On Friday August 8th at 9:15 pm the scales at Harbour Island Marina closed, marking the end of the 35th Annual White Marlin Open and a very exciting week filled with huge crowds and huge fish!  300 boats participated in the Open this year and a total of over $2.2 million in prize money was awarded.  The tourney started out with a bang with a record number of fish weighed on Monday, including an 81 pound white marlin caught by Ocean City local Tom Hinkle aboard the "Fish Whistle" which eventually went on to win $956,000. \

Tuesday proved to be just as exciting when Robert Lockwood on the "Last Run" brought a massive 935.5 pound blue marlin to the scales.  This blue, the second largest in White Marlin Open history, only missed both the State and tournament records by 6.5 pounds.  Robert ended up taking home nearly $500,000 for his remarkable catch.  The only qualifying shark, caught by Donnie Scrivener on the "Waterman" was also weighed on Tuesday and came in at 110.5 pounds.

With only 17 boats officially fishing on Wednesday, the White Marlin Open scale crew had a well needed break with only a few fish weighed.  Among these was a dolphin caught by Dave Bowman on the "Kokomo."  While this 42.5 fish was not large enough to finish in the top 3, it was the winner of the Wednesday Daily Meat Fish Dolphin division.

Thursday was highlighted by a 80.5 pound white marlin caught by Brad Burgess on the "Canyon Runner" and a 172 pound tuna which was brought to the scales by Jimmy Hahn on the "Miss Andrea."  Both fish remained in the running and ended up taking third and first places, respectively.

With a ton of action Monday thru Thursday and more Leaderboard changes than ever before, everyone was on pins and needles waiting to see what Friday would bring.  Rodger Mooney, fishing on the "Hatterascal" made sure the crowd was not disappointed when he weighed his 81 pound white marlin.  For only the second time in White Marlin Open history there was a tie for first place white marlin.  Rodger, whose boat was not entered in the first place white marlin winner-take-all category E, was awarded close to $200,000 for his catch.

Local Captain Blaine Champlain on the "Judge" out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL took the honor of top boat with a total of 700 billfish points for 10 released white marlin.  Peter Cherasia on the "Shark Byte" was the 2008 White Marlin Open Grand Champion with 595 billfish points for releasing 6 white marlin and 1 blue marlin.

This year's Open proved to be one of the most exciting and memorable in the tournament's 35 year history.  With 365 whites (95.6% of which were released), 26 blues (23 of which were released) and more winners than ever before due to the new Daily Meat Fish category,  the 35th Annual White Marlin Open will not soon be forgotten.

For a full list of all of the winners and pictures of their catches, visit www.whitemarlinopen.com.