Big Rock 2008 Day 1 Recap: "High Fives All Around"
Day one of the 50th Anniversary Big Rock Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament started off the week with lots of action and some impressive weigh-ins. With good, if hot, weather 169 of the 176 boats headed out to fish on the opening day and with the large fleet there was plenty of action with a number of releases keeping the tournament staff busy and a total of five blues hitting the scales. The tournament has a new record of over 1.8 million dollars up for grabs and most of the best crews on the Atlantic coast chasing it.
The first call of the day came just after the 9 a.m. lines in time. The Reel Deal released the first sailfish of the day and the tournament at 9:08 chalking up $2000 for the first billfish release. The hook-up calls kept coming in the first hour of fishing as 9 boats managed to find early bites and six billfish were released. The total for the first hour was four blue marlin and two sailfish released with the first fish yet to be boated.
The rest of the morning saw action come at a steady pace, but around 11:30 it seemed like someone rang the lunch bell and the marlin came calling. There were 14 boats that hooked up between 11:30 and 1 and the first three blue marlin boated would all come during this run. Eight other blues were released in the hour and a half, along with a pair of white marlin. The first to boat a blue was the returning favorite, Phat Mann who would scale out at a solid 463-pound weight and points for turning loose another blue earlier in the day. The Sizzler also boated one of the first blues to hit the scales during this period, after pulling the hook on an earlier bite. They hooked up and landed their 458.5-pound blue marlin within moments of Phat Mann's catch and were second to weigh in.
The third bite of the midday action was aboard the Tuna Trappe III and would turn out to be a valuable fish. The crew fought the blue for almost an hour before boating the 537-pound fish. It wouldn't be enough for the win, but it was the first 500-pound marlin to hit the dock and took home the Fabulous Fisherman prize worth $386,750- a respectable check.
The early afternoon had things go back to a pick and possibly some bigger fish being hooked as the catch ratio dropped off with three blue marlin and one sailfish being released out of eight hook-ups between 1 and 2 p.m. As the final hour ticked off the clock it seemed as if the water went cold, with only a couple of bites getting called in but the last 15 minutes had some red hot action to beat out the whistle.
With moments left several boats raised fish and 3 boats came tight. When the lines out call came at 3 p.m. two boats had blue marlin on the line while the crew on the Pig Rig had made quick work of releasing their fish. Both of the fish would turn out to be trouble as the clock ticked on and the rest of the fleet listened to the Artemis and Melina give periodic updates on long fights. It was another hour and a half before the Melina was able to boat their fish and start heading for the scales, as the Artemis kept working a stalemate with what the radio chatter sounded like a nice fish.
While the world waited and listened for word from the Artemis and a weight on the Melina's fish, the gamefish started pouring in from the boats who couldn't find a billfish worth boating on day one. Builder's Choice set the mark early in the dolphin category with a 42.5 pound chunk of green gold, while soon after the Sea Toy added a 36.15-pound version for second place honors. In the wahoo category it was the Sensation that brought in the biggest torpedo, a 59.05-pound specimen. The Magic Moment weighed a 51.05-pound wahoo early in the gamefish weigh-ins and held onto the second spot after the fleet was done weighing fish. The big surprise in the gamefish rolls was an absence of tuna with none being weighed in though a long week of fishing remains and there are sure to be some nice ones to hit the scales soon.
The Artemis kept battling their fish and finally at almost 6:30 they finally got the upper hand and put the blue marlin on deck. At 7:15 the Tuna Trappe III came to the scales with their blue marlin and hopes to be the first to top the 500-pound mark. The crowd watched eagerly as the best fish seen so far was hoisted onto the scale and the crew found that five might be their lucky number as the fish scaled out at 555.5 pounds. The last fish left was aboard the Artemis and a distance from the docks yet.
The first ETA from the Artemis came in at 9:30 but the crowd continued to wait as 9:30 and then 10 passed. The mystery grew as the Artemis backed to the scales at 10:30 p.m., long after sunset let alone the day's beginning. A large crowd looked on as the lights were turned towards the scale and a big blue marlin was hauled from the cockpit. The moment the weight was read the crew of the Artemis celebrated loudly as the 640-pound fish paced the field and the rest of the week's fishing.
At the end of Day 1 the Artemis stands in first with the 640-pound fish, the Melina is in second with their 555.5-pound fish and Tuna Trappe III are the big winners for the first round and have third place with 537 pounds. In the release points it was the Buck Wilde that bested the field by releasing two blues for 800 points, the appropriately named Release stood in second with 525 points received for letting a blue and a sail off the hook. There were five blue marlin weighed in for the day, with another 16 released along with 6 sailfish and 2 whites.
Tuesday's weather looks to be a carbon copy of Day 1 with hot temps and a moderate southwest wind. Expect the most if not all of fleet to be fishing hard as it looks to be another one of the best days to fish. The 640-pound late night gift from the Artemis will be hard to beat but this early in the week anything is possible. Stay tuned for daily updates here on Sportfishermen.com and go to www.thebigrock.com to get the live web cams or audio feeds.
