OCEAN CITY — The first day of the 42nd White Marlin Open brought plenty of action to the scale at host Harbour Island on Monday with a qualifying blue marlin and run of big-eye tuna stealing the show early, but the premiere white marlin division remains wide open heading into day two.
With 294 of the registered 307 boats heading out on Monday, they were lined up at the bridge waiting to head into the scale on Monday afternoon and evening. The first boat at the scale, the “Reel Direct” arrived before the 4 p.m. opening with a white marlin to weigh, but the fish came in at 68 pounds, or just under the 70-pound minimum.
For the rest of the afternoon and early evening, it was a steady stream of big tuna, dolphin, a lone wahoo and a big blue marlin, which is currently the highlight of the young 2015 tournament. Angler Larry Hesse on the “Goin In Deep” weighed the 551-pound blue marlin currently worth $595,000.
Big-eye tuna have been the story thus far in the summer offshore fishing season and the trend continued on Monday at the WMO. Sitting in first place after Day One is angler Logan Pusey on the “Rumor Has It” with a 177-pound big-eye currently worth $425,000. Team Greene Turtle and angler Andrew Howell weighed the second-place tuna, a 157-pound big-eye which they promptly donated to the Maryland Food Bank. Sitting in third in the tuna division is angler John Holmes on the “Island Girl” with a 140-pound big-eye.
Sitting in first in the dolphin division after Day One is the “Turn Me Loose” with a 36.5-pounder. The “Warden Pass” sits in first in the wahoo division, while there were no sharks weighed on Day One. As of early Tuesday morning, it was uncertain how many boats are fishing on Day Two, but with the wind howling offshore and so many fishing on Monday, the number will likely be somewhat smaller.