Commi$$ion$ takes over third at Big Rock

June 16, 2005

MOREHEAD CITY N.C. – The crew of the Commi$$ion$ set themselves up to claim a portion of the 47th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament $1,378,375 purse Thursday when they arrived at the scales with a 489.5-pounder.

The blue marlin, reeled in by angler Ralph Webb of Wilson, proved heavy enough to make the leader board. It bumped the 482-pound blue marlin caught Monday by the crew of the J&B out of the money.

“Right now, I’m just pumped … I’m too pumped,” said Webb. “I picked the whole back end of the fish up and turned it around once it was on board. My adrenaline is still pumping.”

Webb’s catch produced the tightest leader board in years. Gambler holds the lead with a 515.5-pound blue marlin caught Monday at the start of the tournament. Lady Lou V is in second with a 500-pounder caught late Wednesday. Just 87 boats elected to fish Thursday, leaving an average of 145 boats available to fish each of the remaining two days.

This is the first time in years that there was such a small difference (26 pounds) between the leaders on the leader board. Since blue marlin routinely feast on small dolphin, Commi$$ion$ captain Carlos Sanderson was jokingly asked why he didn’t wait for his fish to feed a bit longer before setting the hook.

“You know what? We caught this fish in a pile of ‘bailers’,” Sanderson said, using the slang term for juvenile dolphin. “That’s what it was feeding on when we caught her.”

Sanderson thinks it will take a bigger blue marlin to secure a place in the standings.

“I don’t have too much faith that this will hold up,” he said. “There’s still two more days. We’ve got two more days (of fishing) left. We’re going to go back out there and try to catch one that’s bigger.”

Even if the Commi$$ion$ can’t catch a bigger blue marlin, the crew had the thrill of a lifetime.

“We have a great team and the whole team really came together,” Webb said. “We fished six tournaments in the (N.C.) Governor’s Cup last year and placed in three of them. All of them were exciting, but nothing like this one. We placed in the Swansboro tournament a couple weeks ago, but this is the first time we’ve done anything in the Big Rock. That’s what we all wanted … to back down into the scale at the Big Rock. It feels great.”

Gambler, the tournament leader, is not entered in all levels of the competition. Gambler is in position to win $424,925 if it can stay in first two more days.

Lady Lou V – entered in all levels – would receive $502,830 if it can hold onto second. The Commi$$ion$ would receive $165,970 … but only if it can avoid getting bumped the way J&B did.

Gamefish leaders remained unchanged for the second straight day. The Great Escape, captained by Jim Mothershed, leads the dolphin division with a 56.35-pounder. Release, captained by Rom Whitaker, weighed in a 70.70-pound wahoo Tuesday to lead that category. Frequent Flyer, captained by Glen Loftin, leads the tuna division with a 109.05-pounder.

Outlaw, captained by Ken Miller, Hatteras, edged tournament-leader Gambler for the special $4,700 release prize Thursday when it logged the 47th release of the 47th Big Rock. The releases on the two vessels were one minute apart.

With two days left in the competition, the overall release division standings are beginning to come into focus. Big Easy, a Hatteras-based boat captained by Clifton Parker, is in the lead with 1050 points. Big Easy completed a tournament “grand slam” with the release of a blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish.

Second Chance, a Weddington, N.C.-based boat captained by Dale Prox, is second in the release standings with 800 points. Second Chance, a boat that placed second in the 40th Big Rock, has released two blue marlins.

The six-day competition continues Friday at 9 a.m. Each boat is allowed to fish 4 out of the 6 days during the tournament.

Commi$$ion$ takes over third at Big Rock

June 16, 2005

MOREHEAD CITY N.C. – The crew of the Commi$$ion$ set themselves up to claim a portion of the 47th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament $1,378,375 purse Thursday when they arrived at the scales with a 489.5-pounder.

The blue marlin, reeled in by angler Ralph Webb of Wilson, proved heavy enough to make the leader board. It bumped the 482-pound blue marlin caught Monday by the crew of the J&B out of the money.

“Right now, I’m just pumped … I’m too pumped,” said Webb. “I picked the whole back end of the fish up and turned it around once it was on board. My adrenaline is still pumping.”

Webb’s catch produced the tightest leader board in years. Gambler holds the lead with a 515.5-pound blue marlin caught Monday at the start of the tournament. Lady Lou V is in second with a 500-pounder caught late Wednesday. Just 87 boats elected to fish Thursday, leaving an average of 145 boats available to fish each of the remaining two days.

This is the first time in years that there was such a small difference (26 pounds) between the leaders on the leader board. Since blue marlin routinely feast on small dolphin, Commi$$ion$ captain Carlos Sanderson was jokingly asked why he didn’t wait for his fish to feed a bit longer before setting the hook.

“You know what? We caught this fish in a pile of ‘bailers’,” Sanderson said, using the slang term for juvenile dolphin. “That’s what it was feeding on when we caught her.”

Sanderson thinks it will take a bigger blue marlin to secure a place in the standings.

“I don’t have too much faith that this will hold up,” he said. “There’s still two more days. We’ve got two more days (of fishing) left. We’re going to go back out there and try to catch one that’s bigger.”

Even if the Commi$$ion$ can’t catch a bigger blue marlin, the crew had the thrill of a lifetime.

“We have a great team and the whole team really came together,” Webb said. “We fished six tournaments in the (N.C.) Governor’s Cup last year and placed in three of them. All of them were exciting, but nothing like this one. We placed in the Swansboro tournament a couple weeks ago, but this is the first time we’ve done anything in the Big Rock. That’s what we all wanted … to back down into the scale at the Big Rock. It feels great.”

Gambler, the tournament leader, is not entered in all levels of the competition. Gambler is in position to win $424,925 if it can stay in first two more days.

Lady Lou V – entered in all levels – would receive $502,830 if it can hold onto second. The Commi$$ion$ would receive $165,970 … but only if it can avoid getting bumped the way J&B did.

Gamefish leaders remained unchanged for the second straight day. The Great Escape, captained by Jim Mothershed, leads the dolphin division with a 56.35-pounder. Release, captained by Rom Whitaker, weighed in a 70.70-pound wahoo Tuesday to lead that category. Frequent Flyer, captained by Glen Loftin, leads the tuna division with a 109.05-pounder.

Outlaw, captained by Ken Miller, Hatteras, edged tournament-leader Gambler for the special $4,700 release prize Thursday when it logged the 47th release of the 47th Big Rock. The releases on the two vessels were one minute apart.

With two days left in the competition, the overall release division standings are beginning to come into focus. Big Easy, a Hatteras-based boat captained by Clifton Parker, is in the lead with 1050 points. Big Easy completed a tournament “grand slam” with the release of a blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish.

Second Chance, a Weddington, N.C.-based boat captained by Dale Prox, is second in the release standings with 800 points. Second Chance, a boat that placed second in the 40th Big Rock, has released two blue marlins.

The six-day competition continues Friday at 9 a.m. Each boat is allowed to fish 4 out of the 6 days during the tournament.