Fishing tournament attracts anglers dreaming of big fish and big money
Big Rock is a Big Deal
BY GABRIELLA DIONISIO
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ONG BEFORE the Big Rock Fishing Tournament generated
enough revenue to distribute millions of dollars
in prize money and charitable donations, before it
became big enough to attract almost 200 partici-pants
each year, and before it generated enough
interest to create a women’s league, there was just a small band of
fishermen determined to prove it was possible to catch sailfish in the
waters off Morehead City.
Flash back to the 1950s, when it was virtually unheard of for an
angler to hook a blue marlin anywhere other than the warm waters
of the Gulf of Mexico. Fishermen had operated off the Carolina coast
for centuries, but few had ever experienced the thrill of reeling in
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a billfish, which on average weighs between 200-400 pounds and
can reach up to 11 feet. While many scoffed at the possibility of ever
witnessing a marlin, let alone catching one, a handful of cargo sailors
coming into the Port of Morehead City said they had seen them near
the shore.
Most anglers wrote it off as a fish tale. But a few optimistic mem-bers
of Morehead City’s Fabulous Fishermen Club held on to the pos-sibility
that somewhere out there, a blue marlin could be found.
These old salts often swapped stories over coffee at a local dive.
One of their frequent conversation topics was whether there was truth
to the sailors’ stories. It was over one of these get-togethers that the
Big Rock tournament was born.
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Below: The Big Rock Tournament attracts hundreds of fishermen and visitors to the docks of Morehead City. This year’s event is scheduled for
June 8-16. Right: One of seven blue marlins weighed at the 2017 tournament.
MARK MONTACHIO