The White Marlin Open will expand its possible fishing days from five to six next year in an effort to avoid weather conditions that plagued the event in August.

Rough offshore conditions forced officials to push the Ocean City, Maryland, event to a full week before Billfisher, a boat based in Ocean City, claimed the tournament’s top prize of $3.9 million. Some days, hundreds of anglers hit the water, while on other days, only a handful of the 282 registered boats went fishing.

The event — billed as the world’s largest and richest billfish tournament — has traditionally allowed boats to fish on three of the tournament’s five days, but the expansion adds an extra possible day. The tournament has usually ended on Friday night, but the 2026 White Marlin Open will run from Monday, Aug. 3 unt

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