For Travis Ort, waiting is perhaps the hardest part.

The 34-year-old man from North Codorus Township shook a 114.5-pound bluefin tuna on Monday, August 3, the annual White Marlin Open in waters near Ocean City, Maryland. Ort knew it was a large fish, probably the largest one that had landed in 20 years of deep sea fishing.

The event, however, ended until Sunday, August 9.

This meant that Ort had to wait a full week to find out what his fish could earn on an occasion advertised as the world’s largest and richest swordfish tournament. The White Marlin Open 2020 ended with 433 registered boats carrying fish with a collective price of $6.8 million. According to the tournament’s website, it represents the maximum cash granted to fishing.

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So there’s a lot of money at stake.

In the end, the wait values it. Ort’s fish earned more than $1.4 million in prize money, $1,414,000 to be exact. It is one of 3 fish on the occasion to win more than $1 million in prizes.

Not for a guy who entered the tournament for the first time.

Cash will be shared: Ort, however, you won’t get all this cash, even if you were the user who ate the fish. The money will be distributed in 11 tactics among the other people who were on the restless Lady 2 boat. This included seven other fishermen, besides the captain and two companions. Two of Lady 2’s other restless fishermen also came here from York County: Matt Russ and Brad Ream, anyone from Wrightsville.

Ort, a York Tech graduate, refused to reveal the magnitude of their separation, but said it was “absolutely” the focus of his fishing career.

“It’s a constant three-and-a-half hour war,” Ort said. “To get into the war, I put the fish in on Monday, which the day before the tropical typhoon in Ocean City, so there was a rough sea of 8 to 12 feet. It swayed and rolled. A 114-pound tuna is a strong fish and difficult to land in all conditions, but the waves didn’t help either.”

The prize: Ort’s fish ended the moment in the tuna division, a 121-pound tuna caught on Thursday, August 6. Ort’s tuna, however, actually earned more coins than first-place tuna, which earned $99,000. It’s the way the ships were searched. Before the tournament, anglers had the opportunity to enter their pot with more skill grades with more coin prizes.

In addition, no qualified blue marlin was captured in the contest. This meant that a portion of the prize money in this department was by default in the tuna department, adding $417,000 to the prize money for Ort tuna.

Dealing with stress: With this kind of cash at stake, waiting to find out how your fish would behave is a little scary.

“I was physically exhausted (after stirring the fish), but it was a very mentally stressful week. I landed the fish on Monday and the occasion lasted until Sunday. We were in the rankings all week. But he felt (when he found out how much the fish would earn).”

After such a successful first year in the tournament, Ort said he had already made a decision.

“We’re going back next year for the 48th annual event,” he said.

Best Winners: The first prize in the $1.85 million case went to the Canyon Blues in Ocean City, Maryland, for a 97-pound white marlin caught through Brandon Golueke of Chester, Maryland. This fish is the third largest white marlin to be weighed in the 47-year history of the White Marlin Open.

The “Drillin-Billin” from Hatteras, North Carolina, landed a 77-pound white marlin captured through Taylor Fields of Baltimore, Maryland. This smart fish at the moment and $1.76 million in prizes.

Contact Steve Heiser at [email protected].