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First white marlin of season caught and released by RLII

By Lisa Capitelli Managing Editor

(June 9, 2023) When the group planning to charter the Restless Lady II on June 2 for tuna fishing canceled, boat owners Joe and Chris Huk took the opportunity to head offshore with first mate Tanner Virden and friend Todd Gummersbach. They not only landed nine yellowfin tuna, but they also caught and released the first white marlin of the Ocean City fishing season.

“We were tuna fishing, but we knew there was a chance there would be [a white marlin] around,” Chris Huk, captain of the Restless Lady II, said. “We were pumped. Really excited. After nine tunas, this was the best way to end the day.”

After the group canceled their charter trip, Joe Huk said he called Gummersbach, who lives in Texas, and asked him if he wanted to come to Ocean City and go fishing.

Joe and his son, Chris, Virden and Gummersbach, left the Talbot Street Pier in downtown Ocean City aboard the Restless Lady II at 4 a.m. last Friday and headed toward the Baltimore Canyon.

Chris said they started fishing around 6:30 a.m. and over the course of a few hours the group boated nine yellowfin tuna ranging in weight from 30 to 40 pounds.

After catching their final pair of tuna, they were putting lines – about a dozen of them – back into the water when Chris saw a white marlin charging in from the starboard side about 40 yards out.

“We caught our share of tuna, then Chris said this was an area where some whites were spotted,” Joe said. “About 10 minutes after that, Chris screamed that there was a white marlin.”

“It ended up at the back of the boat looking for something to eat,” Chris added.

It grabbed the spreader bar’s bait, then Joe started reeling it in. Joe fought the fish for about 5-10 minutes before they pulled it on board, snapped a quick photo and released it at 12:43 p.m.

“Most of the time when you hook a marlin on [a spreader bar] you lose it because the spreader bar is heavy and marlin jump a lot,” Chris said. “I backed up on it and we got it quick. It didn’t jump, which is rare.”

Chris said there was a little bit of pressure because he knew how difficult it is to catch a marlin on the spreader bar.

“It would have been really disappointing if we lost it, because we knew it was the first white marlin of the season,” he added.

“I was excited,” Joe said. “I wasn’t

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