Big FishĪ 50.5 pound mahi came in around 7pm and took over 1 st place! The large fish came off of Roncito. Hall Pass came in with a second place mahi at 28.5 pounds. His family fished the tournament together, continuing the tradition of bringing fish to the scales. Boys Toy came in with a wahoo with Captain Tommy Gessler, who won the White Marlin Open back in 1993 when he was just 15 years old. With many of the tuna weighing under 200, it was difficult to match the leading tuna which were at that point in the mid 200’s.Ī lot of different species of fish began to come through on the scales after 6:30. After that, many boats came in weighing sizable tuna however climbing to the leaderboard was not an option. And at 640.5 pounds the first blue marlin made it to the leaderboard. They’ve Got the Blues- Finally!Īt quarter to 5 the Floor Reel came in with the first qualifying blue marlin! Everyone held their breath while the massive fish was hoisted onto the scale. 2 big eyes came to the scales around 5:30 but didn’t make weight to top the leaderboard. No Limits came in with 112” marlin that didn’t make the length requirement. Word came in at 5pm that Roshambo broke off their blue marlin after a 7 hour fight! The entire crowd felt the pain. Despite the loss, the crew and anglers reported having the best time fishing out there today. The Skirt Chaser was waiting in the canal to weigh their white marlin! It was the first white marlin that has come to the scales in the 2023 WMO! It met the minimum length requirement but ended up just 3 pounds shy at 67 pounds. And skyrocketing to 1 st place, Brian Stewart landed a 265 pound tuna bumping down the previous 247.5 pounder. Throughout the entire day, the rumor mill was spinning with news about Roshambo that hooked a blue marlin early in the morning and had been fighting the fish for over 7 hours! At 4pm the rumors continued with new of another boat that landed a blue marlin, a white marlin, a 75” tuna, and a big mahi! Big things were coming! That First First Feeling on the Last DayĪs the first boat approached the scales the crowds went wild! Reel Tight came in reporting a beautiful day on the water and 2 tuna on board. This year’s celebratory year was exactly that! A celebration of the tournament that started out as a small idea for Jim Moktsko to 50 years of out of this world deep sea bill fishing! The tournament that began with just 57 boats in 1974 to 400 boats 50 years later, people continue to flock to the White Marlin Capital of the World.

City island 5 leaderboard