OCEAN CITY, Md. -- The White Marlin Open is full of tradition, and there is one couple who, quite possibly, knows that better than anyone else. Sylvia and Jay Mueller have traveled from Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, to Ocean City for nearly five decades.
The White Marlin Open began in 1974, and who was right there for the inaugural event? Sylvia and Jay Mueller.
"It's gotten much bigger, the fish are big," said Sylvia Mueller, chuckling.
Since then, the couple has only missed six tournaments. They couldn't make it to the WMO in 1999 or 2000 and were absent for a stretch between 2003 and 2006.
But they have now been to 46 tournaments and haven't missed a week in 19 years. That expertise has allowed them to fine-tune their daily routine, ensuring they get to Harbour Island in time to secure front-row seats right by the scales.
"We get up in the morning, we eat breakfast, we fool around the house a little bit, maybe go over to the swimming pool," said Jay Muller. "She has to leave by 1:30 to get here by 2:00."
"Get this front line, to get a good spot," said Sylvia, chiming in.
"And here we are until we can't stand anymore, and then we go home," said Jay.
The Mueller's have stood idly by over the past four decades, watching one of their favorite events grow and change, but what they love the most about the tournament has stayed the same.
"Just to come out and mingle with the crowd and watch all the fish that are weighed, even if they can't be kept," said Sylvia. "I think what is wonderful, the people that give their fish to the foodbank, I think that's a wonderful thing that they do."
Sylvia and Jay Mueller, White Marlin Open mainstays since 1974.