Page 67 - 52nd Annual White Marlin Open

Once they got to the scales Friday evening, Belcher’s
To the naive, all the glory goes to the angler who caught the apprehension faded quickly. The fish qualified in length and
fish, but those ingrained in the sport know it is truly a team measured 640.5 lbs. The scales were only open two more
effort. “The Floor Reel team ranks right up there with the best hours and there were no more reports of any billfish coming in.
teams I have ever fished with”, explains Belcher. “It has been a
great marriage formed in a short amount of time.” “It was very emotional”, said Belcher, still getting a little
choked up describing the moment two years later. “I was so
It was late in the tournament when the Floor Reel went hunt happy for Johnny, Capt. “Big Wave” Dave Warren and the rest
ing for a winning billfish. When they went out on the last day of the team. There was a real sense of personal satisfaction
of the tournament, both the white and blue marlin categories for the team.”
remained open. Any qualifying billfish had a chance to win
millions. For those in the sport, there is no feeling quite like winning
the White Marlin Open, especially doing it in dramatic fashion
Belcher describes that fateful day. “We ran to our location and on the last day of the tournament. Most will tell you it’s not
saw a yellowfin jump out of the water, which was a good sign. about the money, but the prestige of winning the Super Bowl
Shortly after, the blue marlin came up, hit a shotgun lure two of billfishing. Still there is no escaping the fact that the White
times and finally took it on the third attempt. We didn’t get Marlin Open, the world’s largest and richest billfish tourna-
a good look at the size of the fish for about the first hour but ment, does pay out incredible amounts of money for catching
once we did, we knew we had to get our s**t in order.” a fish. In this case, a record $6.2 million dollars, which with
some quick math, works out to nearly $10,000 per pound.
The fight took a little less than 2 hours before angler Johnny
Ols landed the blue. They had to know they had a chance, but “Yes”, says Belcher, “we are proud of that. To have won the larg-
Belcher knew better than to celebrate early. “People started est purse in the richest tournament on Earth is a source of pride.
hootin’ and hollerin’ and I told them to chill out. It wasn’t over Winning was the best thing, but the money does play a part.”
yet. It is one of the mystiques of the WMO. So many times,
victory has been snatched away at the last minute by a
bigger fish.”

The World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament | 67

WMO 52 Magazine.indd 67 7/15/25 8:02AM