by The 46th White Marlin Open at Ocean City, Md. ended up yesterday with a record total of white marlin.
It’s refreshing to see a species in such good abundance at the same time we’re facing tough restrictions on most species and a virtual disappearance of such once abundant fisheries as Atlantic mackerel, winter flounder and NY/NJ Bight silver hake (whiting).
The previous record was 1358 in 2016, but the unofficial total as of Friday night was 1429 whites released plus 30 weighed in for a total of 1459.
There were also 46 blue marlin released and just the one winner boated. There were 13 sailfish and two spearfish released, while tuna fishing was slow with just 18 boated and one release reported. That also applied to dolphin until a Friday surge brought the count up to 20 weighed and one release. The nine wahoo boated were in the normal range, and the only shark was Greg Robinson’s 277.5-poumd mako on Polorizer that was worth $225,000 because it was in the Big Fish Calcutta.
The earlier blog today summarized the unofficial results, and the WMO promises official results shortly which I’ll pass along.
Good weather continues tomorrow with winds of 5-10 knots northwest , becoming west in the afternoon.
The Sea Hunter from Atlantic Highlands reported somewhat more keeper fluke and sea bass in beautiful weather today. One angler had a fluke limit.
A few school stripers fell for poppers on Monmouth County beaches this morning, and there was also a showing of cocktail blues. Lots of Spanish mackerel were spotted jumping far out of range.
Tight Lines 
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