White Marlin

The White Marlin Open has been the hot lick in Ocean City during the first week of August for 25 years, and this season the tournament has an added incentive for billfish anglers who release their catch -- an invitation to the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii next March."

OCEAN CITY -- Through the first four days of this year's White Marlin Open, 225 white marlin were caught, but none met the tournament's minimum weight of 65 pounds.Yesterday, nearly $800,000 hung in the balance as some 260 boats ran out to the offshore canyons."That's what one 65-pound white marlin would be worth across the board," Open co-chairman Andy Motsko said shortly after the scales opened at Harbor Island Marina. "But that's if only one white is weighed in."Or, if the same boat weighed in the top two white marlins of the week, which tournament officials said never had been done.

OCEAN CITY -- The competition in the White Marlin Open started here yesterday with a record field chasing more than $1 million in total prize money and the largest white marlin of the week, which alone could be worth $300,000."

OCEAN CITY -- The 500-fathom line at Poorman's Canyon turned out to be a rich fishing ground yesterday in the White Marlin Open, a New Jersey boat caught and released 16 white marlin and a Maryland angler boated an 840-pound blue marlin worth about $230,000.The 79.5-pound white marlin caught by Roger Viens, of Crownsville, on Tuesday was the big-money winner in the tournament, worth more than $530,000 for angler, captain and mate.But for the crowd gathered yesterday evening at Harbor Island Marina, the big blue caught by Webb St. Clair, of Ocean City, was the star of the show.

OCEAN CITY -- The third day of the White Marlin Open brought the first blue marlin to the tournament scales at Harbor Island Marina and with it a big swing in potential winnings.Buddy Dougherty's catch of a 354-pound blue marlin means the marlin purse will be split into blue and white marlin categories. Dougherty's catch will be worth $310,000 if if holds up through the end of competition tomorrow.Before the Alexandria, Va., angler made his catch aboard the Outer Limits, Roger Viens of Crownsville stood to win more than $745,000.

Marlin fishing is a pastime enjoyed by a relative few recreational anglers, perhaps because the cost of a trip offshore is high and in many years the chances of hooking up with an 80-pound white or a blue close to 1,000 pounds are usually slim.This year, however, the waters over the canyons offshore of Ocean City have been hot for marlin, hot enough that the chances of landing a marlin are pretty good."There is little doubt we are seeing the best concentration of billfish in close to 20 years," said DNR Fisheries Service biologist Martin L. Gary.

OCEAN CITY -- Day 12 of the $1 million White Marlin Open produced "phenomenal fishing" yesterday, tournament organizers said, including a 79 1/2 -pound catch that could be worth $745,000.Roger Viens of Crownsville caught the 79 1/2 -pound white marlin aboard the Red Eye and moved into first place. If no blue marlin is weighed in before the close of competition Friday evening, and no other white marlin surpasses the weight of Viens' catch, the Crownsville angler could win three-quarters of the tournament purse.

Twenty-five years ago, the White Marlin Open had a field of 56 boats and a total purse of $20,000. Friday, Roger Viens of Crownsville and the crew of Red Eye won more than $530,000 for catching a 79.5-pound white marlin, and the open paid out more than $1 million in total prize money."

As dusk falls upon Ocean City, scattered fishermen cast their lines into the surf on a tranquil beach that a few hours earlier was noisy and crowded with sun worshipers.They've come to enjoy the quiet and maybe pull in a bluefish, sea trout or kingfish. Tomorrow they'll head over to the Route 50 bridge or a bayside pier and drop a line there. They can fish the bay for flounder in a skiff, try wreck-fishing on a party boat or go for big game fish on an offshore charter voyage.When it comes to fishing, there's an ocean of opportunities in this Eastern Shore town.

OCEAN CITY -- Entering the last day of the White Marlin Open, Crownsville angler Roger Viens holds first place with a 79.5-pound catch that could be worth $480,000 if no larger white is caught today.In the blue marlin division, Buddy Doughtery of Alexandria, Va., maintained his hold on first with a 354-pound blue potentially worth $310,000.Tournament director Chuck Motsko said catch-and-release action continued to be good for white marlin yesterday, but none of the few weighed in was large enough to budge any of the leaders.

Pat McDonough of Kennewick, Wash., writes: I just read [about the White Marlin Open] and am wondering how a smaller fish earns more money than a larger fish. We used to bet on rabbit hunting: the most cottontails, the first black cottontail and the most black "wabbits" harvested. Does the Open work like that? That $800,000 purse is attractive. What sort of entry fees are we talking for a tournament such as this one? Outdoors Girl replies: Tournament fishing has a payout system that takes a little getting used to. For example, after paying the registration fee of $950 (early bird)

Fishing Charlotte man breaks state blue marlin record Robert Farris of Charlotte, N.C., broke a 20-year-old state record Wednesday at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City by bringing in a blue marlin that weighed 1,062 pounds. The previous mark was 942 pounds. It took Farris, aboard the No Problem out of Fenwick Island, Del., more than three hours to reel the fish in. The blue marlin is worth about $555,000, with two days to go in the event, dubbed the largest billfish tournament in the world.

Bill Self, the Kansas basketball coach who guided the Jayhawks to their first NCAA men's title in 20 years, signed a 10-year, $30 million contract yesterday. The deal had been in the works since April, when the Jayhawks came from nine points down in the final minutes to beat Memphis for the title and he subsequently turned down an offer to return to Oklahoma State, his alma mater. Kansas and Self, 45, said in April he had agreed to the deal while the details were worked on. Kansas also agreed to big raises for his staff as well as improvements to the school's basketball facilities.

Four thoughts about the meeting last week in Annapolis on new yellow perch fishing regulations, then I promise to let it go. 1.) Eight thousand pounds of fish. Were we really having a serious, adult conversation about 8,000 pounds of fish? That's what watermen reported catching this spring in their truncated season. The state estimates that no more than 40 watermen take part in the harvest. Forty into 8,000 is 200 pounds. What kind of a fishery is that? Of course, Baltimore County watermen Daniel F. Beck, Charles Norris and Harry Foote III were caught in 2005 for poaching 22,000 pounds of yellow perch off Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Amid windy conditions that kept half of the White Marlin Open's eligible boats ashore, calm reigned on the leader board as the tournament came to a close in Ocean City yesterday. That was good news for the Hotz family, which gained $1.552 million for their victory in the white marlin competition, which event co-founder Chuck Motzko described as the best in its 33-year history. Known as the largest billfishing tournament in the world, the Open had only 60 boats head out yesterday, deterred by fuel expenses and waves of 6 to 8 feet.

For the second time in as many days, the White Marlin Open has seen the leader board change for its top competition, as 380 of the 428 entered boats left the shore yesterday. Jack Hotz of Lewes, Del., landed an 82-pound white marlin that surpassed the 80-pounder caught by Steve Richardson's Canyon Express on Wednesday. With one day remaining, Hotz's True Grit crew stands to earn $1.552 million. The catch barely edged that of Philip Infantolino of Brielle, N.J., whose 81.5-pound fish came in two hours after Hotz's.

Virginia Beach's Steve Richardson took over the lead in the top competition in the White Marlin Open yesterday, a day in which 356 boats left shore. On the Canyon Express, Richardson's crew pulled in an 80-pound white marlin in the Norfolk Canyon, pushing Edgewater's Chris Rosenthal to a second-place tie and into position for a $1.5-million prize with two days left. Aboard the I-Car-Ter, Glen Wood of Nanticoke equaled Rosenthal's 71.5-pound marlin, good for a prize topping $100,000. Jim Lummis' 737-pound catch still leads the blue marlin category.

FREE ADMISSION TO THE BMA Enjoy free admission to the Baltimore Museum of Art today. Celebrate Free First Thursday at the museum by making art based on the Cone Collection, taking a tour of French masterworks in the collection and listening to the group Klezzazz perform a mix of Jewish, Israeli and Klezmer dance music. ...................... Free First Thursday is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the BMA, 10 Art Museum Drive. Tours, activities and music will take place in the evening, from 5 to 8. Call 443-573-1700 or visit artbma.

Imagine a White Marlin Open without marlin, a Choptank River without yellow perch, a Chesapeake Bay without menhaden. "It's easy if you try," as John Lennon said. During the next several months, state and federal officials will make management decisions on all four species. Guaranteed, someone will be unhappy. More disturbingly, the fish might not be any better off. In a misguided effort to save white and blue marlin, the Feds appear poised to require catch-and-release for all recreational billfishing beginning next year and continuing until 2011.

OCEAN CITY - Ken Coffer hit it big during the opening hours of the 32nd White Marlin Open. Then, he went through four anxious days, wondering if his catch would hold up as hundreds of anglers tried to top him. Last night at Harbour Island Marina, with several thousand spectators watching the weigh-ins as the tournament's last boats and yachts came home, Coffer finally exhaled, knowing a huge payday was coming his way. Coffer, 39, of Carolina Beach, N.C.,...