Big blue in the Big Rock
Nearly 600-pound blue marlin caught by Team Mercenaria in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.
The crew on team Mercenaria made it through another day of waiting in the 64th Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.
On the first day of fishing, angler Matthew Brown put a 576.6-pound blue in the boat to take the current lead in the $5.8 million event staged out of Morehead City, N.C.
The crew spent Tuesday taking – and passing – the necessary polygraph tests. Wednesday (today) it was back on the water to continue tournament competition.
The day undoubtedly is taking their collective minds off the $3,489,813 prize they currently are sitting on. According to Big Rock officials, that’s the biggest payout to one boat in “Industry history.”
On day one, Capt. Neil Sykes and mates Jake Keech and Just Ward put Brown on the fish, which he brought in quickly in just 19 minutes.
The fish had screamed almost forward of the boat and had formed a big curve in the line.
“Quick … just the way I like it,” Sykes said. “We were chasing the bow more than the fish, but had it to Portside quickly. He was wore out from all the jumping it was doing.”
The fish just met the length requirements to bring it to the scales.
“But the girth … it was really fat,” Sykes said.
Team Mercenaria – based at Cherrystone on the Eastern Shore – is back on the water today to keep focused on catching and maybe bettering where they sit in the standings.
“I think we’re all still taking it in,” Sykes said. “It’s really incredible.
“We’ll play the waiting game and try to act like nothing happened. Just keep on fishing.”
The Big Rock concludes Saturday.
