Seventeen boats Monday. Two hundred fifty-five Tuesday. Two hundred seventy-seven this morning.

The fleet has found its window, and the biggest day of the 53rd White Marlin Open so far is on the water right now. Which makes the thing missing from the leaderboard even louder.

Three days into the White Marlin Open, nobody has weighed a white marlin.

What Tuesday looked like

A parade of 255 boats ran the Ocean City Inlet at 4:30 Tuesday morning, and the scales at Harbour Island were busy from the moment they opened. Twenty-six fish came across in the course of the afternoon.

The tuna lead changed hands twice.

The Marli, out of Ocean City, put an 85-pounder on the board and held the top spot for about fifteen minutes. Then the Reel Blessed, also out of Ocean City, came in at 91.5 pounds and took it.

Neither of them survived the night. Around eight o’clock the See Legs, out of Fenwick Island, backed in with a 110.5-pound bigeye and that was the end of the argument.

Several dolphin were weighed as well. Good day, busy scales, real money moving around on the board.

And still no white marlin.

The fish the tournament is named for

A white marlin has to hit 70 pounds and 70 inches to qualify here. That is a serious fish, and most of what the fleet raises never comes close — which is exactly why the ones that do are worth what they are worth.

Nobody should read too much into two days. Last year the entire tournament produced only two qualifying whites, and the winning fish went 72 pounds. In 2024 the winner was a 77.5-pounder that paid nearly $3.7 million. These fish do not come in bunches. They come one at a time, usually late, and they change everything when they do.

The bite going in said they are out there. Max Bet raised 51 white marlin in Spencer Canyon last Thursday and released 30. The Shark Bite released 27 on Friday. The Maverick released 19 and a blue the Sunday before.

Raising them is not the problem. Getting one over 70 pounds to the scales is the problem, and it always has been.

What is on the water today

Two hundred seventy-seven boats — the biggest turnout of the week. Most of the fleet is now spending its second of three days, and a good number are spending their first.

Every one of those crews knows the same thing: the tuna board is set at 110.5 pounds and the white marlin board is empty. The first boat to back into Harbour Island with a qualifying white is going to have the entire town come out of its shoes.

That is what everybody standing at those scales this afternoon is waiting for.

If you are coming down

Scales at Harbour Island Marina, 14th Street and the bay. Open 4:00 PM, running to 9:15. Free, every day, right through Saturday.

Marlin Fest is on the beach at the Inlet with the weigh-ins up on the big screen, food and live music.

Three days left after today. Nine point nine million dollars still on the table. And the fish this whole thing is named after has not shown up yet.

We are here for all six days.

See you on the water.