Big Blue wows White Marlin crowd

There was already a buzz in the air at Harbour Island off 14th Street in Ocean City.

A boat was docked. They were flying a white marlin flag.

The Reel Direct out of Ocean City couldn’t wait to weigh it in, but they had to wait until 4 p.m. for the scales and tournament to open Monday.

The White Marlin Open deckhands hopped onto the boat. Alex Davis and Mike Hannon have been working the open for over 20 years. They shouted out the marlin met the length requirements.

It was all up to the scales.

The crowd began to stir and cheer even more.

The people who had camped out since the morning could only be disappointed as John Hoffmann’s white marlin was 68 pounds.

Two pounds short of the 70-pound minimum.

Andy Motsko, one of the tournament directors who announces all of the fish, said 307 boats entered this year’s tournament and the $3.8 million in total prize money is a tournament record.

The addition of the $10,000 heaviest white marlin calcutta had a lot to do with that, he said.

If the fish fall right, the top prize white marlin could take home over $2 million.

The crowd was in awe of this year’s possible winnings, and the next boat to come in was carrying another marlin.

But there was no heartbreak with this fish, as it was 12 pounds short of the minimum. A third boat before 6:30 p.m. carried in yet another white marlin, but it was well under.

No bigger fished wowed the crowd than the only blue marlin before 7 p.m.

The pulleys creaked as the deckhands hauled in Larry Heese’s billfish. Hesse let out a big smile when the scales tipped to 551 pounds, pushing him into first place with a possible $600,000 prize.

Hesse was actually asleep when the Goin’ In Deep hooked the monster billfish, he told the crowd.

Within the hour he had it reeled in, which was much easier than the blue marlin from a mid-Atlantic tournament last year.

As soon as the blue marlin jumped from the water, the amount of money on the line started weighing on his mind.

“It’s a lot heavier on your mind, what comes with it and everything,” Hesse said. “Last year’s battle was a lot worse than this, 6 ½ hours. Trying to get this one in as quickly as possible was on my mind.”

The other big fish to heck the Harbour Island scales Monday were tuna.

The Burn’ n Bills boat, which was the tuna calcutta last year, reeled in two big eye tunas in day one.

George Hall and Robert Reno of Fenwick Island were the anglers that hauled in the 126 ½- and 119 ½-pound tunas.

“Yeah, lucky (first day),” Reno said.

Hall said it’s exactly what the crew was going for. They hooked the first one around 9 a.m. and the lighter one around noon.

“Actually, I’ve never got a big eyed in that quick,” Hall said. “I’m thinking like 35 minutes. It was amazing.

“Life is good.”

But this is fishing, and as 7:30 p.m. rolled around, another big eyed tuna was being weighed.

Logan Pusey’s 177-pound tuna bumped Burn n’ Bills down to second and third.

Pusey, of Grove Tree, Maryland, had to work for it, fighting the fish for 2 ½ hours.

“It was a heck of a fight,” he said.

But well worth the estimated prize of $400,000.

LEADER BOARD

Blue Marlin

Goin In Deep, Larry Hesse Jr., 551 pounds, estimated prize, $595,000

Tuna

Rumor Has It, Logan Pusey, 177 pounds, estimated prize, $425,000

Team Green Turtle, Andrew Howard, 157.5 pounds, estimated prize $64,000

Island Girl, John Holmes, 140.6 pounds, estimated prize $1,000

Reelin N Dealin, Adrian Colaprete, 138 pounds, estimated prize $25,000

Dolphin

Turn me loose, Jesse Morris, 36.5 pounds, estimated prize $12,500

BrendaLou, Joe Hollister, 36 pounds, estimated prize, $3,000

GameChanger, Robert Howes, 34 pounds, estimated prize, $1,000

Wahoo

Warden Pass, Jay Mascaro, 45 pounds, estimated prize $12,500

Small Boat Calcutta

Tuna

Rumor Has It, Logan Pusey, 177 pounds, estimated prize $425,000

Island girl, John Holmes, 140.5 $1,000

rmarshall@dmg.gannett.com

On Twitter/Instagram: @ByRyanMarshall