Page 93 - wmo-51st-magazine

ONSITE MEDIA FROM TOURNAMENT TO TABLE | NO WASTE

• Dave Messick • Scott Lennox • Fish Preparation / Processing
• DJ Wax

Dave Messick of Unscene Productions has been on the docks filming and photographing the WMO since 1999. After the first WMO there were media reports suggesting that marlin were “stacked like cordwood” on the
He was the very first videographer of the tournament. He was joined by Scott Lennox about five years later docks. The tournament quickly responded to this situation by changing the rules to encourage releases and
eventually hiring fish cleaners and partnering with the Maryland Food Bank to make sure no donated fish
and the duo have been principals in the media enterprise Hooked on OC. would go to waste.
OC legend Rose Stivers was instrumental to helping the WMO to make this transition. Rose was a show
They do everything visual media with the tournament. While Dave and his assistant Matt do most of the film- into herself as she and her team would render even the largest fish into usable steaks in a matter of minutes.
ing, Scott is the Director of the video stream, manning the control center and adroitly switching camera shots Butch Langenfelder of the Maryland Food Bank stepped in to help coordinate our efforts to get donated fish
to produce the best images. Together, along with other help, they create the big screen and online presence of to those on the Eastern Shore who needed it the most. Upon Rose’s retirement, Catch and Carry, run by Craig
Pyle and supported by Tom Dvorak, took over the fish processing. Their flash freeze methods have helped to
the White Marlin Open both locally and across the globe. Sharing a tent with Dave and Scott is DJ Wax who make distribution to the local MD Food Bank easier and more efficient.
spins the tunes, keeping the crowd entertained between weigh-ins. Ben Daringer mans the VHF and provides According to Langenfelder, the catch from the WMO is the largest fish donation the MD Food Bank receives
the latest info on what fish are coming in and directs all of the boat traffic into the scales of Harbour Island. each year. Typically 1500-2000 pounds of fresh catch are donated yearly.

ROSE STIVERS

THE WMO SCALE | 1974

Ships Cafe • Harbour Island

It is the center of focus for anglers and spectators alike. After all of the CATCH & CARRY
calcuttas, the preparation, the fight and the ride back filled with excite- TEAM
ment, the scale is the final arbiter as to the merit of the catch. It is unemo-
tional when all around it are filled with anticipation and angst. It can often
be cruel but occasionally it can send grown men and women into delirium.

Since the start of the WMO in 1974, the Ships Café Marina burned down,
Harbour Island was built, docks were installed, sod was laid down and fenc-
ing put up. Lots of things changed but one thing hasn’t: the scale. It has
never moved. The technology has improved but the scale is in the exact Photograph this page by: Next Wave Studios
same place it has always been, a familiar focal point in what can often be a LOCAL FOOD KITCHEN
chaotic scene.

92 visit us online at www.WhiteMarlinOpen.com 93