Day 2 of the White Marlin Open is here, and the tournament's competitors will look to get themselves on the leaderboard early in the week.
It was a relatively quiet Day 1 at Harbour Island Marina, as only a handful of boats came to the scales. But those boats did bring a few big catches with them, including multiple bigeye tuna that currently make up the tournament's leaderboard.
CTRL-ALT-DEL currently stands at the top of the leaderboard courtesy of a 178.5-pound bigeye tuna catch by angler Bart Marchant. The leader is followed by The Right Place and MJ's, who also brought bigeye to the scale weighing 166.5 and 164.5 pounds, respectively. We'll see if any tuna can surpass these catches, or if any of the tournament's other categories see their first qualifying fish on Day 2.
White Marlin Open leaderboard: White Marlin Open leaderboard: All about king tuna on Day 1 for 2024 in Ocean City
You can follow along here for updates throughout Day 2 of the White Marlin Open, as Delmarva Now reports live from the scales at the Harbour Island Marina from the time they open at 4 p.m. until they close at 9:15. Everything from social media coverage, photos and live updates from Day 2 of the tournament will be available on this live blog.
Catch 23 makes appearance at the scales as Day 2 nears its end
With 45 minutes left before Day 2 ends, anglers from Catch 23, the boat owned by Michael Jordan came to the scales to weigh a fish. Patrick Field was the angler who caught a 32.5-pound mahi, which now finds itself as the top fish in the dolphin category.
New first place tuna, first dolphin get on the leaderboard as Day 2 winds down
There is a new first place tuna on Day 2, as one caught on Tuesday surpassed the three bigeye caught on Day 1. And the tournament also has its first dolphin catch of the week.
The blue runner arrived at the scales midway through Day 2 with a massive bigeye tuna to weigh, and it came in at 220.5 pounds, taking the first place spot for now. Rob Jones was the angler who made the catch.
And at around 7:30, the crowd saw its first dolphin catch of the tournament with Andy Geldmacher and the Double Nickel getting on the leaderboard. The dolphin came in at 31 pounds, clearing the tournament's 20-pound minimum for dolphin.
Second blue marlin of Day 2 comes in, lands in second place
Right after the Stone Cutter left the scales after bringing in the first blue marlin of the tournament, the BoBoJo arrived with a blue marlin of their own to weigh.
Coming in at 789.5 pounds, angler Hershel Martin's catch lands in second place in the blue marlin category, and the three billfish catches of the day have certainly brought a lot of excitement to the large crowd at Harbour Island Marina.
First blue marlin comes to the scales after first white marlin caught
Just a couple hours after the first white marlin of the tournament came to the scales on Day 2, the first blue marlin of the tournament also arrived, and it was a big one.
The tournament announcers said earlier in the day that they were expecting a blue marlin at the scales, and the Stone Cutter came to Harbour Island Marina with a huge catch to weigh. With the minimum length for a qualify blue marlin being 114 inches, angler Lance Blakemore's catch came in at 129 inches long, making it eligible to be weighed. And when it was hooked to the scales, it weighed 897.5 pounds. It is the fifth largest blue marlin caught in the tournament's history.
In between the white marlin and blue marlin appearances, the Jetty Girl brought the first tuna catch of Day 2 to the tournament. Weighing 77.5 pounds and caught by angler Todd Patterson, it wasn't big enough to surpass the bigeye caught on Day 1, but could compete in the daily competitions that the tournament holds throughout the week.
Waste Knot brings in first White Marlin, currently worth $4 million
The first fish brought to the scales on Day 2 came at about 4:30 p.m., a half hour after the scales opened at Harbour Island Marina. And that fish is currently the marquee catch of this year's White Marlin Open.
Waste Knot came to the scales early with a white marlin on board, and after it was confirmed that angler Ven Poole's catch met the minimum length for a white marlin, it was weighed on the scales at 77 pounds. That makes it not just the first qualifying white marlin of the tournament, but also the first qualifying white marlin the tournament has had since 2022, as no white marlin qualified last year.
There are still four more days left in the tournament, and four hours left in Day 2, but as it stands, Poole's catch is currently worth about $4 million dollars. We'll see if that catch keeps it spot atop the leaderboard as the week goes on.
More: White Marlin Open 2024 live updates: Crowds gather early as scales open on WMO Day 1
How many boats went out on Day 2 of the White Marlin Open?
210 boats are fishing on Day 2, as two-thirds of this year's competitors have decided to fish on Tuesday. With some rough weather being anticipated for later in the week, it's unsurprising that a lot of boats have decided to fish in the first two days of the tournament.
More: White Marlin Open announces 318 boats competing for $8.5 million in 2024 tournament
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: WMO Day 2: Michael Jordan's boat makes catch, plus white, blue marlins
