Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational
This years Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational was quite an experience for me and my crew aboard the 32' Blackfin, Reel Style, and the fishing was the most uneventful part of the tournament. The forecast had been very poor since NOAA posted the forecast about a week or so before the first day of the tournament which was Thursday the 30th. For some reason, this tournament always seems to have foul weather and I was thinking, "here we go again". The tournament director wisely added a fourth day to the tournament which was Sunday, August 2nd so everyone could choose to fish towards the end of the weekend which had the better forecast.
We wisely decided to sit out Thursday and watched from the weigh station as the boats came back with their catch bruised and battered from the 6 foot seas that they had taken on throughout the day. A large big-eye tuna of 159lbs was weighed in which had been taken from the Hudson Canyon, about 85 nautical miles to the north east from Beach Haven. The NOAA forecast had changed several times throughout the day and the word going around was that the seas were going to possibly lay down on Friday and possibly pick up again on Saturday and Sunday. This was just the rumor we were looking for and after seeing that large big-eye, my crew and I got excited so we decided to go out Friday and give it a shot. We often joke about how wrong the NOAA forecast always are and how bad could it really be anyway. Big Mistake!!
Friday morning's ride out through Little Egg Inlet at 4:15 AM went smoothly and about 20 miles offshore, we were feeling like we stole something because the seas were a pleasant 2-4 ft with a nice breeze of about 15 knots out of the SW. We were riding in the trough of the waves and on our north east course and we were actually enjoying the ride. I have seen much worse conditions so we ventured on. Things didn't really start to deteriorate until we were about 20 miles from the Tom's Canyon, a smaller canyon to the SW of the Hudson. The winds steadily increased throughout the morning and into the early afternoon until they were a steady 25 knots. The seas went from an uncomfortable rolling 4-6 ft to 6-9 ft in about an hour and I know there were a few larger ones in there. Somehow, we did manage to put a nice 15lb dolphin in the boat and released a small tuna. We even had a white marlin hooked for a while but the circle hook pulled out.
By 1:30, we were losing site of the horizon in the trough of the snowy capped swells which looked like they would be great to surf so I made the call and told everyone we were packing it up for the day and heading for the barn, and no-one argued with me. We tried to head back to Little Egg Inlet but our 32 Blackfin could only turn about 12 knots in the head sea which was putting our arrival time back at the inlet in the after dark. I was not about to run LEI in those hazardous conditions in the dark so we changed course about 15 degrees north and headed for Barnegat Inlet. Could you believe I would rather run Barnegat, the graveyard of the Atlantic, instead of LEI in foul weather?
After battling back through heavy seas and losing our radar due to the pounding we were taking, we were following a line of storms freight training across the mainland on our satellite weather machine we recently had installed. We tried speeding up to make it through Barnegat before the storms caught up to us but it was to no avail. About 4 miles off Barnegat, we were hit with the most severe squall I have ever seen on land or on a boat. The initial wind gust that hit us spun our boat and the rain came down so hard I could not see the front of the boat. The rain was pouring in every possible opening and screw-hole in the boat I was afraid the pumps were not going to keep up. This went on for about 20 minutes which seemed like hours as we just sat there, dead in the water, waiting for a bolt of lightning to finish us off.
Somehow we survived the storm and made our way towards Barnegat Inlet with our life jackets close by our sides and the EPIRB clinched in my hand as the cold winds were now increasing from the north.. We continued on through the unfamiliar inlet and into Double Creek Channel which is stressful enough by itself on a nice sunny day because there are many shallow areas on your way to the ICW. We slowly navigated our way out of Double Creek and into the ICW and headed south. Finally almost home after a grueling 5.5 hr ride from the canyon. What else could go wrong.
Apparently, in all of the confusion, word somehow got out to all of our families that we were bringing home some type a large catch that needed to be weighed in at the club before the eight O'Clock deadline. The tournament rule is very strict about this as well it should be for various reasons. Unknowingly to us on the boat, friends and family were at the weigh station, pressed up against the ropes, cheering us on as we made our way down the bay towards the club, and finally within sight of the weigh-master. We had made it and it was 7:59, one minute to the deadline. As we approached the club, which is just off the ICW and on our way home, we saw everyone at the dock celebrating and having a good time. We had no idea they were cheering for us and weighing in our dolphin, which I new was under the 20lb qualifying minimum for the tournament, was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to get home and into some dry clothes so we just trucked on by the party goers and continued to home to Mordecai Cove. Well believe me, when I got home I got an earful of why I didn't radio ahead and tell everyone not to go to the club for the weigh-in and had to calm my kids down after the big anti-climatic let down at the club. The club was even calling to tell me that I had made it under the deadline and to bring my catch back to the dock by boat for an official weigh-in. I had to explain to everyone that our fish was too small and not worth weighing in. I never had any intention of weighing in at the club. It was the second perfect storm in one day.
We decided to sit Saturday out and fished again on Sunday only to find ourselves in a similar situation of getting hit by a squall about 30 miles offshore on our way home after getting bruised and battered again by 4-6 ft seas all day with only one marlin to show any interest in trolling spread for a brief moment. This second squall was nothing compared to the one on Friday. I love fishing the Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational and will for as long as I am able. They are professional and I am honored to be a member of the club but I am glad the tournament only comes once per year.
