Fishin Fever With A $136k Payday
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At The Scales 55th White Marlin Invitational
55th Annual Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational Winner Got the ‘Fever’
Fishin’ Fever was the big winner of last week’s 55th annual White Marlin Invitational, held by the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club
Capt. Tom Daffin’s crew from Cape May came out $132,000 richer. Tournament director Dave Wittenborn said that among their prized catches were two big-eyed tuna weighing 202 and 175 pounds.
“They were out at the Wilmington Canyon, 75 miles offshore from Beach Haven,” said Wittenborn.
Rounding out the top 5 were Business, Beach Haven, $70,455; Kaarmaaa, Cape May, $66,526; Benita J, Beach Haven, $48,745; and One Shot, Forked River, $34,803.
The tournament ran from Aug. 14 to 17, and each of the 60 participating boats had to select two days to fish.
“Before, we ran the tournament three days and they had to pick two days,” he said. “Because we’re in the hurricane season there’s always a chance of rough conditions from storms. They may be well offshore, but they can churn up the ocean and create rough conditions so we thought it would be good to give the crews a chance to pick two days out of four days instead of three.”
Wittenborn said that because of likely rough conditions created by Hurricane Ernesto for the weekend, all but one boat selected Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for fishing.
“Shark Byte was the only one out there Saturday,” he said. “They caught a blue marlin and ended up winning $30,000 so it was a worthwhile day.”
But the tournament had more than fishing on the agenda. Since 2021, the club has added a street fair element called “Marlinfest,” located at the end of Dock Road. It featured vendors and live music and was held Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“This festive atmosphere with vendors and restaurants in such a high-profile location resulted in us gaining sponsorships, helping increase the purse size and drawing more participation,” said Wittenborn. “We were able to increase the purse size to $550,000.”
Crisdel Does It Again at the 54th White Marlin Invitational
Just like last year, Crisdel was the big winner in last week’s White Marlin Invitational, sponsored by the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club.
The crew, captained by George Steller, had a $147,000 payday. In 2022, they sailed off with $110,000.
“They caught three large big-eyed tuna, with the heaviest at 116 pounds,” said Dave Wittenborn, tournament director.
The winners are based in Islamorada, Fla.
“It’s a tournament boat,” said Wittenborn, invitational director. “They take it all over the East Coast for these events.“
Rounding out the top 10 winners were Shark Bite, $81,000; Bandit, $58,000; Big Oil, $47,000; Mollie, $41,000; Char Co, $27,000; One Shot, $21,000; Mow Money, $9,000; Lit Up, $8,532; and Conflicted, $4,725.
Wittenborn said a total of $550,000 in prize money was awarded, up from $500,000 last year.
“Each year, we try to increase the purse,” he said.
Wittenborn said prevailing west winds during the tournament made for rough sea conditions.
“It usually takes me about three and a half hours to get from the Hudson Canyon to Beach
Haven,” he said. “This time it took six hours.“
This is the third year of the tournament’s Marlinfest, which took place at the public parking area at the end of Dock Road throughout the invitational. It featured vendors and live music.
“A big highlight is people watching the fish get weighed at the weigh station,” said Wittenborn. “That draws a big crowd.”
There was the potential for some complications due to the fact that pop megastar Taylor Swift and other celebrities were in the vicinity to attend the wedding of Swift’s producer, Jack Antonoff.
“It didn’t create any problems at all,” said Wittenborn. “They did their thing and we did ours.”
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Chairman: Dave Wittenborn - (609) 577-2797 - wmit@bhmtc.com - PO Box 1216 Beach Haven, NJ 08008
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