Latest news with #BigRockBlueMarlinTournament
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Big Rock Blue Marlin boaters share their superstitions for luck
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — Some boaters in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament have their own superstitions to ensure good sailing. Some boaters rules for good luck are: Wearing the same shirt or pair of socks 'Each boat has its own little, little superstition, so to speak. You know, everybody wears colored socks and they may wear white socks and black socks,' weight master Randy Gregory said. 'Who knows? It's just crazy superstition. Yeah. Sometimes they make them bite, sometimes it doesn't.' 'My favorite one is I have a red big blue marlin sure that I love, and I have called striped marlin on the fly in Cabo San Lucas,' Big Rock board member Tommy Bennett said. 'I've called Blue Marlin on the floor in Guatemala wearing that shirt. And it is my my lucky fishing shirt.' Throwing Oreo cookies and beer over the bow of the boat to feed the fish 'You take Oreo cookies over the bar You take them and you present them to the Billfish gods and you come in there like that and then, you know, you shake up some beers and you spray it off the stern,' weight master Randy Gregory said. 'You know, it kind of attracts the fish.' Never bring bananas on the boat 'It's a really old wives tale. Bananas are not really easy, and they cause other fruit around them to rot. I think it dates back to colonial days,' research assistant at NC State Paul Rudershausen said. 'So you should definitely not take bananas on a boat. Especially on Friday the 13th.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Big Rock blog: Still only one blue marlin weighed as day five starts
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — It's day five of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. Day four saw all 272 boats out on the water. It was a busy day with 122 billfish being released including 68 blue marlin, 34 sailfish and 20 white marlin. So far in the tournament 256 billfish have been released, compared to last years 268. There are still two days left in the tournament and plenty of ground to cover. We still have 'Bankwalker' in the lead with a 449.7 lbs blue marlin that they brought in on Wednesday. Follow our coverage of the 67th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament on our daily blog and on our Big Rock page. WNCT will provide live coverage of every blue marlin weigh-in throughout the tournament on and the WNCT 9 mobile app. 8:00 AM The day starts with the traditional blessing of the fleet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Crowds of people from all over fill Big Rock Landing
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is halfway over but the spirit of those out enjoying the event hasn't diminished. People come from all over to see large blue marlins weighed in at the Big Rock scales. 'It's all the community coming together even like, the locals coming in and hanging out together, just being one team,' Cape Carteret local Alex Wianecki said. Others come into town from much farther away. 'I mean, for somebody like me from an area that doesn't do anything like this, it is so exciting to see this many people and to see everybody have such a good time,' Laura Calfee of Tampa, Fla. said. Others came from the mountainous parts of the state to see the action at the coast. 'I've grown up coming to Morehead and Atlantic Beach. I vacationed every summer at the Oceania Resort and have never been to Big Rock,' Julia Rice of Snow Camp said. 'Enjoying the family and the friendship. This is my son's high school graduation trip and I don't even care if there's any fish, just being with my family and my friends.' In the final days of the Big Rock, more anticipation grows as people wait to see who the winners will be. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Big Rock blog: Only one blue marlin submitted as day four begins
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — Thursday is day four in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. Wednesday was the first day a contestant brought a blue marlin to be weighed. 'Bankwalkers' boated the first blue marlin of the tournament at about 5:30pm and arrived to the weigh station a couple hours later. Their catch did not net them the 'Fabulous Fisherman' prize as it only weighed 449.7lbs, just short of the required 500lbs. Though they are now in the lead for first place. Follow our coverage of the 67th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament on our daily blog and on our Big Rock page. WNCT will provide live coverage of every blue marlin weigh-in throughout the tournament on and the WNCT 9 mobile app. 8:00 AM The day starts of with the traditional blessing of the fleet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Military members join in on fishing fun as part of Big Rock, Big Hero program
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — With many service members and veterans in Eastern North Carolina, the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament makes it a point to show appreciation. Each year, service members are hosted on some of the boats through the Big Rock, Big Hero program. This is the eighth year of the program. 'We're so close to Cherry Point which is a major Marine base and we thought it would be an amazing way to honor and give thanks to those who allow us to do what we're doing today and to have this tournament in the first place,' Big Rock Tournament Director Madison Struyk said. This year, seven heroes are on board six different boats. There are four Marines, two Army Soldiers and a Coast Guard member. 'With the help of Operation Resolute this year, they've linked us with six servicemembers, and what they do is work with families who have members in the armed forces. And so they work on strengthening this family unit. So it's been a huge help to have them this year because we've been able to get some great heroes who are really deserving of this honor,' Struyk said. 'It gets emotional when you hear about what it means to them to be offshore. That's so much more than just being able to go fishing for the day,' she said. 'Some of them are from here and have been dreaming about doing it for so long or grew up fishing with their family members, so it reminds them of memories in their childhood.' The honor goes both ways for the military heroes and boat owners. 'Super honored and blessed that so many would take a total stranger out on their boat and just treat me extremely, hospitality and just like I was one of them,' 2024 Big Hero Justin Bishop said. 'It was a great time, really. It was a dream come true.' 'Especially with the help of Operation Resolute, we think we can start to build how many here as we have per year and we have a lot of participants this year that have shown interest in being a host boat for next year,' Struyk said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
