Ocean City boat lands 640-pound blue marlin, wins $6.2 million in White Marlin Open
The biggest billfish mostly weren’t biting, but an Ocean City, Maryland, boat landed a mammoth fish Friday to make it a hometown three-peat during the 50th annual White Marlin Open.
John Ols, a Laytonsville, Maryland, resident fishing on Floor Reel reeled in a 640.5-pound blue marlin to claim the most lucrative category – and an estimated $6.2 million – as the tournament concluded in Ocean City late Friday night.
Floor Reel is the third consecutive Ocean City boat to win the five-day event billed as the “World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament.”
Ols’ fish was the tournament’s only qualifying billfish that made it to the scales, and Floor Reel brought it in Friday evening and waited about three hours until it was declared the winner. The catch beat last year’s biggest blue marlin by more than 100 pounds.
No white marlin caught were deemed large enough this week to bring in to weigh, although more than 400 were caught during the week. It’s just the third time in the tournament’s history — the others were 1984, ‘85 and ‘86 — that no white marlin filled the winning categories.
Boats are permitted to fish three of the tournament’s five days, and 357 boats hit the fishing grounds Friday.
Fishlik, a boat from Chincoteague on the Eastern Shore, finished second in the tuna category. The catch, landed by angler Chris Mentlik of Maryland, weighed 247.5 pounds and led the category until Friday.
But Ocean City-based Reel Tight landed a 265-pound tuna Friday to earn an estimated $1 million. That dropped Fishlik’s winnings to an estimated $360,000.
