By Bryan Rose

Photos Courtesy www.thebigrock.com

Friday morning at the Big Rock it looked like things might get crazy for the tournament leaders as the day started out with boats all over hooking up just after the lines in call came. In total there were 15 bites that came tight in the first half hour of the day's fishing though of those, only six blue marlin and one white were released while the rest of the fish came loose on their own. The first of the billfish released came from the Pipe Layer who had a blue for the prize money.

The bite kept its outstanding pace through the next hour with almost half of the day's hook-ups being tallied quickly. No fish were big enough to be brought to the scale and challenge the leaders but a few boats that had built a good foundation in the release points were after the lead that the Tiger Runner II had built up. The first to get in on the action was the Buckwild, they stood in fourth on the release points but soon grabbed a blue to come even with the Blue Water who had worked into third.

The Trophy was the next boat to grab some points to chase after the release points prize money. After a smoking hot Thursday that saw them release three blues and a sail, they held second place in the points on a day's catch. It was no surprise to see them tally a blue marlin release and draw closer to the Tiger Runner. The Trophy also got some spending cash from the daily release category for a second day as they went on and released a second blue at 1:30. The second billfish though was not enough to beat out the leader as while they were tied in points the Tiger Runner had them on time, leaving them with little time to add more to their score. The Buckwild closed day five with a second blue of their own, putting them solidly into third in the overall release points and second on the day.

The bite really died out through the afternoon and while the morning had seen as many as nine boats fighting fish at one time, the afternoon saw the fleet struggle to come tight with anything. No big billfish were close enough for anyone to take and the field showed great conservation as all of them were set loose to fight another day. It meant that for another day the Artemis' 640-pound blue was safely in first and the top three wouldn't see any surprises on Friday the 13th. In total for the event 101 blue marlin have been released along with 28 whites and 18 sailfish.

Gamefish saw the value of a tuna in the Big Rock rise over the $20,000 mark as none were weighed for a fifth straight day and all the money was left for someone to snatch up on Saturday. The wahoo leaders also didn't change on the board as the Southern Exposure brought a nice torpedo to the scale that fell short at 62.2 pounds but took the day's money. The Gypsy Angler brought in a 37-pound wahoo for second place on the day. The dolphin category was a different story than the static list that saw the other leading weights remain the same. The Obsession brought a 56.5-pound fish to the scale to beat out the Reel Deal for the week, and was followed up by the Bak Bar who brought in a 54.65-pound dolphin.

The final day leaves the release points prize up to the Blue Water, short of a powerful performance by a boat not tending a pile of points themselves already. The Tiger Runner, Trophy and Buckwild are all done with their fishing days and only the Blue Water is left to strike. It will take a pair of billfish which includes a blue marlin if they want to climb up the ladder and bump the Buckwild out of the points.

The top two Boats overall, the Artemis and the Melina still have a day remaining to fish and defend their lead though the Lady Lou V has finished with their action. While it has been a fairly comfortable week for them holding the top two spots down and they've yet to be challenged, there are a number of past winners and crews that have pulled off last day heroics. The guys on the Artemis have insisted that there are bigger fish out there that could challenge them at the scales and it's left to five hours of fishing to see if they can hold onto that check for $708,400.