Quiet day on Crystal Coast

By Courtesy thebigrock.com
Published in Sports on June 16, 2010 1:47 PM

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Courtesy thebigrock.com

MOREHEAD CITY -- The second day of the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament failed to match the excitement of the first as no blue marlins were brought to the scales, and only two were hooked and released following a record-setting Monday.

Big Rock competitors had high hopes for a great day Tuesday after Citation set a new Big Rock record with an 883-pound blue marlin caught late Monday by Andy Thomasson of Richmond, Va. Those hopes were dashed by the end of the day when 103 of 156 teams that fished managed just 11 hook-ups and seven releases.

While some blamed warmer-than-normal temperatures for the downturn in billfish activity, others faulted East winds and a high-pressure system sitting offshore. The culprit is may be a combination of both and Big Rock fishing teams must factor this in as they plan for the final four days of fishing.

"It's hard to figure," said Big Rock president Randy Ramsey when asked about the billfishing lull. "The dolphin fishing has been great ... everyone has been commenting on that. The billfishing was great heading into this week. All I can say is I expected a real good week of fishing based on what led up to this week.

"So I'm surprised ... real surprised."

One boat that had an outstanding day Tuesday was the Miss Judy, captained by Lacy Henry of Atlantic Beach. Henry's crew released the only blue marlins of the day and not only won the $7,732 daily release prize but took over first place in the billfish release division as well.