Tag Archives: White Marlin Open
Offshore wind topic blows back onto Ocean City agenda
Offshore wind farms near Ocean City’s coast will again come up for discussion at Monday’s Town Council meeting. Meghan Lapp, a fisheries liaison for Seabreeze Seafreeze Ltd. in Rhode Island, will outline concerns with how wind farms may affect commercial fishing, according to the agenda document. The presentation will also feature local fisherman George Topping. The addition of wind farms could restrict fishing areas, according to the presentation outline in the agenda documents. Deepwater Wind and US Wind received approval in 2017 to construct two wind turbine projects off of Ocean City. >click to read<09:56
For the last two years, the most dramatic moments of the White Marlin Open have been on dry land
Phil Heasley caught the fish of his life, but the $2.8 million in tournament prize money got away. Heasley reeled in a 6-foot (1.8 meter) white marlin last year off Maryland’s coast. But in a sign of how concerned some big money tournaments are about cheating, officials made him and his crew take lie detector tests. The officials said all four men failed. Heasley is now in a protracted court battle over the winnings and his crew’s reputation, pitting their integrity against that of one of the world’s most lucrative angling contests. click here to read the story 13:42
Fairfield woman part of first all-female team at White Marlin Open
In the small town of Fairfield, Jaime Lynn Buffington is well-known for one specific reason. “Everybody that knows me knows that I’m a huge fisherman,” Buffington said. Fishing is Buffington’s passion. Having spent most of her childhood fishing with her grandfather at the Maryland shore, the 37-year-old has always spent time on boats and for the past three years has fished competitively.She’s worked hard to make a name for herself in the Maryland fishing community, even winning a tournament in Baltimore. But in Buffington’s mind, her biggest accomplishment occurred this past week when she competed at the 44th annual White Marlin Open in Ocean City with her team, the Women’s Offshore Alliance. Comprised of six women, it’s the first all-female group to compete at the tournament. “Two of the ladies are commercial fishermen and do this for living,” Buffington said. click here to read the story 16:10
N.J. anglers get staggering $2.8M for giant tuna following court decision
The tuna that Rich Kosztyu, Brian Suschke and Damien Romeo hauled onto Romeo’s boat last summer at a Maryland fishing tournament weighed 236.5 pounds. At the time, it earned them a staggering $767,091 at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md. Eleven months later, after legal wrangling and a trial in federal court in Baltimore, the fishermen friends are getting another $2 million for the catch. Court documents filed in the case – which wrapped last month with a judge stripping a Florida fisherman of his $2.8M top prize – lay out how the prize money will be divvied up among the remaining winners. click here to read the story 08:39
Judge strips $2.8M tournament prize from Fla. fisherman
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that a Florida fisherman is not entitled to the $2.8 million in prize money he won in a Maryland fishing tournament last summer. Phillip Heasley and the crew of his Naples, Fla.-based boat, the Kallianassa, put their fishing lines in too early, violating the rules of the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md., the judge ruled. Three New Jersey men – Trenton police sergeant Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu and Ocean County boat owner Damien Romeo – could land $2.3 million of the money, but the judge’s decision did not yet rule on the awarding of the money. Because the matter is still technically pending, with a decision expected on the money, Suschke declined further comment, except to say the three men are “happy to have cleared one legal hurdle.” click here to read the story 09:49
Trial begins to settle $2.8M fishing tourney prize
It started in the open ocean off Maryland last summer and it’s likely to conclude in a federal courtroom in Baltimore. The battle over $2.8 million in prize money from the White Marlin Open fishing tournament went to trial Monday in U.S. District Court. On the line for three New Jersey men is $2.3 million of the pot.Trenton police officer Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu and Ocean County boat owner Damien Romeo were ecstatic after winning $767,091 for catching a 236.5-pound tuna at the August competition in Ocean City, Md. Then, the friends and fishing partners found out their catch might actually be worth millions. Click here to read the story 17:44
Federal Judge asked to decide outcome of White Marlin Open after organizers say $2.8 million winner failed lie-detector test
Fishermen are known to tell tales. But a federal judge in Baltimore is being asked to determine the outcome of the White Marlin Open after organizers in Ocean City said the man who was initially declared the winner of a $2.8 million first prize twice failed a lie-detector test. Billed as “the world’s largest billfish tournament,” the tournament spans a week in August and takes place offshore from Ocean City. There’s no oversight on the open water, so those who win $50,000 or more are required by contest rules to take a polygraph test. “There’s no policeman out in the ocean,” said Jim Motsko, president of the tournament. To keep it from being a “free-for-all, we learned real quick, you got to have rules and stick with them.” The big winner of this year’s tournament, Philip G. Heasley of Naples, Fla., caught the winning 76.5-pound white marlin but later failed two polygraph tests, according to the court filings. Heasley was not awarded the prize money, Read the story here 14:37
White Marlin Open Polygraph fail could boost N.J. fishermen’s Tuna $767,091winnings up another $2.3M!
A trio of New Jersey fisherman could land $2.3 million more in prize money for the record 236.5-pound tuna they caught earlier this month in Maryland. Brian Suschke, a Trenton police sergeant and Rich Kosztyu, a Trenton firefighter, already won $767,091 for the catch with friend and boat owner Damien Romeo at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md. But last week, the tournament announced that a Florida boat that won $2.8 million in the white marlin category – the sole qualifying fish in the category – may have violated tournament rules. And last Friday, the tournament filed an action asking a Maryland court decide the matter. In court filings, the tournament alleged fishermen on the winning boat failed polygraph examinations – a requirement for collecting a prize greater of $50,000. Read the story here 19:06
Sport Fishing Tournament Controversy: “White Marlin Open” says winner from Naples lied, broke rules
Polygraph tests on the big winner of the White Marlin Open have determined the angler and crew members lied about following tournament rules, according to court documents filed on behalf of the tournament. Polygraphs administered on behalf of the tournament determined that Philip Heasley and others crew members of the Kallianassa, which was announced as having the winning white marlin at the close of the tournament, were “deceitful.” Heasley, of Naples, had brought in a 76.5-pound white marlin, the sole qualifying white marlin vying for the grand prize of $2.8 million. However, examination of catch logs by the tournament brought suspicion that Heasley and the crew of the Kallianassa had not followed the rules of the tournament, so officials withheld the prize money. Read the story here 13:18
