Monster Blue Marlin Weighed at 37th Annual White Marlin Open
For the second consecutive year a 1000-plus pound blue marlin has been weighed in at the White Marlin Open. The crew of the Let it Ride of Fair Haven, New Jersey flirted with the tournament record blue marlin of 1062 pounds set just last year when they weighed their 1010.5-pound blue marlin this afternoon on Day Two of the tournament.
Sewell, NJ (PRWEB) August 4, 2010 – For the second consecutive year a 1000-plus pound blue marlin has been weighed in at the White Marlin Open. The crew of the Let it Ride of Fair Haven, New Jersey flirted with the tournament record blue marlin of 1062 pounds set just last year when they weighed their 1010.5-pound blue marlin this afternoon on Day Two of the tournament. Captain Tom McConlouge was at the helm of Let it Ride when the big marlin bit and angler James Kontos of Crested Butte, Colorado bested the beast on a Shimano Tiagra 80 loaded with 100-pound test Momoi. The billfish inhaled a black Mold Craft Super Chugger that was rigged with a Mustad #7692 hook. James’ father, Arthur Kontos, a seasoned angler in his own right, cheered his son on during the epic battle before mates Mike Provow and Jason Peer sunk the gaff in the fish. Let it Ride is well known around the world on the big game tournament circuit and has been fishing the White Marlin Open for 11 years and six years ago the team won the wahoo category. This is by far the biggest marlin the crew has seen, much less caught. Though he’s released plenty of marlin in the Atlantic and the Pacific, this is the first marlin ever boated by McConlouge. Provow’s previous heaviest blue was 740 pounds while Peer has three granders boated under his belt.
The White Marlin Open is the World's largest billfish tournament, and while the tournament requires fish to be brought in and weighed, the tournament directors encourage the release of billfish with high minimum size and weight regulations. White marlin must be at least 67-inches long and weigh 65lbs. to qualify, and blue marlin must be 105-inches long and weigh 500lbs. Boats are required to use non-offset circle hooks when using natural baits or natural bait and lure combination's. Research has shown that the use of non-offset circle hooks drastically reduces the mortality rate of released fish. This year's tournament had a 92.9% release rate.
White Marlin Open teamed up with SportFishermen.com to bring an updated tournament website, complete with live web cam coverage of the weigh-ins, daily tournament blogs, live leader board updates, and all pertinent tournament information. SportFishermen.com is the Internets largest website dedicated to saltwater sport fishing around the World. Complete coverage of the tournament can be seen at www.sportfishermen.com and www.whitemarlinopen.com.
Media outlets may contact SportFishermen.com for photos of the Grander and all other photos from the event.
Upcoming live tournament coverage by SportFishermen.com includes the Mid-Atlantic $500,000 (August 16-20, 2010)
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Launched in 2004, SportFishermen.com is the fastest growing online community for sport fishing. It features boating and fishing forums, live big game fishing tournament coverage, sport fishing reports, fishing videos, fishing pictures, marine weather, fishing tournament calendar, saltwater fishing articles and boats for sale.
The 37 Annual White Marlin Open continues through Friday evening and you can follow the weigh-in action nightly by logging on to www.sportfishermen.com, the media provider for the tournament, where you can view the live web cam and check out photos from around the tournament. For photos or additional information about the tournament, email admin(at)sportfishermen(dot)com.
