36th Annual White Marlin Open

Ocean City, MD August 10, 2009 – The 36th Annual White Marlin Open came to a close Friday night with two Maryland state records being broken during the five day fishing tournament. Sean Healey of Prides Crossing, MA, fishing aboard the Orion out of Palm Beach, Fl., took home a $903,442.00 paycheck with the winning 93.5 lb. white marlin; however, the new state record blue marlin stole the show.

The winning blue marlin weighed 1,062 lbs., and shattered the existing Maryland state record of 942 lbs., set in 1989 by Jim Daniel. The fish earned Robert Farris of Charlotte, NC, and the crew aboard the No Problem a $454,999.00 paycheck. The fish was caught on 80-lb. class tackle, and took over three hours to bring to the boat. Another Maryland state record broken at this year's event was the scalloped hammerhead shark, caught by Jamie Gill aboard the Lisa. The 254 lbs. shark bested the existing record by 60lbs., and earned the crew a $4,500.00 paycheck.