White Marlin Open wraps up; sees less marlin caught

Ocean City’s world renowned fishing tournament the White Marlin Open wrapped up on Friday with less fish caught than usual.

However, nonetheless there was still a great turnout for the town’s premiere fishing event.

“It has not been a great year for the tournament.” Said Joe Vezzosi.

On the last day of the White Marlin Open, 90 boats set out searching for that $1-million marlin worthy of topping the 94 lb. white marlin caught by Cheryl McLesky on Wednesday.

A task made difficult due to the lack of larger fish in the ocean during the 2015 tournament.

“We just have a bunch of smaller fish out there right now. They’ll eventually migrate and put on weight.” And “Next week, that could all change. We could get another shot of fish come in here and have some big fish.”, said White Marlin Open Director Jim Motsko.

Officials say there’s no obvious explanation for why the White Marlin in this year’s open were smaller in quantity and size.

Vezzosi, the Captain of Team Matador, tells 47 ABC that he has been taking part in the tournament for 20 years, and that you need to take the good with the bad and enjoy the week, saying, “I’ve seen years where everybody has come in with fish all day long, the scales have been loaded.” and “It’s always fun, the town is great, the tournament is always a good time, and you make the best out of it.”.

While it wasn’t a great tournament for many fishing teams throughout the five-day event the White Marlin Open saw positive growth.

With attendance rising from 288 teams to 307, new entrants allowed for a $1-million increase in prize payouts.

Here’s how the field fared in the tournament:

• Cheryl McLesky held off the field in the White Marlin Category winning over $1.1-million dollars.
• Bill Haugland came in 2nd in the White Marlin category, winning a little over a $1-million.
• In the blue Marlin Category, Larry Hesse Jr. takes home with him $787,000.
• Mark Donahue dominated the Tuna field winning $398,000 on a 200 lb. tuna.
• Andy Shelton takes home the bragging rights in the Dolphin category, and Jay Mascaro won takes the crown in the Wahoo.