After rough seas limited Monday’s opening-day fleet to only 17 boats, the 53rd Annual White Marlin Open came alive Tuesday as 255 of the tournament’s 334 registered boats headed offshore.
Monday’s 6- to 9-foot seas produced only three fish at the Harbour Island scales, all tuna, leaving every other division without a qualifying catch. Tuesday brought a much different picture, with crowded scales, a strong billfish bite and a late-arriving bigeye tuna that changed the tournament’s projected payouts.
The tuna action began at 4:05 p.m. when Kevin Patane of Queenstown, Maryland, weighed an 81-pound bluefin aboard HaloRick 2.
At 5:20 p.m., Reel Blessed of Ocean City moved into first place with a 91.5-pound bluefin caught by Jordan “Jordy” Mitchell of Forest Hill, Maryland.
Everything changed at 8:10 p.m. when See Legs of Fenwick Island arrived with a 110.5-pound bigeye tuna. Anthony Rubino of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, battled the fish for four-and-a-half hours before bringing it to the boat. The bigeye took over first place before an electrified crowd at Harbour Island and is currently projected to earn $2,428,991.89.
Reel Blessed now holds second place with projected winnings of $195,223.14. Ocean City’s Marlidropped into third with an 85-pound tuna caught by Steve deBrabander of Newark, Delaware.
The dolphin division also changed several times. Sidepiece moved into first place with a 31.5-pound dolphin caught by Russell Armstrong. Today’s The Day took second with Chris Robertsson’s 23.5-pound fish, while Fowl Play and Today’s The Day are tied for third with 22-pound fish.
With four fishing days remaining and improving offshore conditions forecast for Wednesday, Tuesday’s leaders have plenty of reasons to keep watching the scales.
All standings and projected payouts are unofficial and subject to change.
