At zero-dark early, 220 of the 262 teams fishing the White Marlin Open headed out to fish Day Two of this 40th-anniversary event. When the exhaust smoke cleared, three teams weighed in the first qualifying white marlin of the event.
Billfisher took the lead with its 77-pounder caught by angler Jeremy Duffie. If the fish holds, it could be worth about $980,000 to the boat’s crew. Only one half-pound behind Billfisher is the team onboard Reel Estate with John Morton’s 76-½ -pound fish and is currently at $90,000. Rounding out the top three was the crew of Full Pull where angler William Turbeville II bested a 72-½ -pound white that may bring the team up to $60,000.
And just like day one, bigeye tuna made a significant appearance at the Harbor Isle scales. The anglers of the boat Mia Joes (a.k.a. MJ‘s), weighed not one, but two tuna taking over both first and second place in the division. The crew’s first fish, caught by angler Jeremy Gers, weighed in a whopping 248.5 pounds. Not to be outdone, fellow angler and teammate Dante Soriente bagged a 233.5-pounder. These two fish are currently valued at about $231,000. The crew of Ocean Dan-Sar with fisherman John Coleman weighed in a 148.5-pound tuna to take fourth place and about $19,000, if the board remains unchanged through Friday.
The first qualifying wahoo of the week also showed up on Tuesday, 41- and 40-pounders, respectively. James Shenk aboard Heavy Metal caught the current first place fish and Chris Cichocks from team Out-Rea-Geous nabbed the second-place ‘hoo.
Fishing conditions look favorable for today and many teams should be heading off to earn a spot on that leaderboard. Hey, the blue marlin category is still wide open. But will it be tomorrow?
View our White Marlin Open photo gallery and stay tuned for more daily updates and photos.
