Safari captain Mark Harris took the first-day lead in the 49th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament after angler Brett Goulding landed a 473.5-pounder late Monday following a 42-minute fight.
A second blue marlin was boated on the Ashley Lauren, but that fish did not meet tournament minimums of 400 pounds or 110 inches in lower jaw fork length. The Ashley Lauren will be penalized 400 pounds from the weight of any other blue marlin it brings to the scales
i guess for a million bucks i’d kill one too. to bad someone has’nt come up w/ an accurate way to measure them. some sort of laser that measures lenth. i’m not some conservative cry baby but if you have ever seen them up close you would want to let them live. oh well.
It is not at all unusual for a fish to be boated and not weighed or DQ’s at the big rock. Happens most years. The irritating time for it to happen is when there are 3 > 500lb fish already hung. Early in the game it is understandable. Big Rock is a jungle rules tournament… a mate can hook the fish and then strap the angler into the chair / belt and pass the rod. Also, it is 110 or 400lbs. 110" is generally 500lbs. So, early in the tournament, it is understandable that a fish shorter than 110" is killed and ends up being less than 400. I don’t have a problem with that… makes it more of a gambler’s tournament.
Carla DEE I belive that is a false statement. When I fished Big Rock The mate could not touch the rod at all or the line for that matter. If the mate did then the fish and boat would be DQ. The only time you could pass the rod is if you had an angler that was under the age of 13 or they might have to be a little younger dont remember. And the winning boat does have to do a lie detecting test or the use to. Maybe thing have changed in two years maybe not just my two cents.
GIJay
U.S. Army
“Protecting the American way of life”
Carla DEE I belive that is a false statement. When I fished Big Rock The mate could not touch the rod at all or the line for that matter. If the mate did then the fish and boat would be DQ. The only time you could pass the rod is if you had an angler that was under the age of 13 or they might have to be a little younger dont remember. And the winning boat does have to do a lie detecting test or the use to. Maybe thing have changed in two years maybe not just my two cents.
GIJay
U.S. Army
“Protecting the American way of life”
Must’ve changed then, a mate can hook up and pass off the fish to an angler.
Bak Bar is apparently still hooked up… from 2:26, which would make this an hour forty-five into the fight. Let’s hope that our boys bring a big one back to the dock. Dawg Due let another blue go… Charleston is representing well, as it seems we always do…
