Record releases highlight Big Rock

[Sam]

Tommy Lewis of Huger, S.C., reached Morehead City just after 11 p.m. Friday with a blue marlin that his son, Charlie, needed nearly six hours to land. Fifteen hours later, when no bigger fish was caught during the final hours of fishing, the Bak Bar crew began its celebration.

Their 613-pound blue marlin had won the 49th-annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, garnering $800,839 from the $1,568,950 purse. Their catch was the highlight of a week that included record fishing. The six-day total of releases came to 96 blue marlin, 45 white marlin and 31 sailfish. The blue marlin releases and overall releases (172) were a records for Big Rock competitions. The six-day competition wrapped up Saturday night at the Crystal Coast Civic Center when winners gathered for an awards dinner and a distribution of prizes. This year's event had a new category -- 40 Feet and Under -- for smaller boats. The winner was the Carolina Gentleman, a 35-foot Atlantic Express owned and captained by Skipper Gentry, 29, of Morehead City. Gentry and his crew caught a 422 1/2-pound blue marlin Friday.

"We saw a lot of fish all week and pulled some hooks [lost some fish]," Gentry said. "We decided to look for one big fish and just pull big baits." The strategy worked. The Carolina Gentleman hooked the blue at the 750 line north of the Big Rock in about 1,100 feet of water. "We had that fish to the leader in 10 minutes," Gentry said.

Angler Robbie Willis of Morehead City, 26, was in the fighting chair.
"When we gaffed [the fish], he took off, and it took us 30 minutes of fighting him on the flying gaff to get him back in the boat," Gentry said. One marlin should have stayed in the water. N.C. Marine Patrol officers confiscated an undersized blue marlin brought to the docks by the Toplesss of Ocean City, Maryland.The fish measured 97 inches in length, Marine Patrol Officer Carter Witten said in a news release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

The minimum size limit for blue marlin in North Carolina is 99 inches. Additionally, the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament requires blue marlin landed to meet either a 110-inch or 400-pound size limit.
The boat captain, Alan Evans Fields of Juniper, Fla., was cited for possession of an undersized blue marlin and given a mandatory court appearance where a judge will decide his fine, the news release said.

The fish was given to Dr. Jeff Buckel, assistant professor at the N.C. State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technologies in Morehead City to be used for research, the DMF said. The Bak Bar win almost didn't happen. Bak Bar's blue marlin got tail-wrapped and died near the bottom of the ocean four hours into the fight. For the next two hours, Charlie "Montukie" Lewis had to carefully reel in the dead giant. He couldn't set the drag too tight in rough seas or reel too fast for fear of breaking the line.
"It was dead weight with a big fish at the very bottom," the younger Lewis said in a Big Rock news release. "It was rough out there. I had to give back as much [line] as I took. I didn't make much headway for a long time. I had to find a happy medium ... but I only got tired at the end."

Lewis' catch was an early Father's Day present for his dad. Ironically, all five blue marlin brought to the Big Rock scales on Friday were caught by father-son teams, event officials said. The catch will be well remembered by Tommy Lewis, who retired this year from a job in the heating and air conditioning industry to captain the Bak Bar full time.

"It [the Big Rock] was milestone I wanted to get to," Lewis, said Wednesday from his hometown. "We all want to go to the moon but never get to. I'd rate it like winning the Daytona 500 for a NASCAR guy." He also said he was very impressed with his fourth time fishing the tournament and with the people of Morehead City.
"The community is to be commended," said Lewis, 59. "Down-to-earth, homespun people. Very genuine; first class. We don't have that kind of support [at tournaments] down here."
Lewis said he was going to save his share of the purse "for a rainy day" and that Charlie Lewis was going to use his share to help purchase his first house. Bak Bar's catch knocked Licketysplit from the top spot on the Big Rock leaderboard. Licketysplit, captained by Bobby Scarborough of Hatteras, took the lead Friday afternoon with a 567-pound blue marlin reeled in by Grimesland angler David Williams. But that lead didn't even last the night.

Licketysplit tried to return the favor Saturday afternoon with a hookup three minutes before the tournament ended. Unfortunately for Licketysplit, the fish threw the hook and got away. The Licketysplit crew received $258,752 for placing second. Maggie, with captain Randy Bryant of Morehead City, finished third with a 505-pound blue marlin landed Friday by Beaufort angler Butch Bryant. The Maggie crew received $171,835.

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