Big Rock lady anglers sets many records June 10, 2005 – The 8th annual Big Rock Lady Angler tournament began Saturday morning with two records in place and others set to follow. Big Rock lady anglers sets many records June 10, 2005 – The 8th annual Big Rock Lady Angler tournament began Saturday morning with two records in place and others set to follow.
Bruce Paul
“This is fantastic,” said Big Rock tournament director Crystal Watters. “We topped our previous high (34) in terms of boats and have a record $13,833 purse. From the offshore reports we’ve received this morning, we can tell the lady competitors are having a great day of fishing. This is a great way to kick off the Big Rock.”
The Big Rock Lady Angler competitions serves as the kickoff event for the six–day Big Rock tournament that starts Monday. While previous Lady Angler competitions have had a history of rough seas and less-than-perfect weather, this year marked the first time the ladies headed offshore with perfect fishing conditions in place.
Double Down, captained by James Coane out of Westerly, Rhode Is., recorded the first billfish release just 30 minutes into the competition. Waste Knot, an Atlantic Beach boat captained by Pizza Cannon, recorded a white marlin release just 14 minutes later. By noon the lady anglers had 11 billfish hookups and eight billfish releases. Both of these numbers were records.
In previous years, the Big Rock Lady Angler was mostly know for bad weather. On two occasions, the seas were so rough that no billfish were caught. Six of the eight tournaments have had such rough conditions it was hard for competitors to stand and walk … let alone fish.
“Every year, the ladies seemed to get a bad draw,” said Watters. “Every year, they came back to try again.
“Now they got a great day and proved what they can do. They deserved a good day after seven bad ones.”
The lady anglers are battling for $13,883.33 in prize money – another tournament record. Lady anglers release all billfish that are hooked and donate an amount equal to the purse to local area charities.
“Over the years, the lady anglers have raised nearly $43,000 for charity,” said Watters. “This year, another $13,000 will be distributed. It’s great to have raised so much in such a short period of time.”
Funds raised from the lady angler event will be donated to the Raab Oncology Clinic of Morehead City. Since 1988, Big Rock competitions have raised more than $1 million for charity.
The lady anglers will continue to fish until 1 p.m. Registration for the six-day event continues all day. A Captain’s Party, set tonight at 7 p.m., is the traditional kickoff for the six-day competition that starts Monday. So far, 120 boats have registered for the main event … a number that’s slightly ahead of last year’s pace when competitors battled for a record $1,476,175 purse.
Bruce Paul
“This is fantastic,” said Big Rock tournament director Crystal Watters. “We topped our previous high (34) in terms of boats and have a record $13,833 purse. From the offshore reports we’ve received this morning, we can tell the lady competitors are having a great day of fishing. This is a great way to kick off the Big Rock.”
The Big Rock Lady Angler competitions serves as the kickoff event for the six–day Big Rock tournament that starts Monday. While previous Lady Angler competitions have had a history of rough seas and less-than-perfect weather, this year marked the first time the ladies headed offshore with perfect fishing conditions in place.
Double Down, captained by James Coane out of Westerly, Rhode Is., recorded the first billfish release just 30 minutes into the competition. Waste Knot, an Atlantic Beach boat captained by Pizza Cannon, recorded a white marlin release just 14 minutes later. By noon the lady anglers had 11 billfish hookups and eight billfish releases. Both of these numbers were records.
In previous years, the Big Rock Lady Angler was mostly know for bad weather. On two occasions, the seas were so rough that no billfish were caught. Six of the eight tournaments have had such rough conditions it was hard for competitors to stand and walk … let alone fish.
“Every year, the ladies seemed to get a bad draw,” said Watters. “Every year, they came back to try again.
“Now they got a great day and proved what they can do. They deserved a good day after seven bad ones.”
The lady anglers are battling for $13,883.33 in prize money – another tournament record. Lady anglers release all billfish that are hooked and donate an amount equal to the purse to local area charities.
“Over the years, the lady anglers have raised nearly $43,000 for charity,” said Watters. “This year, another $13,000 will be distributed. It’s great to have raised so much in such a short period of time.”
Funds raised from the lady angler event will be donated to the Raab Oncology Clinic of Morehead City. Since 1988, Big Rock competitions have raised more than $1 million for charity.
The lady anglers will continue to fish until 1 p.m. Registration for the six-day event continues all day. A Captain’s Party, set tonight at 7 p.m., is the traditional kickoff for the six-day competition that starts Monday. So far, 120 boats have registered for the main event … a number that’s slightly ahead of last year’s pace when competitors battled for a record $1,476,175 purse.
