OCEAN CITY, Md.- The team on "Fish Bone" was out competing on the first day of the open 60 miles offshore of Virginia until a nearby boat started sinking.
They didn't waste any time helping to rescue those that were on board of "Knot Stressin' ''. Officials told the crowd at Harbour Island Marina that "Knot Stressin' " took on too much water that flooded into the engine room. The anglers all from Maryland including one from Ocean City. Captain of "Fish Bone" Billy Chapman describes what he saw as his team got closer to the location of "Knot Stressin' ".
"As I got there the entire boat pretty much was encapsulated with water and as we got everybody on the boat we watched the actual rest of the boat go completely down," Chapman said.
All the fishermen were safely transported with help from the Virginia Coast Guard. "Fish Bone" was granted another day of fishing in the tournament for their heroic act.
At Harbour Island, after hearing the news of the sinking boat, catches started to come in.
The Fender Bender from Virginia Beach, Virginia was the first boat to come into the scale and weigh in this afternoon. It brought in an 82 1/2 pound white marlin which was the first fish to qualify for prize money. Dan Whelan says it was great to be the first boat in.
"It's a pretty good feeling. We got lucky," Whelan said. "It's a pretty good one but it can be beat easily so nerve-wracking but we'll see."
Taylor Fields was part of the team that earned one point seven million dollars for a 77 pound white marlin last year. He and his team chose to sit today out but plan to get out on the water tomorrow for their first day.
"Didn't feel it," Fields said. "We have three days left now. A lot of guys only have two days left. Thursday's weather was looking better so we just decided to lay. We saw Michael Jordan followed our lead and he laid too so we're feeling good about it."
An opening day with marlins, tuna, and dolphins but no doubt the biggest catch of the day was the rescue made by fishermen for fishermen.