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2023 REVIEW
the numbers
Captain Warren had his own personal take
on the win. “I have fished lots of tourna-
ments including 15-20 WMO’s and that WMO 2023 NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
was my first million dollar fish. The mon-
ey is great but it winning the tournament
opened the door for me to get a job as
local captain which are hard jobs to come
by. I had a dream job fishing in Magdale-
na Bay near Cabo for four years where we Finally, after about 75 minutes, we got a gaff in it and got it onboard.”
were getting 100 releases in a day. It was
fantastic but now I have a job that allows The crew of the Reel Tight might have kept their calm during the fight
me to be much closer to my family and that but once the big tuna was on board, the emotions came out.
is a real blessing”.
“We knew what we had. We had caught a 258 pounder in another tour-
BIG TUNA nament and this was bigger. Once it was on the boat, the crew just erupt-
ed with high fives and hugs. It was nice that it was Friday so we didn’t have
Billfish rightfully take center stage at the to sweat it as much.”
WMO but for most of the week, tuna
were the main event. Competition in that Pilipaukis also speaks to the team effort it takes to land a winner. “We
category was close all week. When all have worked together as a team for about 10-12 years now. Brian is our 400
was said and done, the heaviest tuna was #1 angler. He knows how I like to do things and listens. Tournament
a 265-pound bigeye caught off the Reel fishing really is a team effort.”
Tight out of Ocean City, MD by Brian BO ATS THAT FISHED
Stewart from Shady Side, MD, who won
$1,019,441.
Three generations of the Pilipaukis family (to the 3500
The captain of the Reel Tight, Steve Pili-
paukis, Jr. explained the strategy behind the right of fish) pose with the rest of the Reel Tight crew
win. ANGLERS IN CONTENTION
and their winning tuna.
“We had a plan going in to target big eye
in the Washington Canyon and we stuck $6.2m
to the plan all week”, said Pilipaukis. “The
fishing was a little spotty the first two days Months later, Pilipaukis has had time to reflect on the catch and its mean- TOP PRIZE AWARDED
with a lost bigeye, a blue marlin release and ing . “To bring in a winning fish like this on the final day of the White Marlin
some yellowfin. Then on Friday, 20 minutes Open was a lifetime dream of mine. I remember in the mid 90’s as a 6-7
into the fishing, we got a double header. year old kid waiting at the Harbour Island dock just hoping my Dad, Steve
We knew right away they were bigeye.” Sr., would bring in a big one. Now my son Gunar is 7 years old and he $10.5m
got to experience this. To bring that fish in is the most special feeling it
You can imagine the chaos that might oc- could possibly be.” TOTAL PRIZE MONEY
cur when two bigeye hit on the last day of
a million dollar tournament but Pilipaukis BIG TUNA - SMALL BOAT
describes the fight in a matter of fact way. 602
Finishing second overall and winning the Small Boat Tuna division was
“Fifteen minutes into the fight, Brian got Chris Mentlik, from Street, MD. Mentlik has been fishing his entire life but
the bigger fish to the boat and we knew this was the first time fishing in a tournament. The 247.5-pound bigeye BILLFISH RELEASED
it was over 200 lbs. It dove deep and we caught aboard the Fishlik out of Chincoteague, VA. was worth $366,662.
fought it for another hour. In the mean-
time, we landed the smaller fish (171lbs!). The Small Boat divisions were introduced a few years ago and essentially
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