Tommy Hinkle, a high school mathematics teacher from Ocean City, Maryland, won the White Marlin Open earlier this month. His boat, Fish Whistle, is the first to win the tournament twice, having brought in the winning catch in 2008.
“As far as probability goes, folks, put this up in the math books,” he told WTOP. “It was a longshot.”
When the crew saw the fish jump, they knew it was one for the scales, so to speak. It took Hinkle 90 minutes to bring it to the boat.
The first place marlin weighed 79.5 pounds.
The White Marlin Open, in its 46th year, is said to be the world’s largest and richest billfish tournament. The $1.5 million payout will be split among the Fish Whistle crew. Hinkle says he’ll use the money to send his kids to college and to do some renovations on his house.
His high school principal called recently to ask Hinkle if he’s coming back to work, which starts after Labor Day. He says he’s looking forward to returning to his normal routine.
