Big Rock 2008
This year marked the 50th year of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament (which holds primary responsibility for turning the Crystal Coast into the world-class sport fishing destination it’s become), and as though trying to aid in the celebration of the event’s gold anniversary, the Atlantic Ocean surrendered some world class billfishing over the week of June 7-14. The 177 boats participating in the tournament released 163 billfish, including 110 blue marlin, over the event’s six fishing days, and six blues were brought to the scales to compete for the event’s largest prize.
One of the blues weighed in was a standout, however-the 640 lb. fish brought to the scales by the crew of the Charleston, SC-based “Artemis,” run by Capt. David “Bucky” Copleston.
Taking the top spot on the leaderboard on Monday, the tournament’s first fishing day, the crew had to watch the other teams try to best their fish for five days before being crowned the event’s big winners and taking home the massive $708,400 first place check.
Deciding to make a long run up the beach to some good-looking water on the tournament’s first fishing day, the “Artemis” crew of Copleston, John Darby, JC Darby, Mike Provo, Chris Wrenn, Tony Chimento, and Darryl Reyna, fishing aboard a 50′ Sea Island Express, joined a number of boats trolling around the 850 Line off Ocracoke on Monday morning.
“There were a lot of rips up there,” Copleston reported. “We also watched a lot of boats catch fish around us and had a fish miss a bite in the morning.”
Sticking with the high activity area through the afternoon, the “Artemis” hooked up with the 50th Big Rock winner near the end of the fishing day. Copleston explained, “The temperature breaks we saw had pushed together by afternoon. I think we hooked that fish at 2:45.”
A Makaira Brutus lure with a pearl head and black/orange skirt trolled short tempted the big marlin, and Reyna began fighting the fish and earning a spot in the history books after the bite.
Beginning the fight in typical fashion with a few jumps, the marlin settled into a deep up-and-down struggle with Reyna as the battle’s first hour passed.
“That fish was a little bit stronger than usual,” Copleston said. “She dug deep and stayed there for two hours.”
Seeing the fish during the bite and the initial jumps, the crew knew it was a kill fish (tournament rules require blue marlin weighed in to be over 400 lbs. or 110″), but there were several blue marlin over 500 lbs. already weighed in by the time they hooked up.
“I knew it was big at first,” Copleston recalled, “but I didn’t know if it would make the grade with what was already on the board. I got a good look at the fish about an hour in, and I knew she was coming home.”
With Reyna locked in a vertical battle with the big marlin, the hours wore on. “We had the leader five times during the fight,” the captain continued, “but we just couldn’t get it up.”
Finally, over three hours after the big marlin bit, Reyna and Copleston worked her to the surface, and JC Darby planted a flying gaff in the fish’s broad shoulder.
“The flyer was mostly a safety measure,” Copleston said. “That fish was pretty much done. We put the gaff in her just in case the hook pulled out at the last minute.”
With the fish secured to the boat, the “Artemis” anglers worked it through the transom door, reported that they’d boated a blue marlin, and began the long run to the scales at the Morehead City Waterfront.
They arrived at the weigh-in at 11:00 Monday night, and the big marlin pushed a 555.5 lb. fish caught by “Melina” and a 537 lb. fish landed by “Tuna Trappe III” into second and third places respectively.
With over 80 lbs. on the second place fish, the “Artemis” crew took a lay day on Tuesday, then fished Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in an attempt to defend the lead. While (along with any of the other boats) they didn’t land a larger marlin, they did release a white marlin on Wednesday and another blue estimated at 350 lbs. on Saturday. Both fish fell for the same lure the tournament-winner did while the “Artemis” was fishing in the same general area.
Though their 537 lb. blue marlin was eventually knocked off the leaderboard altogether, the Wrightsville Beach-based “Tuna Trappe III” crew ended up being the event’s second largest money winners, weighing in the tournament’s first fish over 500 lbs. to take home the 50th anniversary Fabulous Fisherman award and $368,750.
This was a special prize given in honor of the Fabulous Fisherman Club, who in 1957 presented 350 silver dollars for the first blue marlin landed in Morehead, a 143.5 lb. fish brought to the scales by Capt. Bill Olsen on the “Mary Z,” a prize that laid the foundation for the Big Rock Tournament.
With Capt. Brian “Squid” Smith and a crew of boat owner John Lancaster, mate Rob Shand, Adam Thompson, Tom Raines, Tim Blackwelder, Todd Sutton, Jimmy Kretz, and Chris Pope aboard the 68′ Buddy Davis sportfisherman, the “Tuna Trappe” anglers hooked their lucrative marlin at 12:45 Monday afternoon.
“We were off the NE corner of the Big Rock in 150 fathoms,” Smith reported. “That fish hit a lure on the long rigger and came up and billed it three times, but he wouldn’t eat. I put the boat in a right-hand turn and the lure sunk about a foot, and he ate it.”
The marlin never jumped, and Lancaster fought it for around an hour with everyone aboard thinking it was a smaller fish in the 200 lb. class.
“I thought that fish was around 200 until Rob got the leader,” Smith explained. “We didn’t even have a flying gaff lashed down in the cockpit. I just wanted to get a release and get it over with until I saw it on the leader.”
Scrambling to rig up two flying gaffs, the anglers eventually cleated the fish off, put a 9′ gaff in its mouth, and brought it aboard.
Heading for the scales with the fish aboard, the “Tuna Trappe” anglers beat out those aboard the “Melina,” weighing the first fish over 500 lbs. and locking up the Fabulous Fisherman prize.
“Melina,” from Moorestown, NJ, weighed in a 555.5 lb. marlin (coincidentally the last four digits of boat owner William Burris’ cell phone number) to take home second place marlin in the tournament and $254,290.
Burris fished the tournament with Capt. William Frisch, David Yeager, Joseph Foy, Jamie Jacobson, and Peter Michazyn aboard the 60′ Bertram.
“The worst-kept secret in Morehead City was that there was a marlin bite at the Double Zeros,” Burris said.
Fishing that area all day, the “Melina” finally got her number called just before lines out, and they hooked the second place fish while trolling offshore of the numbers at 2:49 Monday afternoon.
“We started marking bait in the deeper water offshore, and he came right up,” Burris explained. “He was playing with the long right rigger with his bill, and Dave teased him a little bit, pulling line back and letting it out. The fish got angry and just crushed it.”
After the marlin fell for a pink/blue artificial, Yeager settled in to fight it, and the crew never got another look at the fish until they had the double line.
With the fish in the boat at 4:30, the “Melina” headed for the scales and enjoyed a few hours with the tournament’s lead before the late night weigh-in of “Artemis.”
Knocking the “Tuna Trappe III” fish off the three-place leaderboard, the “Lady Lou V,” of San Juan, Puerto Rico, weighed in a 553.5 lb. blue marlin on Wednesday to finish third and earn $168,860. Jose Valdes, Carlos Alemany, Victor Coldwell, Capt. Puchy Zanabria, and Capt. (and boat builder) Paul Spencer fished the event aboard the 66′ Spencer.
Fishing Tuesday even further north than the “Artemis,” the “Lady Lou V” hooked their money-winning blue while trolling a drop-off around the 950 Line.
The fish fell for a red/black Cuban Hole lure, and Valdes was the angler. This marlin also didn’t jump, and it came to the boat in just 24 minutes and still green.
“We put two flying gaffs in,” Spencer said, “and she decided to fight a little bit when we sank the flyers.”
After boating the fish around 11:00 Tuesday morning, the anglers headed for Morehead.
They also released a slightly smaller marlin that likely would have exceeded the tournament’s 400 lb. minimum on Thursday.
The competition in the Big Rock’s release points division was hot as well, with Atlantic Beach’s “Tiger Runner” and Wrightsville Beach’s “Trophy” each amassing 2125 points on the strength of five blue marlin and one sailfish releases each. “Tiger Runner” amassed their points total first, however, and took home the top billfish release check for $77,360.
Becoming known as the “little boat that could” over Big Rock week, the “Tiger Runner,” a 27′ Albemarle crewed by Scott Earp, Ben Smith, and Edward Mason, got into the action early releasing their first blue marlin on Monday, then following it up with a blue release Tuesday, a blue and a sail Wednesday, and two more blue marlin on Thursday.
Smith fought all the marlin on stand-up gear, and Earp’s son took care of angling duties on the sailfish. The anglers caught all their fish in roughly the same area-100 fathoms on the offshore side of the Big Rock.
Thursday’s two blues were the largest caught by the “Tiger Runner,” with both estimated between 450-500 lbs.
“Trophy,” a 46′ Egg Harbor captained by John Horton, of Wilmington, took home $46,416 for second in the release division. The “Buck Wild,” of Wilmington, took third in billfish releases and $30,944.
A monster 88.40 lb. wahoo earned first place wahoo for the “Ashley Lauren,” from Atlantic Beach, and “Galot 3,” of Clinton, NC, weighed in the 73.15 ‘hoo that took second.
“Obsession,” from Nags Head, NC, weighed in the 56.5 lb. first place dolphin. Last year’s Big Rock winners “Bak Bar,” of Charleston, SC, took second place with a 54.65 dolphin.
The Big Rock has undeniably proven instrumental in drawing international attention to the fantastic blue water fishing just offshore of the Crystal Coast. It has also reached a 50 year milestone that few, if any big game tournaments, have or will, but it is about more than just the fishing. The event acts as a very large fundraiser for a wide variety of charitable causes with 13 organizations named as beneficiaries of the 2008 event. Through 2007, the tournament had generated over 1.8 million dollars for its various charities.
For more information, you can visit www.thebigrock.com.
