Because of the week's offshore weather forecast, the 52nd White Marlin Open was extended by two days. Each boat may now use its three fishing days from Monday, August 4th, to Sunday, August 10th.
On Monday, 128 of the 286 registered boats decided to brave the projected 4 to 6-foot seas and go fishing. While the fishing wasn’t red hot, a few boats did well. One boat did very well.
The C- Student out of Southside Place, TX started the action with a 52.5 pound yellowfin tuna caught by Keeley Megarity to claim first place tuna. An hour later, the Bow Down out of Cape May, NJ tied the C- Student with a 52.5 yellowfin landed by John Grace from Stone Harbor, NJ.
But it was the Barbara B out of Atlantic BEach, NC that took the day. There was a rumor that an 800-pound blue had been boated. It remained a rumor until the Barbara B made the 6:00 bridge, and excitement grew as the boat pulled up to the scale with a monster blue marlin. It turned out that the rumor was over 100 pounds short. For a blue marlin to be weighed, it must first meet a length of 114 inches. When the length was announced at 130 inches, the crowd broke into cheers. When the fish tipped the scales at 929.5 pounds, the crowd went wild. The fish, caught by Drew Osmeyer from Timonium, MD turned out to be the 5th largest blue marlin ever weighed in the White Marlin Open. If the tournament ended tonight, the blue would take home over $4 million. In addition, the Barbara B also took the top dolphin of 32.5 pounds landed by Andrew Shreiber from Essex, MD.
But there are six more fishing days to go, and anything can happen.
