InTheBite

The Best and Worst Fish of My Life

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By Keith Bowen

During the 2017 WMO, I fished with Capt. Ricky Wheeler on the ‘Exile 65’ Paul Mann out of The Canyon Club marina in Cape May, NJ. After a classic crashing teaser bite, a plug was pitched on a 80W standup combo and it was ‘game on’ with a decent sized Blue Marlin. I quickly got in my Smitty Built harness and got ready for a fight. Between fishing in Costa Rica and New Jersey, I had caught about 20 Blue Marlin in the past but after one jump, it was clear this was my biggest to date. Everyone was extremely excited during the controlled chaos as there had not yet been a blue weighed in and we were in the right Calcutta’s.  The fight lasted 58 minutes to get her boatside. After measuring her six times, the captain  agreed on her being a roughly 110” fish, 4” short of the minimum allowable length.  Although from a somewhat disappointed perspective, the crew spoke the rest of the day about what a great experience the Blue was for all us. Little did we know how much that experience would influence our future plans.  No Blue was weighed in that year – ouch but there are more tournament fish in the sea to catch in future years. With the experience of Capt Wheeler, I was lucky enough to catch and release enough fish and awarded with a 4th place finish for angler billfish points and receive a commemorative ring as well.

Captain Ricky Wheeler and mate Stephen Bowen

Fast forward and as 2018 rolled around, all of the 2017 anglers still agreed that we wanted to have the same ‘good luck mojo’ on the Exile 65. To boost our chances, Capt. Wheeler brought an extremely experienced mate from Trinidad to aid in our 2018 quest.  The mate, Matthew, had some tricks of his own with slightly different fishing techniques than I had seen in the past. Having caught hundreds of blue marlin, Matthew and his expertise were a welcome addition to the crew.

The 2018 WMO started a bit slower and like most boats, we had to work hard for our catches. On Friday, our third and final day of fishing, the captain and mate decided to change the spread based on their years of experience fishing in the conditions that we were seeing that day. On the port side, a medium sized plug was ready for pitch. On the starboard side, Matthew had stitched up a large pitch bait in case a BIG girl showed up.

At about 11:00, I went inside to make sandwiches for the crew, but was still keeping an eye out for an action through the window. I had just spread the mayonnaise on the rolls and I hear some commotion outside. As I looked up, I immediately saw the crew clearing the flatlines and Matthew going for the large pitch bait. I thought to myself, oh my gosh is this really happening ? As I exited the salon door and made my way to the cockpit, Matthew pitched her the bait and hooked up. In all my years of fishing, I had never seen a boil this large.  As she hammered the pitch bait, it appeared a small car was emerging from the water. I quickly spotted my trusted Smitty Built harness hanging on the bridge stairs and geared up for the enduring fight. After Matthew hooked the fish on the Tiagra 80W custom standup combo, he turned to me and asked if I was ready to have some fun. I gladly took the rod and made my  way to the corner of the cockpit to get situated for the fight. Without what seemed even making a swish of the tail, she swam away with ease at 28 lbs of drag.

Angler Keith Bowen

After about 15 secs, this fish decided to let us see what I was battling against as she jumped about 25 yds behind the boat. What we all saw was the most amazing sight we had ever seen. I had never been on a boat that hooked a fish that size let alone been the one fighting it. Understandingly, there was quite a loud commotion going on throughout the whole boat. I have to admit, for a short time I was wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. There was some guessing as to how big she was as I could hear the guys talking behind me about what a monster fish this was. I could hear Matthew say “Ricky, that’s the one we wanted” followed by some high fives behind me. As Matthew has guided hundreds of anglers through the end game on large fish such as this, I was intently listening to his advice. Ricky was discussing the job each crew member had with gaffing as this was going to be a total team effort to land the fish and take her for a ride to the Ocean City Md scales.

Mate Stephen Bowen and angler Karl Gordinier

The first hour seemed to fly by as I would get one foot of line back and she would take two feet her way headed to the east. The crew were incredibly supportive and encouraging, making sure I was well fed and hydrated along the way. I must have drank a few gallons of water and Gatorade. It was kind of funny having my son telling me, “Come on dad, you can do it!” Although the shoe was on the other foot, it reminded me of being his Tee Ball coach, teaching and encouraging him all those years.

At about 2 hours into the fight, we were trying to get a reaction out of her to make her come up. Ricky ran up in front of the fish in an effort to get her to make a mistake. The captain and mate knew what side the hook was on so we tried to make her react and come up, which she eventually did. At about that time, I remember hearing Ricky say something about three hours. I thought to myself, there’s no way I’ve been on the rod for that long already.

After about three and half hours, she did make another jump about 40 yds off. Once again, we were all in awe at such a spectacular fish. We did have some boats in the tournament drive by us during the fight  so they could take a look at the action. We were all terrified that someone would get too close and cut her off as we were stretched out quite a bit. By now, we had her at full drag on the Tiagra 80W. I had heard of captains speaking about how hot the reel can get from friction in battles like this. While taking a break from reeling, I bumped my hand against the reel body and could not believe how hot it was. From that point on, I periodically poured bottles of water on the reel to keep it a bit cooler so the drag would stay more consistent. I have Tiagra reels on my own boat and now had a new appreciation for why it matters to use high quality reels when the pressure is on.

I hadn’t realized it but she was taking us a bit too close to being out of bounds so Captain Ricky was doing everything he could with the boat to help and stay legal. This was disheartening at times as I had to give up precious line that I fought to gain over the last few hours. However, I fully trusted the captain and mate so I did exactly as they instructed. Later that day, he let me know that we backed down on her for 7.5 miles which is why we had to have her at full drag towards the end.

After about 4.5 hours, I called up to the bridge for Captain Wheeler to come down. I was starting to see stars in my eyes.  I did everything I could to keep fighting and stay on my feet, but it only got more difficult with time.  Each second on my feet like an hour slowly ticking by. There wasn’t a bone in my body that wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn’t last forever.  My eyes closed for a split second, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees passed out in the cockpit, with the rod resting on the gunnel. Game over for a legal fish in the tournament. The crew grabbed me so I would not get pulled overboard as I was still clipped to the reel with the harness. We still had the fish on the line so one of the other crew took the rod so he could experience the fight. After a couple of minutes, he said ‘The heck with this’  and passed the rod to a third angler. This third angler was able to bring the fish up to where Matthew could grab the leader. Keep in mind that Matthew has been involved with landing many big fish. Even after what was about 5 hours now, the fish was still in total control and he could not get her up closer. I could hear Matthew telling Captain Wheeler that the fish was still fresh. I was thinking, how can that be possible ? I have been fishing with Captain Wheeler for years and it was at the point, that he made one of the most respected decisions I have ever seen. He cut the line to let her swim away and fight another day. I’m sure she was tired as well but why possibly kill such a beautiful fish from exhaustion just so we could get a boat side picture.

After I made my way into the salon, I could not believe how bad the cramping was in my legs. That fished certainly kicked my butt. Needless to say, it was the longest ride back in to the dock in my life. There was a Blue weighed in earlier in the week but our fish was certainly one to challenge that.

The Big Girl

 During that day and the following weeks, I went through a full range of emotions as I reminisced about my experience. I have to admit at first, I was really pissed at myself. Even though I didn’t willingly give in, my body did.  I eventually began to think about it as the ‘greatest and worst’ fishing experience of my life. The crew that caught the WMO Blue weighed won in excess of $900K. She was just a big girl and played the game smart!

A few days later, there was a large blue weighed in at a tournament in Pirate’s Cove. I had a few fishing buddies ask me if I saw that fish picture and we all wondered the same thing…………

‘No Reversible Error’ Found – Federal Appeals Court Ruled in Favor of the White Marlin Open

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UPDATED: High Court Confirms White Marlin Open Decision, Ruling ‘No Reversible Error’ Found

As seen in The Dispatch by Shawn Soper 

Aerial view of the White Marlin Open’s weigh station headquarters, Harbour Island Marina.

OCEAN CITY — After nearly two years with $2.8 million prize money hanging in limbo, a federal appeals court on Wednesday essentially ruled in favor of the White Marlin Open and the winners in several other categories who stand to gain from the redistribution plan.

Last June, a U.S. District Court judge sided with the White Marlin Open (WMO) and the other named plaintiffs in a federal interpleader case against the supposed winner of the glamorous white marlin division in 2016. During that tournament, angler Phil Heasley and the Kalliannasa out of Naples, Fla. caught the only qualifying white marlin, a 76.5-pounder, and was symbolically awarded a tournament-record $2.8 million.

However, concerns over tournament rule infractions regarding the time of catch and subsequent deceptive polygraph examinations by Heasley and the Kallianassa crew landed the case first in Worcester County Circuit Court and later in U.S. District Court. Last June, after 10 months of legal wrangling and an eight-day trial, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett ruled Heasley and the Kallianassa crew should be disqualified because of the confirmed rules violations and failed polygraph exams and the $2.8 million top prize should be distributed to the other cash winners.

Heasley and the Kallianassa crew then appealed the U.S. District Court ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth District seeking to overturn the lower court’s ruling and award the $2.8 million in prize money to them in the 2016 event. However, the U.S. Court of Special Appeals on Wednesday issued a ruling in favor of the WMO and the other named plaintiffs, essentially ending the appeal at that level and bringing closure to the long-standing legal battle.

“We have reviewed the record and find no reversible error,” the opinion reads. “Accordingly, we affirm for the reasons stated by the district court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. In accordance with the decision of this court, the judgement of the district court is affirmed.”

White Marlin Open officials on Wednesday praised the appeals court’s ruling and expressed pleasure in being able to move on from the protracted legal battle and gain some closure moving forward.

“We have remained confident in Judge Bennett’s ruling regarding the 2016 White Marlin Open tournament results and we are glad that his decision was upheld,” said WMO officials in a statement. “We’re excited to put the 2016 tournament behind us and are looking forward to our 45th annual tournament this year which will be held Aug. 6th through Aug. 10th. This year’s event will be one for the record books, as we’re expecting our biggest payout to date of more than $5 million to this year’s winners.”

Heasley’s appeal focused on two key areas of the district court’s ruling including the assumption the Kallianassa put fishing lines in the water prior to the official 8:30 a.m. start time. Another area of focus in the appeal asserts the court made its ruling largely on the post-tournament polygraph tests, which are generally not admissible in federal court because they are often unreliable.

In terms of the timing of the catch, the district court opinion was clear the evidence, largely in the form of data collected from the Kallianassa’s sophisticated computer and GPS equipment illustrated the boat could not have had it lines in the water after 8:30 a.m. per tournament rules and have fought and boated the 76-pound-plus white marlin by 8:58 a.m., or a difference of about 28 minutes.

Heasley and the Kallianassa crew contended the vessel’s onboard computers and GPS systems and even pictures of the winning fish taken with the captain’s cell phone clearly illustrate the marlin was caught within the time constraints spelled out in the rules. The defendants alleged the Kallianassa’s computer systems show the boat did not leave the dock until 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 9 and traveled at cruising speed from 4:40 a.m. to at least 8:04 a.m. when it reached the fishing grounds 80 miles offshore. The onboard computers track “waypoints,” or plots on a chart, that appear to show the Kallianassa began maneuvering consistent with fighting a fish at 8:50 a.m. and the maneuvering stopped at 8:58 a.m. when the winning white marlin was allegedly boated. The captain’s cell phone pictures of the winning white were taken at 9:05 a.m.

Heasley’s appeal also went into great detail about the judge’s reliance on the post-tournament polygraph exams. Per tournament rules, any angler who catches a fish earning more than $50,000 in prize money is subjected to polygraph examinations.

In this case, Heasley and the Kallianassa crew were reportedly deceptive on their answers during the initial polygraph exams and subsequent exams, but the appeal asserted the entire process was flawed. For example, it was pointed out the polygraph exams used were different than those spelled out in the tournament rules, one lie-detector administrator admitted he was not familiar with WMO or International Game Fish Association (IGFA) rules and asked questions so broad that they did not even apply to catching a winning fish.

Nonetheless, the U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday essentially ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and upheld the district court’s ruling in the case. As a result, the 2016 WMO prize money totaling $2.8 million will now likely be distributed to the winners in several other categories.

Following the district court’s ruling last summer, the WMO and the winners in all of the other 2016 tournament categories submitted a final status report outlining the division of the attorney fees and other expenses involved in litigating the case and the proposed distribution of the $2.8 million in prize money. Essentially, the other plaintiffs, or the winners in other categories, agreed to pay $340,000 of the WMO’s cost to litigate the case, with the lion’s share paid by the plaintiffs who stand to gain the most from the trial outcome.

For example, the first-place tuna, a 236-pounder caught by angler Richard Kosztyu aboard the Hubris, has essentially agreed to pay a $287,000 contribution to the WMO’s legal fees associated with the case. However, Kosztyu and the Hubris stand to gain the most from the redistribution of the prize money.  The Hubris already received $767,000 for the first-place tuna, but with the anticipated $2.025 million more in redistributed prize money, Kosztyu and the Hubris crew now stand to win roughly $2.8 million for the first-place tuna.

Angler Jim Conway on the Get Reel, who caught the first-place blue marlin, a 790-pounder, already received $259,000 in prize money and is expected to receive $233,000 more, bringing its total for the first-place blue marlin to $492,000.

Angler Mark Hutchinson on the Magic Moment also contributed a significant amount to the legal fees associated with litigating the case at $17,447. However, the Magic Moment crew already received $132,000 for the second-place tuna, a 233-pounder, and is expected to receive $123,000 more, for a new total prize of $255,000.

The next biggest agreed-upon contributions to the legal fees among the remaining plaintiffs come from the two anglers and boats that tied for third-place in the tuna division. Angler Pat Horning and the Fish Whistle crew and angler David Arnold and the crew on the American Lady each tied for third in the tuna division with 71-pounders and each will contribute $5,859 to the legal fees under the final status report.

However, each stands to gain a significant amount of prize money from the final settlement. For example, the Fish Whistle was initially awarded $5,626 in prize money, but it will receive $41,330 more according to the status report, bringing its total to $46,956. The American Lady was awarded $52,126 initially, but with its additional $41,330, its total prize jumps to $93,456.

For the remaining eight place-winners in various categories, their contributions to the legal fees were very small by comparison at around $264 each, but their share of the redistributed prize money is equally small at $1,861 each, which does not significantly impact their total prize after redistribution.

94 lbs White Wins White Marlin Open

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Final Results! Congrats to all the teams and crews.

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Here is the final leaderboard.

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Final Catch and Release Winners

wmofinalRBy Kye Parsons WBOC 16 News 3.87 Million Dollars Prize Money for 2015

Day 1- 294 boats fishing today.

The 42nd annual White Marlin Open kicked off in Ocean City on Monday morning.  The competition is said to be the largest bill fish tournament in the world.

This year, 306 sports fishing boats and more than 1,500 anglers from around the country have registered for the tournament and will vie for a combined total of more than $3 million in prize money. Anglers fish for white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, dolphin, mahi-mahi (dolphin fish), wahoo and shark.  Cash prizes are also awarded for billfish releases.

Many anglers spent the weekend in Ocean City preparing for the event. One of those anglers, Jim Boner of Newtown Square, Pa., said the White Marlin Open is a regular event for him and for several reasons.

“The community of fishing, the great show they put on up at Sunset Marina, as well as the weigh-ins every day,” he said. “And sometimes we get to catch big fish or a lot of fish.”

The competition will end Aug 7 with weigh-ins every day from 4-9 p.m. at Harbour Island Marina, 14th Street and the bay.

For more information about the event, visit www.whitemarlinopen.com or call (410) 289-9229.

If the White Marlin Open Website is having technical difficulties visit WMO Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteMarlinOpenTournament