OCEAN CITY, Md. - The 2026 White Marlin Open ended Saturday evening, and the winners are walking away with big earnings.
The tournament's most-lucrative catch was an 80-pound white marlin, projected to be worth about $3.5 million, caught by Bill Sharpe on the boat "Mister Pete."
Only one blue marlin qualified this year, and it was a huge one. Kelly Weber on the boat "MaxBet" reeled in a fish weighing 607.5 pounds, and worth about $1.2 million.
John Wardlaw on the boat "Gray Fox" topped two leaderboards in this year's competition. He caught a 179-pound tuna, taking home first place and over $1 million for that fish. Then, he also caught a 69.5-pound wahoo, worth about $72,000.
Finally, a 45-pound dolphin took first place, reeled in by Ryan Jones aboard boat "Today's the Day," winning over $22,000.
There were no qualifying swordfish this year.
334 boats competed this year for about $9.9 million in prize money.
