Join us as we celebrate Independence Day with the video premiere of our 3rd Annual Big Rock, Big Hero experience- presented by Salt Life! Watch as our seven 2020 Big Rock Big Heros are hosted on board with participants during the 62nd Annual Big Rock Tournament. We are extremely grateful for the servicemen & women who proudly serve our country- we thank you all for your dedication to protect our freedoms.
Thank you to Salt Life for making this incredible experience possible!
The 62nd Annual Big Rock Tournament was nothing short of INCREDIBLE- a week of excitement, competition, & comradery surrounded the 2020 event! We are incredibly proud to have an OUTBOARD win the tournament for the first time in OVER 30 years. It was an impressive catch & great show of sportsmanship! Thank you to ALL of our participants, sponsors, & supporters. Below are the final tournament results & prize payouts of the $3,352,475 total purse!
The 62nd Annual tournament hosted 205 boats & racked up a total of 185 releases- 144 blue marlin, 22 white marlin & 19 sailfish for a 93% release rate!
The different between 1st, 2nd & 3rd place was LESS THAN 1 POUND. PELAGIC HUNTER II was entered in Levels I, II, VI, and Outboard Level; therefore we had a 4th place blue marlin payout for Blue marlin WTA Levels III & IV!
Since there weren’t any blue marlin weighed over 500 lbs the Fabulous Fisherman’s money, Level V (which normally is awarded to the first fish over 500) went to the boat entered in Level V with the most release points. LO QUE SEA took home the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize money worth $552,500 for their whopping 2250 release points total from the week.
Introducing our 1st Place WINNERS!! PELAGIC HUNTER II becomes one of the ONLY outboards to ever WIN the Big Rock Tournament. Welcome to the winners circle! Their 495.2-pound catch earned them $206,688 in Level I + $16,575 for 1st Place in the Outboard Division, sponsored by Starling Marine | Contender Boats Inc.!
Congratulations to Adrian Holler & crew aboard SEA STRIKER! TWO-TIME Big Rock winner, SEA STRIKER, boated their blue marlin at 10:30 AM on the final day of fishing. The 495.0-pound blue marlin was caught by Jon Henry and was just 5-pounds from winning the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize money. Only 0.2 pounds separate 1st from 2nd place. Jarrett Bay Hull #23 earns a whopping $1,056,137 payout and a 2nd place finish in the 62nd Annual tournament!
Since there weren’t any blue marlin weighed over 500 lbs. the Fabulous Fisherman’s money goes to the participant entered in Level V with the most points. LO QUE SEA racked up 2250 points for the week which earns them the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize money worth $552,500 + $151,938 for 1st Place weekly release + $47,813 in Tuesday’s daily release prize money! Congratulations, crew!
MAGIC MOMENT wins Daily Release money on Day 6 for their THREE blue marlin releases. Grandfather, Dad, and Son each released a blue to help earn them $47,813 in prize money!
WALL HANGER wins Gregory Poole’s 1st of the day for Saturday after releasing a blue marlin at 8:14 AM worth $5,000. Day 6 ended with 17 blue marlins, 6 white marlin & 1 sailfish release.
CAROLINA GIRL, 54’ Hatteras, caught a 51.5 pound dolphin & AVA D was in 2nd with a 35 pound catch! There were only five game fish weighed Saturday afternoon, all of them dolphin.
The Big Rock Tournament would like to thank each of our participants, sponsors, & supporters! We recognize all winners and all weigh ins that meet tournament requirements equally, whether it’s first place or last. We are so proud to have an OUTBOARD win the tournament for the first time in OVER 30 years. It is a great show of sportsmanship! All of the crews put in A LOT of work in tough conditions. We are proud of all of our participants. Thank you ALL for following along with the tournament & TUNE IN at 1PM tomorrow for the 62nd Annual Awards Presentation!
The FIVE hour fight was worth the WEIGHT for this crew of four! PELAGIC HUNTER II, of Sneads Ferry, took the lead late this afternoon with a 495.2-pound blue marlin. The current 1st Place catch was reeled in on a 35′ Contender Outboard by angler, Riley Adkins! Just one pound separates PELAGIC HUNTER II from 2nd place catch from PREDATOR!
Jarrett Bay Hull #11, BILL COLLECTOR, weighed a 453.7-pound blue marlin after boating the second blue of the day. Captain Draughon’s catch wasn’t enough to take 3rd place, but it was enough to shake up the leaderboard for 4th place. GAME CHANGER & APRIL MAE’s blue marlin did not meet tournament minimum requirements.
Overall releases were up from yesterday- 17 blue marlins, 3 sailfish, and 5 white marlin were released (unofficially). PIRACY cashed in $5,000 after an early sailfish release for Gregory Poole’s 1st Release of the Day! Friday’s daily release earnings worth $47, 813 went to ELECTRIC BILL for their two blue marlin releases.
Day 5 1st place dolphin goes to SEA I SEA with a 34.2 pound catch by Brandon Mills for $2,000. FIN PLANNER was a close 2nd, coming in at 32.9-pounds worth $1,000. Only one wahoo was weighed; therefore, both 1st & 2nd place payouts go to CHUNDA for a 21.3 pounder.
Of the total 205 entered boats, 153 are still eligible to fish tomorrow- 52 will be fished out! The FABULOUS FISHERMAN’S Prize Money is still anyone’s game on the final day of the 62nd Annual Big Rock Tournament! TUNE IN to see who will WIN the $552,500! We start one hour earlier tomorrow- lines in at 8AM!
Visit https://www.thebigrock.com/prize-money/ for a complete list of standings & current leaderboard!
Due to forecasted offshore conditions, 11 boats chose to fish Day 4! SEA WOLF scored the ONLY release of the day! Their blue marlin release came at 1:39PM and will (unofficially) earn them the Daily Release prize money worth $47, 813 + $5,000 for the Gregory Poole 1st Release (and only) of the day! Congratulations crew!
Just three gamefish were brought in after a slow day offshore. Two of which were off of DOUBLE B- a 16.9-pounder & a 25-pound dolphin good for 1st in Daily gamefish winnings for $2,000. MARKED OFF took home 2nd place in the daily prize money cashing in $1,000!
We’re expecting action to pick back up tomorrow as most of the fleet took their two mandatory lay days Wednesday & Thursday. Listen LIVE with Randy on the radio starting with lines in at 9AM. Visit https://www.thebigrock.com/prize-money/ for a complete list of standings & current leaderboard!
Lady anglers brought plenty of action to Big Rock Landing after a slow day of fishing offshore. Although there weren’t any boated blue marlin, the 76 boats offshore managed to rack up a total of 21 billfish releases- 12 blues, 2 whites & 7 sailfish.
LO QUE SEA stays on top of the release division with 2250.0 points after releasing 2 sailfish & 1 blue marlin. MAMA WHO made out with 800 points for two blue marlin releases! Bets were on GRAND SLAM after fighting their fish for more than 6 hours before it pulled the hook! Even Junior Angler, Ty Fletcher, joined in on the fun with a blue marlin release aboard WOLVERINE! A $6,200 payout goes to CHUNDA for releasing the 62nd fish of the tournament, congratulations crew!
It was obvious the ladies came to WIN the weigh-ins this afternoon! Jean Reynolds, off ORRSMAN, won $2,000 in daily prize money for her 36.7-pound wahoo! RENEGADE’s Jeannie Mauchline was less than one pound short of the 1st place daily dolphin winnings. Her 37.1-pound dolphin was still good enough to take 2nd place in the daily division worth $1,000! Junior Angler, Kayley Rowland, also made an appearance with her 21.2-pound catch on HIGH TIME. It was WOLVERINE’s Rob Helzer who weighed the largest dolphin of the day cashing in $2,000 for a 37.9 pounder.
Sporty seas called for a calmer day on land. The leaderboard remains untouched…for now! Lines are in at 9:00 AM & the hunt for the 500-pounder is STILL ON!
Another action-packed day! Tuesday started off right away with a boated blue marlin from DANCIN’ OUTLAW! Lines were in the water less than an hour & Captain Wood and crew had already BOATED a blue! Their 470.4-pound catch landed them in 3rd place for now. Shortly after, HAMMER TIME boated a blue & brought in a 450.2-pound marlin that just missed the leaderboard.
Excitement was in the AIR when Michael Jordan’s CATCH 23 backed in with a 442.3-pound blue marlin! REEL STEEL wrapped up the afternoon with a 450-pound blue marlin caught by Marc Berzaleno. SEA FIX finally released their blue after a 6 hour fight.
The Fabulous Fisherman’s prize money, worth a whopping $552,500, is still FAIR GAME for the first fish over 500 lbs!
198 of the 205 total boats were offshore today & went to TOWN on the blue marlin releases! A total of 50 (unverified) blues were released today and more than 100 billfish have been released this week! LO QUE SEA, KWLA Winner, was on a ROLL! After taking home the Gregory Poole 1st Release of the Day with a blue marlin release worth $5,000, they went on to release TWO MORE blues- giving them a total of 1600 points going in to day 3! CHUNDA, ZEUS, and SEA I SEA also each scored 2 blue marlin releases for the day! Unofficially, MICABE’s blue marlin release at 9:48 was the 62nd release of the tournament, earning them an easy $6,200!
C-ESCAPE’s 75.2-pound wahoo, caught by Randy Britt, stole 1st place and took home $2,000 in daily prize money. SINGULARIS shook up the leaderboard with a 55.2-pound dolphin and is in the running for $395,250 in the WTA Dolphin division.
Catch up on all the coverage via our Facebook page- follow us & be the first to see all the upcoming action this week! Lines in at 9AM, TIGHT LINES!
The 62nd Annual Big Rock Tournament sets RECORD-BREAKING $3,352,475 PURSE for a fleet of 205 participating boats!
HATTER-DONE’s blue marlin came in weighing 488-pounds, just 12 lbs. short of winning $552,500 for the Fabulous Fisherman’s Level!
The fourth and final blue marlin was another close call! PREDATOR’s catch was less than 5-POUNDS from cashing in the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize money, 494.2-pounds! That leaves PREDATOR in 1st & HATTER-DONE in second for now. The race continues tomorrow with lines in at 9AM!
HOT is an understatement for the bite & the releases were on repeat today! Day 1 racked up a total of 57 billfish releases- of those 57, 46 were blue marlin releases (unofficially), 8 whites & 3 sailfish! PEGGY won $5,000 for Monday’s Gregory Poole First Release of the Day! ORRSMAN had the best day with 3 blue marlin releases. MISS PEGGY SUE II, ANN WARRICK, OUTNUMBERED and HORSE PLAY all ended with 800 points each.
TAIL GUNNER and REEL COUNTRY weighed blue marlin that did not meet the minimum tournament requirements.
GAMEFISH RECAP: PERSISTENCE took home today’s daily dolphin prize worth $2,000 for their 47.5lb. catch. A junior angler aboard SALT LICK took the 2nd Place daily prize of $1,000 after landing a 46.2lb. dolphin.
Today brought TWO wahoo winners! A 47.2 pound wahoo earned HAMMER TIME a $2,000 payday for their 1st Place catch. Another junior angler hit the scales with 16.8 pounder earning them $1,000 in daily prize money from SECOND CHANCE.
Visit here for a complete list of standings & current leaderboard!
⏤Unofficial Results⏤
LO QUE SEA is the WINNER of the 23rd Annual KWLA Tournament, presented by BB&T | Now Truist! An early blue marlin release by Mindy Fitzpatrick earned the team 400 pts, but it was Michelle Keeney’s 27.9-pound dolphin that sealed the deal! LO QUE SEA’s 1st Place win earned them $31,663 in total prize money for Level I & Level III Release WTA, sponsored by Eastern Turf Maintenance!
THE GENERAL & WELDOR’S ARK land 2nd & 3rd, respectively. THE GENERAL ended with one blue marlin release & a 19.2-pound dolphin from Katie Salter good enough for $5,483. WELDOR’S ARK fished on Saturday & collected $3,655 for one blue marlin release and 10.4-pound dolphin by Junior Angler, Gillian Ricks!
SENSATION crew caught the second TUNA of the tournament & took 1st Place with their 39.3-pound catch, worth a whopping $19,106 with rollover money! BILL COLLECTOR’s 29.7-pound tuna may have taken 2nd place, but it still landed the team a $2,436 payout.
One wahoo was brought to Big Rock Landing & it was caught by Abby Jones, aka superwoman. Abby is not only the owner of OFF SEASON, but the boat captain AND angler of their 18.3-pound catch. 1st Place wahoo paid out $3,655!
CARTERICAN held onto 1st Place dolphin AND Level II Dolphin WTA with their 30.9-pound mahi cashing in a total $28,730! TACKLE BOX finished 2nd with a 28.3-pound dolphin and $2,436 pay day.
12 billfish were released over the course of the weekend- 5 (unverified) blue marlin, 2 white marlin, and 5 sailfish. Gamefish were HOT with 20 dolphin, 2 tuna & 1 wahoo!
Official tournament results will be announced once all fish have been verified.
Below is the recap of the 2020 virtual Big Rock Captain’s Meeting hosted Saturday, June 6th at 7pm via Facebook. Questions? Please contact Crystal Hesmer (252) 241-1515
