The 44th Annual White Marlin Open, drew 353 registered boats with almost 3,000 anglers and crew competing for $4.97 million dollars in prize money. The tournament runs from Monday through Friday and the $4.9 million that will be presented at the August 12 Awards Ceremony Saturday will represent the largest amount of money ever awarded in any type of fishing tournament.
As the name suggests, the largest winnings will be in the white marlin category and the heaviest white marlin caught this week could win over $2,000,000. The two largest optional entry levels are the $10,000 and $5,000 heaviest white marlin winner take all divisions. There are 141 boats in the $10,000 level and 202 boats in the $5,000 division and a wining white marlin will win over $2 million if entered in both divisions.
Each boat is permitted to fish any 3 of the 5 fishing days. With 353 boats entered that totals 1059 total fishing days and strategy comes into play. Some boats won’t fish until they learn where the fish are. Weather factors into boats selecting their fishing days and the general pattern holds that if the weather is good the first day most boats choose to fish. As of Sunday night, the NOAA offshore forecast report for Monday canyon areas are: Southeast winds 5 to 15 kts, becoming South 10 to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft.
Tuesday calls for winds picking up to 25 kts and seas 5 to 11 feet. The forecast for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are calm winds and seas
In summary, most of the 353 boats should fish Monday (the boat parade at the inlet should be good) and all who go fishing will be looking for a marlin worth more than its weight in gold.
Weigh-ins take place at Harbour Island Marina, 14th Street and the Bay from 4 to 9:15 PM each evening during the tournament and are free to the public.
