Category: News

It’s official – the 61^stannual Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament has become a one-day shootout.

The Big Rock went full swing Friday as 172-of-184 boats headed offshore one day after 183 boats stayed in port. While it was nice onshore, conditions in the fishing zone were rough until the final two hours of the day.

Dropped Call, captained by Junior Johnson, Newport, boated the only blue marlin of the day and then experienced engine trouble on the way back to port. Dropped Call’s blue marlin, reeled in by Jason Wright, Wilmington, Del., tipped the scales at 524.7 pounds. Dropped Call’s catch was a disconnect from the leaderboard, coming up 21 pounds short of what was needed to dial up a spot in the standings.

That means the tournament heads into the final day with no blue marlin leaderboard changes since Monday. Wolverine captain Rocky Hardison, Beaufort, maintained his lead with the 588.9-pound blue marlin reeled Monday by angler Cory Ziegler. Donna Mae, captained by Joe Webb, Anna Maria Island, Fla., holds second place with a 569.9-pound blue marlin hauled in by angler James Luihn.

Sweetums captain Pete Rae, Plano, Tx., led the 61^stBig Rock initially with a 545.1-pound blue marlin caught by Scott DeWolf. Sweetums captured the Level V Fabulous Fishermen prize of $531,250 for being the first boat to land a blue marlin that weighed at least 500 pounds.

Anglers tallied 12 blue marlin, nine white marlin and two sailfish releases Friday. For a while, it looked as if several boats might bring blue marlin catches to the scales.

Mama Love and 18 Reeler took their fights to overtime. After a five-hour battle, there was no love for Mama Love as its fish got away. Competitors on the 18-Reeler trucked back to port empty handed, too, after suffering a pulled hook that brought an end to a 50-minute fight.

Two Big Rock Big Hero (BRBH) anglers were honored Friday when they arrived at the scales to weigh the dolphins they caught offshore. Lt. Col. Scott White, US Army, who has served 20+ years, reeled in a 7.7-pound dolphin aboard Builder’s Choice. Staff Sgt. Dean Smith, U.S. Army, who has served 12 years, caught an 18.0-pound dolphin on the El Cazadore.

BRBH anglers are nominated, vetted and selected for the program. BRBH anglers are provided with an experience of a lifetime after giving so much to this country.

 Big Rock artist Steve Goione created special artwork to commemorate the eight BRBH anglers chosen to fish in this year’s Big Rock. The crowd at the weight station cheered both BRBH anglers as they received the Goione’s artwork and other gifts proved by Big Rock, Salt Life and other tournament sponsors.  

 The 61^stBig Rock has been hard to figure out. A midweek storm played havoc with the fishing zone, but perfect offshore conditions are projected to be back Saturday. The bite was consistent Friday despite the rough conditions. It’s a sign that predatory fish are on the feed.

The wildest catch of the day was a 145.1-pound tuna, believed to be the largest tuna ever caught during a Big Rock competition. Predator angler Wayne Wray and captain Chris Barnett, Frisco, teamed to reel in the huge gamefish after a 15-minute fight. Wray’s catch was just the third tuna caught in the last four Big Rocks.

Through Friday, there have been 67 blue marlin, 35 white marlin and 16 sailfish releases tallied during the Big Rock. Doc Fees, captained by Taylor Pleasant, Wilmington, and his crew scored the 61^strelease of the 61^stBig Rock to win the tournament’s special $6,100 prize.

During Thursday fishing hours, no boat qualified for the Level VIII Daily Release Winner Take All (WTA) Thursday prize of $47,104. All that money rolled to the other days, increasing the daily release WTA payout to $56,525.

Fishing continues Saturday with 182-of-184 boats eligible to fish the final day. Competitors are allowed to fish four-of-six days and only one boat is fished out entering the final six hours of fishing.Fishing hours Saturday are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

Paved For captain Jason Daniels, Clayton, turned the 61stBig Rock Blue Marlin Tournament into a solo act Thursday when he elected to be the only competitor to go offshore. Even though 183-of-184 boats took 1-of-2 mandatory lay days, Daniels liked his chances.

Daniels entered Paved For in the mandatory Level I and optional Level IX (Outboard) portions of the tournament. If Daniels could catch two dolphins on this “no-opposition” day, he would have won all but $500 of his entry fees. If Daniels managed to catch and release a billfish, the Paved For team would be money ahead.

Daniels finally got a hook-up minutes before the 3 p.m. deadline. Unfortunately for Paved For, that fish got away.

Three days earlier, when the tournament began, seven blue marlin were landed and five of those spent time on the Monday leaderboard. Since then, there have been no changes to the blue marlin division.

But that is projected to change. Weather conditions are forecasted to improve Friday and be perfect Saturday. That sets up a late tournament shoot-out since all but 14 boats can fish both days.

Wolverine captain Rocky Hardison, Beaufort, maintained his lead through Thursday with the 588.9-pound blue marlin that was reeled Monday by angler Cory Ziegler. Donna Mae, captained by Joe Webb, Anna Maria Island, Fla., holds second place with a 569.9-pound blue marlin hauled in by angler James Luihn.

Sweetums captain Pete Rae, Plano, Tx., led the 61^stBig Rock initially with a 545.1-pound blue marlin caught by Scott DeWolf. Sweetums captured the Level V Fabulous Fishermen prize of $531,250 for being the first boat to land a blue marlin that weighed at least 500 pounds.

Sea Striker and Fender Bender brought blue marlins to the scales Tuesday but both catches missed making the leaderboard. Sea Striker’s blue marlin tipped the scales at 500.2 pounds. Fender Bender’s blue marlin finished a bit higher at 504.8 pounds.

Even though this year’s leaderboard features large blue marlins, recent history suggests larger fish are still out there. In 2014, Inspiration won the 56^thBig Rock with a 754.3-pound blue marlin. In 2015, Viking 62 scored a victory in the 57^thBig Rock with a 680-pound blue marlin.

In 2016, the Ashley Lauren followed up a win at the 19^thKeli Wagner Lady Angler tournament with a victory in the 58^thBig Rock. Ashley Lauren “doubled up” when that fishing team landed a 621.4-pound blue marlin. 

Through Thursday, there have been 55 blue marlin, 26 white marlin and 14 sailfish releases tallied during the Big Rock. Doc Fees, captained by Taylor Pleasant, Wilmington, and his crew scored the 61^strelease of the 61^stBig Rock to win the special prize of $6,100 for that accomplishment.

Fishing continues Friday morning at 9 a.m. Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish.

Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

Long before he became “The Voice of the Big Rock,” board member Randy Ramsey was a tournament captain, preparing his charter boat for the start of competition.

Then Ramsey got the phone call he dreaded most. Ramsey was asked to take a news reporter offshore on the opening day of the 34^thBig Rock.

While history did not capture Ramsey’s unsuccessful argument against hosting the reporter, what follows next is the account of what actually happened that sunny day in June …

Randy Ramsey, captain of the charter boat Sensation, out of Harkers Island, was steering his way through the slough at Cape Lookout shoals when a fog came out of nowhere. It was just a few hours before the start of the 1992 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. It was no time to run aground on the shallow shoals.

But limited visibility hardly bothered the seasoned captain, fishing in his 11th Big Rock tourney, as he guided his 52-foot custom-built Jarrett Bay craft through the narrow passage.

“That’s the slough,” Ramsey said as the fog lifted and his boat cleared the last of the shoals. It was a tone of voice reserved for rookies (this reporter) who had never made the passage out into blue marlin waters.

Below deck, a trio of anglers from Benson, Bobby “Roho” Barefoot, Donnie Dean McLamb and John Allen made the best of the 90-minute ride offshore. They ate, slept and smoked cigars, in that order. The smoke got so thick in the flying bridge that Ramsey put the boat on auto pilot and headed down the ladder.

“Sure … and leave me with the smoke,” Curtis Pearson, owner of the Bert’s Surf Shop chain, said to Ramsey after he came back to the bridge.

“You could have gone below,” Ramsey retorted. “We all could have. The boat knows the way by itself.”

That might have been stretching things a bit, but the boat sure knew what to do once it got on station. At 9 a.m., when the 1992 Big Rock got under way, Pearson and Sensation mate Joey Johnson quickly got all the lines set on the spreaders and into the water. Ramsey began a systematic pattern of trolling for a blue marlin. The time for joking was over.

… Except for the “Benson boys,” who continued to eat, sleep and smoke cigars. For them it was a day at the beach, in a manner of speaking. The only thing missing was the sand.

But all that changed when Ramsey put the lines over a hungry blue marlin. The centrally stationed Penn Reel began to sing out, and the entire crew sprang into action. Johnson and Pearson wound in the other reels while Barefoot was strapped into the chair. Even this reporter helped out by falling down the ladder to get out of the way. It was 10:15 a.m.

Ramsey backed the boat down and “Roho” cranked the fish up. Soon the leader was in sight … then the fish.

The blue marlin, which was judged to be 250 pounds, was tagged and released by Pierson and Johnson after a 15-minute fight. A brief round of congratulations swept through the boat, but there wasn’t much time to waste on that. Lines were re-threaded on the spreaders and the boat got back to trolling. It was tournament time. Hearts would beat hard for a while in a personal celebration of the catch.

But they pumped up to full speed again at 2:30 p.m., when Ramsey once again got a marlin to go after his bait. This time, McLamb got a turn in the chair and reeled in an estimated 200-pounder for the tag in less than 20 minutes. The crew tried, without success, to hook up a third fish in the nine minutes left before the 3 p.m. deadline. Still, they agreed it had been a most successful day.

“This was the best day I’ve had in 11 years,” Ramsey said, smiling. “You just don’t know how special this day has been. They say the odds of hooking a blue marlin are 1 in 22 trips. What happened today was extra special.”

Barefoot, a commercial catfish farmer whose right hand was swollen twice normal size from a bout with poisonous catfish spines, agreed. “I haven’t been able to do anything with this hand for a week,” he said. “I was so excited when we hooked up the fish I didn’t even feel the pain while I was cranking.”

The “Benson boys” and crew of the Sensation made port at Calico Jack’s on Harkers Island and prepared for the next day of fishing. Johnson cleaned the boat and prepared bait. Ramsey arranged for the fuel. Allen smoked another cigar.

The cigar smoke wasn’t quite as thick as the fog at the beginning of the trip, but it filled the air. Still … nobody seemed to mind after such a great day of fishing.

Hooking up two blue marlins in one day has a way of making everything else seem unimportant.

Author’s note: The reporter who went offshore that day has been to every Big Rock since. Big Rock competition gets in your blood. At least that’s what happened to me.

When the first half of the 61^stBig Rock Blue Marlin Tournament came to an end Wednesday, competitors were equally concerned with what had already happened as with what lay ahead.

When the tournament began Monday, seven blue marlins were landed and five of those spent time on the leaderboard. Since Monday, there have been no changes to the blue marlin division and Thursday looks like a lay day since high winds are building offshore.

Wolverine, captained by Rocky Hardison, Beaufort, maintained its lead halfway through the tourney with a 588.9-pound blue marlin that was landed Monday by angler Cory Ziegler. Donna Mae, captain Joe Webb, Anna Maria Island, Fla., holds down second place with a 569.9-pound blue marlin reeled in by angler James Luihn.

Sweetums captain Pete Rae, Plano, Tx., led the tournament initially with a 545.1-pound blue marlin caught by Scott DeWolf. Sweetums captured the Level V Fabulous Fishermen prize of $531,250 for being the first boat to land a 500-pounder in the tournament.

Sea Striker and Fender Bender brought blue marlins to the scales Tuesday but both catches missed making the leaderboard. Sea Striker was looking for its third Big Rock win but its blue marlin topped out at 500.2 pounds. Fender Bender’s blue marlin weighed 504.8

Even though this year’s leaders are not as big as winners in previous years, anglers are worried that it might hang on to win. Boat crews from 147-of-184 boats stayed in port Wednesday and a similar number are expected to follow suit Thursday. That means most of the fishing teams will have burned up both of their two required lay days and must fish out if they hope to win.

A storm system is expected to blow 15-to-25 knots throughout the day Thursday in the Big Rock fishing zone but much better weather is expected after that. The first two days of the competition were near perfect but nothing is certain for the next 72 hours.

Anglers managed to release only three blue marlin, two white marlin and one sailfish Wednesday. Annie O, captained by Brad Sutton, Raleigh, scored the first release of the day to win the $5,000 Gregory Poole first release prize.

Starflite, captained by Joey Johnson, Harkers Island, won the $47,104 Level VIII Daily release prize for the boat’s blue marlin release.  Full Pull won the $47,104 prize Monday with two blue marlin releases. Drillin & Billin won the $47,104 prize Tuesday with three blue marlin releases.

So far, there have been 55 blue marlin, 26 white marlin and 14 sailfish releases tallied during the competition.

Big Rock officials confirmed the winner of the $6,100 special release prize for the 61^st release of the tournament. After reviewing all data, Doc Fees, captain Taylor Pleasant, Wilmington, and his crew made the timely release.

Fishing continues Thursday morning at 9 a.m. Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish.Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

While Big Rock competitors don’t normally target gamefish (dolphin, tuna and wahoo) they know a bycatch of these species can sometimes mean a boatload of money.

Gamefish division prizes have grown bigger every year. This year, a record $361,250 winner-take-all (WTA) prize is up for grabs for any boat that happens to catch the largest dolphin.

Job Site captain Bill Farrior, Farmville, and junior angler Michael Cripe reeled in a 53.7-pound dolphin to take the first-day lead in the WTA dolphin category. Job Site locked up the Monday dolphin daily prize of $2,000, and maintained the overall dolphin lead through end of fishing Tuesday. Carterican, with a 32.4-pound dolphin, captured the Tuesday $2,000 daily dolphin prize.

Bill Collector captain Stephen Draughon, Morehead City, and his crew landed the first wahoo of the Big Rock Tuesday. Bill Collector junior angler Will Hanley reeled in the 56.5-pounder to win the $2,000 daily prize. 

For the second straight day, no tuna catches were brought to the scales.Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish. Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any billfish fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

The 61^stBig Rock Blue Marlin Tournament changed gears Tuesday, producing 49 billfish releases but no big changes to the overall standings.

Competitors brought just two blue marlins to the scales during the Big Rock’s second day. Just 24 hours earlier, seven blue marlins were boated and the three biggest catches set a high bar in the standings for the remainder of the competition.

Wolverine captain Rocky Hardison, Beaufort, is in first place with a 588.9-pound blue marlin landed Monday by angler Cory Ziegler. Ziegler’s catch bumped Sweetums, the tournament’s inaugural leader, to second place.

Sweetum captain Pete Rae of Plano, Tx., arrived at the scales with a 545.1-pound blue marlin to win the Level V Fabulous Fishermen prize of $531,250. Sweetums angler Scott DeWolfe, Plano, TX, reeled in his catch in 44 minutes.

Sweetums was later bumped to third place when Donna Mae captain Joe Webb, Anna Maria Island, FL, and angler James Luihn, Vero Beach, FL., arrived at the weigh station. Luihn’s blue marlin tipped the scales at 569.9-pounds.

These three teams were understandably unnerved Tuesday afternoon when it was announced that Sea Striker had boated a blue marlin. Boat owner Adrian Holler, Morehead City, won the Big Rock in 1995 and 2001. Holler finished second in the Big Rock in 1986 when his 603-pounder was topped by a 608.5-pound blue marlin.

This by itself is enough to make a competitor’s skin leak … but there’s more.

Sea Striker’s angler Christian Bedsworth, Pine Knoll Shores, has more wins in his family than Holler. Bedsworth is the grandson of “Little George” Bedsworth, who won the Big Rock four times back when the tournament went by another name.

The remainder of the Sea Striker crew is a “Who’s Who” of fishing. Captain Pete Zook, Morehead City, comes from three generations of boat captains. Vince Johnson, Morehead City, won the Big Rock as an angler. Keith Henry, Atlantic Beach, captained the Miss Judy to an NC Governor’s Cup award.

If ever there was an all-star fishing team, this was it.

But the Monday Big Rock leaders dodged a bullet when Sea Striker’s catch topped out at 500.2 pounds. The Sea Striker had a big catch … but it wasn’t quite enough. 

“The calculations showed (our fish was) a little bit bigger,” Holler said after the weight was announced. “We had to take that chance (to forego 400 release points.)”

Fender Bender angler Greg Fulcher, Newport News, Va., landed the only other blue marlin during the second day of the 61^stBig Rock. Fender Bender captain Carl Beale, Hampton, Va., and Fulcher teamed to bring in a 504.8-pounder … which was big enough to finish in the money last year … but not this year.

Releases dominated the second day as 161-of-184 boats battled 36 blue marlins, seven white marlins and six sailfish. So far, 51 blue marlin, 23 white marlin and 12 sailfish have been released.

Big Rock officials determined the winner of the $6,100 special release prize for the 61^st release of the tournament. After confirming all data, Doc Fees, captain Taylor Pleasant, Wilmington, and his crew made the timely release.

Fishing continues Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. Competitors in the 61^stBig Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish.

Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

The lady anglers were dressed to the nines last night for the Best Dressed Contest at the KWLA event, sponsored by Linda Rike Real Estate. A great job to all the teams who participated- the creativity and team spirit never ceases to amaze us! Congratulations to our 6 winners & thank you to everyone who participated!

Best Dressed Contest & prize bags sponsored by Posh Pelican. Congratulations to our winners!

A special thanks to our BDC volunteer judges from Carteret Health Care.

 

 

 

 

Even though competitors in the 61^stannual Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament hope to catch a winning blue marlin, a record $361,250 winner-take-all (WTA) dolphin prize is up for grabs for any boat that happens to catch the largest fish of that species.

Gamefish (dolphin, tuna and wahoo) division prizes at the Big Rock have grown bigger every year. While Big Rock competitors don’t normally target gamefish, they know a bycatch of these three categories can mean a boatload of money. 

Job Site captain Bill Farrior, Farmville, found that out Monday when junior angler Michael Cripe, reeled in a 53.7-pound dolphin to take the first-day lead in the WTA dolphin category. Job Site locked up the dolphin daily prize of $2,000, but hopes for much more.

No tuna or wahoo were brought to the scales Monday.

Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish. Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

While blue marlin weigh-ins drew the lion’s share of media attention Monday during the first day of the 61st annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, billfish releases and large dolphin catches delivered great paydays for several competing crews.

Big Rock anglers released 18 blue marlin, 15 white marlin and six sailfish during the opener. String Line captain Mark Schlenker, Garner, started things off by winning the $5,000 Gregory Poole first release prize. String Line’s white marlin release put the boat temporarily in the lead for daily and overall release prizes.

Competitors are battling for $284,750 weekly release prize money and $282,625 in daily release prizes. Full Pull, captained by Ryan Riggs, North Charleston, SC, won the first daily prize of $47,104 for two blue marlin releases (800 points) scored Monday. That put Ryan in position to win an additional $142,375 first place weekly release prize if he can keep Full Pull in the overall release lead through Saturday.

Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish. Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.

Wolverine captain Rocky Hardison, Beaufort, showed a flair for the dramatic Monday, upstaging a boat that had just won $531,250 on the first day of the 61st annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.

Hardison and angler Cory Zeigler arrived at the scales with a 588.9-pound blue marlin to take over first place from Sweetum, the tournament’s inaugural leader. Sweetum captain Pete Rae, a former Morehead City resident, got a Texas-sized welcome Monday when he brought a 545.1-pounder to the weigh station at 1:10 p.m. Unfortunately for Rae, his lead held for less than five hours.

Hardison, who was the winning mate at the 38th Big Rock in 1996, knew he had a big fish on as soon as he saw it.

“We had a pretty good idea about what it was going to weigh,” said Hardison. “Basically there was just a big swirl behind the long rigger and as soon as it came tight the white water flew. The fish jumped one time and we knew it was going to be a real one. It was pretty well on from then.”

Zeigler fought his catch for 65 minutes before heading to the scales.

Rae, who now runs a charter boat out of Plano, TX, was cheered by his former hometown crowd when the weight of his fish was announced. Rae and angler Scott DeWolf, Plano, TX, put the Sweet crew in position to win the Level V Fabulous Fishermen prize worth $531,250 after three run-outs and a successful 44-minute fight.

“It’s a great Monday,” said DeWolf. “We have to wait and see what happens … but so far, it’s great.”

DeWolf alluded to an unusual situation where the first boated blue marlin was still not at the scales. The Post Call, captained by Gene Ward, Morehead City, landed a blue marlin four minutes before Sweetum. Post Call had fished further offshore and needed more time to run to port. All the Sweetum crew could do was sit and wait.

When Post Call’s catch topped out at 451.4 pounds a second celebration began at the Morehead City Yacht Basin where the Sweetum was docked. Big Rock officials called the Sweetum crew to come back and get their check. Post Call’s catch was good enough to take second place in the overall standings but it left Sweetum with the check for $531,250 and a shot at $1,324,438 if it could hold onto first place.

Post Call’s misfortune was compounded 50 minutes later when Top Dog showed up at the scales with a 464.9-pound blue marlin reeled in by angler Kyle Dickerson of Laytonsville, MD. Top Dog didn’t become the top dog, but it took over second place and bumped Post Call to third.

Unfortunately for the Post Call crew, their slide would continue. Piracy, captained by Chris Russell, Morehead City, showed up at the weigh station with a 461.4-pound blue marlin reeled in by C.J. Struyk, Newport. That was the last call for Post Call as Piracy took over third place.

Piracy had been on a tear lately, catching the largest blue marlin at the Hatteras Invitational three weeks ago. But Piracy got bumped off the leaderboard by Wolverine. It was the second time in three years Piracy found a place on the Big Rock leader board only to get knocked off.

Dona Mae caused the final shuffle of the afternoon, taking over second place with a 569.9-pound blue marlin. Dona Mae captain Joe Webb, Anna Maria Island, FL, and angler James Luihn, Vero Beach, FL., teamed to put their team in position to win $289,863.

The Big Rock weigh station went is through its version of overtime, waiting for two other boats to arrive. Big Tahuna arrived at 8:30 p.m. with a 482.3-pound blue marlin that did not make the leader board. Shenandoah failed to boat its blue marlin after a seven-hour fight and will battle the rest of the tournament with a 400-point penalty on any billfish release total and a 400-pound penalty on any future boated blue marlin.

The last time the Big Rock experienced a day like this was 2003 when seven blue marlins were boated and five different boats took a turn atop the leader board. That year Pipe Layer showed up at the scales unannounced at 10 p.m. with the winning catch.

Competitors in the 61st Big Rock are allowed to fish four-of-six days and must notify officials of the days they do not intend to fish. Fishing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except Saturday when the fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any fight that starts before the end-of-day deadline can continue until the hook-up reaches a resolution.