Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament 2008 Day 2: "Hit the Brakes"

After what was one of the most action packed opening days in Big Rock's 50 year history, day 2 shaped up to be exciting. A fleet of 118 boats took a shot at finding a big blue to beat out the 640-pound gift that Artemis brought to the dock late last night. The Artemis was at the dock today along with the Melina and Tuna Trappe III. With the top three boats taking a lay day the shot was there for someone to step to the scales and get in the money.

One boat that didn't lay over today and put it to good work was the Tiger Runner who stayed consistent with a blue released each day to even up with Buck Wilde in the overall release points. The daily release winner was Southern Exposure who released one blue marlin but did it first to take the prize along with first billfish of the day money. Diamond Girl took second place honors in the release category with a blue released while the Buck Wilde and Release weren't able to tally any points. The Buck Wilde remains in first place, with 800 points from yesterday, while the Release dropped to third with 525 points.

The day got off to a slow but steady pace with 5 boats getting hooked up in the first hour and forty-five minutes. The Southern Exposure released the first blue, followed by the Diamond Girl and Tiger Runner while Phat Mann and Fight-N-Lady pulled off of fish. Lost fish would be a big factor all day with the fleet averaging a 50-50 ratio at day's end.

Lunch time was busy again but came a little earlier today. At 10:46 the Peggy hooked up with a blue marlin and were followed soon afterwards by the Barbara B. Both boats worked hard on these fish and were tied up for over an hour each. In the next hour and a half the fish ripped outrigger clips all over and 10 more boats were bitten. Unfortunately for more than half, only 3 blue marlin and 1 sailfish were landed while 6 fish jumped to freedom. Total for the midday bite was 6 for 12 with the Peggy, Barbara B., Energizer, Reel Heel II, Bac-In-Five, releasing blues and the Penta Gone releasing a sail.

There were seven more bites between 12:30 and 2:30 but even batting .500 proved to be tough and only three releases were checked in. The first was from Let It Ride with a white marlin, then almost an hour before the Celebration released a blue and the Carolina Gentleman matched the catch. In the last minutes of fishing for the day both the Betts and Sea Hag raised fish and came tight bringing back memories of the two late day bites that set up the leader board yesterday. IT wasn't a day for repeats though; the Sea Hag released a white marlin at 3:01 and the Betts pulled the hook minutes later, ending the hopes for a weighable billfish on Tuesday.

It was left to the gamefish category to provide the shoreside entertainment for Day 2 and a couple of nice fish took the stage and reset the standings. The dolphin category got a complete makeover as two fish came in to top the Builder's Choice lead with 42.5 pounds. When the dust settled it was the Reel Deal with a 51.45-pound dolphin that sat atop the division, while the Razorback Express hammered out a 47.4-pound fish to push into second place for the day and overall. In the wahoo category it was the Galot 3 who had a 73.15-pound hoo to take the lead while Ya Mamma one at 54.8 pounds for second place on the day but third place overall behind the Sensation. The 36.15-pound dolphin by the Sea Toy still leads the junior division with Watson Caviness the angler. No tuna were brought to the scale so that category stands wide open going into day three.

The total for the day was 10 blue marlin, 2 white marlin and 1 sailfish released out of 26 hook-ups that were checked in. The top three remain the Artemis with 640 pounds, Melina with 555.5 and Tuna Trappe III with 537 pounds. There have been a total of 37 billfish turned loose so the 50th release prize may come up for grabs on Wednesday. The weather is forecasted for light southwest winds and sun with isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon so it should be another good day with plenty of boats trolling the grounds.

Next page - Big Rock 2008 Day 1 Recap: "High Fives All Around"