Page 61 - 52nd Annual White Marlin Open

The World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament | 61

lb. white marlin struck that rod. Golueke, undoubtedly invok- As it turned out, Golueke and the rest of the Canyon Blues
ing the spirt of his own father, brought the monster white into crew didn’t need to sweat much. The 97-pounder crushed the
the boat in a matter of minutes. It remains the third largest competition and went on to win the 2020 Tournament.
white marlin ever caught in the WMO.
Once declared the victor, Grossman described his feelings.
Grossman remembers the moments after the catch. “We “Winning the White Marlin Open conjures up so many emo-
knew we had a money fish and the celebrations began, but I tions. There is the competition component which is cool and
said ‘Hey we still have a few hours left. Let’s rig up and con- you can’t dismiss the money. That’s a part of it and allows
tinue fishing.’ In reality, I had no intention to keep fishing. It you to do some things you would normally not be able to do.
was just a ploy to calm things down a bit. Once everybody My son Daniel was only 25 at this time and Brandon was just
had settled back into the fishing routine, it wasn’t much longer starting a family so this influx of cash was significant. But I
when we decided to head in.” would say the best part of it all is just watching how thrilled ev-
eryone was in fulfilling a dream and winning this tournament.”
As it was the last day of the tournament, Grossman’s wife
had packed up and was heading back to Baltimore. Grossman Due to Covid, there were no crowds at the 2020 weigh-ins. As
called her when they were on the way in and told her they were exciting as it was, the crew often remark about what it would
coming to the scales with a fish. Grossman says, “She sort of have been like to hoist up a 97 lb. white in front of thousands
matter of factly said, ‘Oh, that’s nice’. I responded, ‘No, you of people. But in the end, the disappointment of a crowdless
don’t understand. You need to turn around NOW and come WMO pales compared to winning the tournament and honor-
back to Ocean City.” ing the legacy of the two fathers that started Grossman and
Golueke on their fishing journey.
So once the boat got to the scales, how was everyone feeling?
“You can’t ever be sure, but this fish was so big, we knew it was Realizing a Lifetime Goal
going to win some kind of money. Still, when we got to the Charley Pereira, owner of Sushi was so intent on winning the
weigh station, Brandon was so nervous he went underneath White Marlin Open, he bought a boat building business to do
until the weight was called. Only when it was announced at so. But before we get into that, we need to go back to Florida
97 lbs. did he finally come out to take a look.” in the 1970’s.

Pereira recounts the beginnings of his passion for fishing. “I

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