Special offer

Million Dollar Fishing Tournament Open to Barnegat

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Shore Properties 1005238

White Marlin Tournament opens up tp more of The Jersey Shore


Anglers across the Mid-Atlantic states, from the Jersey Shore to Virginia, are looking over the ocean and plotting their strategies as the world's largest Billfish Tournament, located in Ocean City, Maryland kicks off today.

White Marlin Open anglers can leave from anywhere between Barnegat Inlet, N.J., and Rudee Inlet, Va., both about 100 nautical miles from Ocean City. All fish, however, must be weighed at the Harbor Island Marina. The change opens the tournament up to boats out of Virginia Beach and Ocean County, NJ, in particular, although the overwhelming majority of participants likely will still fish from Ocean City.

In order to encourage more tuna fishermen, the tournemant has added a winner-take-all $1,500 entry level for that fish.  The top Tuna pay out last year was $175,000.

Contestants pay $1,100 per boat to enter the tournament, then buy into additional categories that increase their potential earnings. Each boat can only fish three of the five days, and the tournament kicks off Monday. Last year's top white marlin boat prize money $903,442.  The payout last year was almost 500,000 for the top Blue Marlin.

I know, you're all wondering, what's the difference between the White Marlin and Blue Marlin, right?  White marlin are dark blue to chocolate-brown in color. Although generally considered to be a rare and solitary species relative to other similar fish, white marlin occur in small groups consisting of several individuals.  Average size is 45 to 65 lbs (20-30 kg)roughly the size of a indo-pacific sailfish, with females reaching relatively larger sizes.

The Blue Marlin, is blue-black on top with a silvery white underside. It has about fifteen rows of pale, cobalt-colored stripes, each of which has round dots and/or thin bars, located on both sides of the fish. The biggest females are more than four times as heavy as the biggest males. These are big fish! Males rarely exceed 350 pounds, and females can weigh over 1,200 pounds...think Old Man and the Sea!

By the way, marlin are incredibly fast swimmers, reaching speeds in excess of 65 mph!


In fist day news, a fishermen from Charlotte, North Carolina aboard the No Problem out of Fenwick Island, Delaware set a tournament and a state record with his blue marlin at 1,062 lbs. After fighting the fish for over three hours on 80-lb tackle, the crew landed the fish, currently worth about $555,000!!!

And I know just where he can spend that prize money.  A stunning Barnegat Bay Home with bulkhead!



Karl Hess, Barnegat
Your Agent on the Jersey Shore

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Comments (1)

Curt Hess
ExecuHome Realty - Annapolis, MD
Luxury Home Consultant, Team Leader & CEO

Good grief Karl, how do you find time to sell houses when you are pre-occupied with fishing?

Aug 03, 2010 03:30 PM