Whenever you set out for a day of fishing, nearly everybody goes out with the hopes of reeling in the catch of a lifetime.
Of course, this rarely happens unfortunately, except every once in a blue moon one lucky angler reels in something that could change their life forever.
For example, Jeremy Duffie out of Bethesda, Maryland.
According to WDEL, Duffie was fishing under 100 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, when he felt a major tug on his fishing rod.
Once he reeled it in, he landed himself a 77.5 pound white marlin, which landed him a first place finish at the 49th White Marlin Open.
He said it took him about 35-40 minutes to realize that he had just struck gold:
“Got a bite. About 35-40 minutes later kind of looked at it and realized it was a nice one, and got it in the boat. We’re very blessed.”
Dubbed the “World’s Largest and Richest Billfish Tournament,” Duffie’s prize money for the huge catch turned out to be a whopping $4.4 million, but could be a larger number considering one of the categories didn’t have a single catch.
Duffie topped Houston, Texas’ Keeley Megarity, who reeled in a 71.5 pound white marlin last Thursday, and their prize money dropped significantly, from $2.8 million to $120,000.
That had to have been heartbreaking for Megarity, but an absolute dream for Duffie.
For the rest of the event, Jason Hersh snuck out a win in tuna, reeling in a 247.5 pounder for $940,000. Anderson Bowen’s 246.5 pound tuna lost by only a pound, but still racked up $100,000. Richard Howse came in third place, but brought in $320,000 due to extra-paying categories.
Bill Britt reeled in the biggest catch of the week, with a 511-pound fish that was worth $960,000.
Frank Sinito Jr. won the dolphin category with a 59.5 pounder, while Chris Thompson won $20,000 winning the wahoo with a 71 pounder.
Michael Jordan even competed in the event and finished 5th in billfish points, but came home empty handed after not catching anything for the three day tournament.
