Preparations Underway For 48th Annual White Marlin Open

By Cody Decker

OCEAN CITY, Md.- Eight million dollars is how much prize money is expected to be awarded this week at the 48th Annual White Marlin Open. Over 400 boats are registered.

For some teams, the tournament is a family affair. Richard Hones Jr. and his son Richard III are carrying on a family tradition.

"My father introduced us to it," Hoenes Jr. said. "I’ve raised him on our boat at home and he’s caught everything that he can catch on the Chesapeake Bay and now we’re down here ocean fishing trying to catch something bigger.'

Michael Jordan’s Catch 23 is back in the field this year. The basketball hall of famer and his team are well-known during tournament week but that does not intimidate other competitors like Mike Lafferty of the Greene Turtle Team who has seen Jordan make catches before.

"Last year actually, we were swimming right next to him and saw him catch a white right behind us," Lafferty said. "We see him at the field dock. He’s got a great team and a beautiful boat but we are here to win and get right above him."

The Harbour Island Marina is where the anglers will bring in their catches for the weigh in. Teams are coming into the week with a plan for what they hope to bring to the scale. Zach Brunner of Pasadena says his team's plans have changed.

"We were going to run a marlin spread but our tower didn’t get done on our boat, so we are kind of on a tuna spread," Brunner said. But I mean marlins will bite at whatever but we are primarily targeting tunas."

Jason Scaggs is competing for the first time in the White Marlin Open but is familiar with Harbour Island and the billfish tournament.

I just bought this thing four months ago," Scaggs said. "I’ve lived here and had a home here at Harbour Island for seven years so I’ve watched the tournament for all that time but never fished in it."

Whether a rookie or a seasoned veteran at the White Marlin Open, the goal is the same: reel in to cash in.

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