, an alert came across of a tornado warning for Wicomico and Worcester counties. 


Moments later, the first fish of the day came in, a 55 1/2-pound tuna from angler Dan Piazza of Tale Chasers. 



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A strong squall came through a little after 5 p.m., forcing spectators to head for the exit or cover and event officials to retreat to a tent. 



The intermittent rain storms continued throughout the remainder of Day 1, and with better forecasts for later in the week, Monday was the de facto calm before the real storm at the scales. 



The tournament is expected to pick up big time on Wednesday, with Tuesday likely another relatively quiet day.