***Urgent Update - Fishing Has Been Extended THROUGH SUNDAY AUGUST 9***
We are not going to let the insanity that is 2020 stop us from putting on the WORLD'S LARGEST BILLFISH TOURNAMENT! Due to a less than stellar offshore forecast for the biginning of next week, the White Marlin Open is going to be EXTENDED THROUGH SUNDAY AUGUST 9th. Boats will be allowed to fish 3 out of 7 days.
Come on everyone! Let's tell 2020 to stick it and make this the BEST WHITE MARLIN OPEN yet!
An announcement regarding polygraph testing and the trophy presentation will be forthcoming.
Record Breaking Tournament in the Books
The 46th White Marlin Open can be considered the most successful tournament yet for a number of reasons: 404 boats fishing for a World Record $6,186,870 in prize money is a good start. The red hot billfishing set a tournament record for the number of billfish caught and released. The prize money paid included two anglers that each won over $1,500,000, a blue marlin won $962,165, a tuna that took $935,915, a dolphin that won $74,900, and a shark that won $231,300.
As impressive as the payouts were, equally remarkable was the huge number of marlin caught & released. By definition nobody saw them at the scales, but the release flags flew all week. The tournament record was 1,358 whites caught in 2016 but the anglers toped that by over 100 fish. The final count was 1,459 whites caught with 1,429 released with the top release boat, “Big Deal” out of Brielle, NJ breaking a 39-year-old record for most billfish releases by boat. The previous record was 26 white taken...
