At The End: 2008 White Marlin Open Day 5 Results

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One of the hardest parts of tournament fishing is waiting to see if your catch can hold up through the end of competition. As the final day ends at the 35th annual White Marlin Open there were plenty of boats that were both on the water and on the docks that faced that age old dilemma and for the crowds, the excitement of an upset was something that wouldn't be missed.
For the first time in a week's fishing here in Ocean City, Maryland there was a boat waiting at the scales before they opened at 4 p.m. The Hatterascal was waiting in the lagoon at Harbour Island Marina by a quarter to four and the flag flying from the outrigger indicated that a white marlin was waiting to be weighed. The top white marlin was sitting at 81 pounds since the first day as the Fish Whistle waited to see if it would hold up for the 1.1 million dollar top prize. After a scare as the Canyon Runner put up a white that missed the top mark by only 1/2 a pound on Thursday, the early Friday weigh-in came as another test of their lead. The white looked like it was going to test the lead and as the scale danced towards its final reading a bigger scare couldn't have been in store. From 80.5 pounds to 81.5 pounds, the scale fluctuated before finally settling at 81 pounds even to tie the lead. Based on the rules and that both fish were gaffed at boatside the purse looks to be split between the boats.
The next shot across a boat's bow came from the Press Time as they headed to the scales with a blue marlin flag flying right side up. The 935.5-pound blue that was weighed in on day 2 by the Morgan, NJ based Last Run seemed unbeatable and was, but for them to take the total blue marlin purse they needed to be the lone boat to weigh a blue. Unfortunately for the Last Run though the Press Time's big blue marlin was above the 500-pound qualifying weight at 534 pounds. This means that the Last Run will have to share the money, but they will still take the top share and the glory of weighing the second largest blue in White Marlin Open and Maryland State Record history.
The next place for a shake-up was in the tuna category, where the Miss Andrea held the lead at 172 pounds. The second place tuna was the 109-pound fish brought by the Risky Business but it was a rough final day for them. First the Clear Shot tied their fish with another 109-pound bluefin, but they were soon eclipsed when the Ocean Dan-Sar brought a 110-pound fish to the scales. This was a tough break and another case of mere ounces that changed the fate for a leading boat. This small lead didn't last long as the Warrior crushed the scale with a 150-pound bluefin that vaulted them into second place and pushed both boats that stood at 109 pounds out of the money.
On dolphin and wahoo, more remarkable catches were sent to the scales and changed up the final places. The Liquidity put up a dolphin that weighed 52.5 pounds and was in the money, but they were soon beaten out by the Pipe Dreamer who landed a 57.5-pound dolphin to push into the final money spot in that category. For wahoo, the top spot was also taken by the Hatterascal on the first weigh-in of the day. Later the D.A.Sea landed one that went 44.5 pounds and secured the final spot in the money on wahoo.
All that remains now is to see that everyone passes their required polygraph tests and to hand out the checks at the awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon. It has been a wild week here at the scales and out on the water with close calls and tight competition marking the whole event. The 35th annual White Marlin Open has been a complete success through all of the fishing and there will be plenty of participants that are already looking forward to doing it again next year.