Anglers Win $6 Million in Record-Breaking Tournament Payout

Friday, Aug. 11, marked the final day of the 50^th annual White Marlin Open, a storied billfishing tournament based in Ocean City, Maryland. But it was a blue marlin that made history that evening. The tournament-winning fish netted the top team a purse of $6.2 million, which represents the largest payout in fishing tournament history, according to the organizers.

Angler John Ols landed the big blue. He was fishing aboard the Floor Real, which is based in Ocean City and was one of 357 teams competing in the five-day tournament. Altogether, the field of anglers landed roughly 551 white marlin and 46 blue marlin during the event.

Only two of those fish were big enough to be weighed, however, and Ols’ marlin was the only one that met the minimum length and weight requirements in order to qualify. (The tournament minimums for blue and white marlin are 114 inches and 70 pounds, respectively.) His roughly 640-pound fish took first place in both the…