World’s Largest & Richest Billfish Tournament?
What factors justify the claim of “World’s Largest & Richest Billfish Tournament?” The number of boats or anglers entered, the total prize money awarded or the top cash award? All of the above? It is clear is that the White Marlin Open is a very big fishing tournament, but how does it defend the “Largest and Richest” tag? There are a number of long established offshore fishing tournaments on both coasts that have drawn anglers for generation. The Silver Sailfish Derby, established in 1935 by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, the 58th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead, NC, the 25th Annual Mid-Atlantic out of Cape May, NJ, the 34th annual South Jersey Shark Tournament, the 28th Annual Ocean City Tuna...
Federal Judge Rules in Favor of White Marlin Open
After a two-week trial in United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the Honorable Richard D. Bennett has ruled that the White Marlin Open properly applied the rules of the tournament to the 2016 White Marlin Open. Philip Heasley, one of the anglers in the 2016 Tournament, and his crew members aboard the Kallianassa, had not passed polygraph examinations, which were required under the rules of the tournament. The Court also found that Mr. Heasley and the crew of the Kallianassa violated the Tournament Rules by deploying fishing lines before 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 9, 2016, the date they caught the 76.5 pound white marlin.
As a result of the polygraph examination results, White Marlin Open did not pay the prize money of Two Million Eight Hundred Eighteen Thousand Dollars ($2,818, 000.00) to Mr. Heasley. Instead, to protect the integrity of the tournament and to act in fairness to all participants, White Marlin Open filed an...
