For the fifth consecutive day, a boat was waiting when the Harbour Island scales opened at 4 p.m. Friday. This time, it was CTRL ALT DEL with a 65-pound yellowfin tuna. The evening’s largest leaderboard change came only 14 minutes later.
At 4:14 p.m., Reel Hunter of St. Michaels, Maryland, weighed a 71.5-pound white marlin caught by Kevin Howell of Queenstown, Maryland. The fish moved into second place, pushed Bull Pen into third and is currently projected to earn $355,457.77. Mister Pete remains the leader with its 80-pound white marlin, while Bull Pen’s 70-pounder now holds third.
Although no Friday catch took over an overall division, the tournament’s many Added Entry Levels created winners throughout the fleet. Six Friday fish are now carrying combined projected payouts of more than $572,000.
Each Added Entry Level is optional and operates independently. As a result, a fish does not necessarily have to reach the overall top three—or even be the heaviest fish weighed that day—to produce a substantial payday.
The steady procession of tuna provided the clearest example.
Makenzie Rae of Ocean City weighed an 84-pound tuna caught by Bobby Catlett. The fish won Friday’s Daily Tuna and Daily Big Fish entries and is currently projected to earn $74,385.
Ocean City’s HOT LICK added a 78-pound tuna caught by Mike McClure. Although several heavier tuna reached the scales Friday, HOT LICK captured the Daily Outboard Tuna money and is currently projected to earn $51,424.20.
At 6:39 p.m., Von Umali of Pasadena, Maryland, weighed a 74-pound tuna aboard Reel Moore of Ocean City. That fish won Friday’s Daily Small Boat Tuna entry and is provisionally worth $15,219.
The overall tuna leaders remained unchanged. Gray Fox continues to lead with a 179-pound tuna, followed by Speculator at 146.5 pounds and See Legs at 110.5 pounds.
Friday also produced new second-place fish in both the wahoo and dolphin divisions.
BAR South of Key Largo, Florida, weighed a 64-pound wahoo caught by Rob Gothier of Ocean City. The fish moved into second place behind Gray Fox’s 69.5-pounder, won Friday’s Daily Wahoo competition and is currently projected to earn $49,443.
Meraki of Cape May, New Jersey, moved into second place in dolphin with a 40.5-pound fish caught by Shane Schneidinger. The fish won Friday’s Daily Dolphin money and is provisionally worth $26,159. Today’s The Day remains the division leader with its 45-pound dolphin. With 237 boats fishing Friday, the scales remained busy without producing the kind of multimillion-dollar swing seen earlier in the week. Instead, Friday demonstrated that the White Marlin Open offers many different paths to the money—and that a boat’s Added Entry selections can be nearly as important as its position on the overall leaderboard.
There are 79 boats eligible to fish tomorrow in 3-5 Ft seas. By now, they know where the fish have been caught, giving them a small edge in their luck. There have been many dramatic finishes over 52 years, and the 53rd could produce another. Both the crowd and current winners will be watching the scales until the end at 9:15.
All standings and projected payouts are unofficial and subject to change.
