
The crew of the Billfisher posing with their white marlin. (Photos/White Marlin Open)
For the second year in a row, the last white marlin weighed netted a world record purse. In 2021, Sushi out of Ocean City, MD, took the top white marlin at the last minute and at the time collected (a then world record payout) of $3,200,000 for catching a fish. That record payout lasted just 10 months when angler Matthew Brown fishing aboard the Mercenaria in the 2022 Big Rock tournament out of Morehead City, NC weighed a 572.6-pound blue marlin and won $3,489,813.