By Capt. Troy Pate
If I had the means, I would charter a boat and enter all categories to fish The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament here in Morehead City, NC. The week begins with the huge welcome party and captains meeting on Saturday evening. Good food and free drinks are plentiful. All the crews are excitedly discussing the approaching week of fishing. Go upstairs and listen in on the Captains meeting and then spend the rest of the evening enjoying the band and party. Sunday is the final step of preparations for the boat and tackle checking knots and crimps, sharpening hooks, rigging pitch baits, verifying leader lengths and setting drags on the 80 and 130 class tackle. Take a final look at the weather and make a decision on which way to head out in the morning, then turn in and try to sleep despite the high anticipation of the morning. Monday morning finally arrives and you board the boat to begin the weeks fishing.
You fish four out of six days and most every day begins the same. Fishing tournament boats enter the channel and push the throttles up to head out the inlet, their cockpits and bridge rails all bristling with that huge tackle everybody loves to see. The captain points her towards your starting destination and you sit back to anxiously await the call for lines in. During the ride the VHF gets tuned to the tournament channel to listen to Capt. Omie Tillet give the daily prayer, which is a special treat to those that appreciate the history of our sport and boats. You finally reach the spot and get set up, then at 9 a.m. it all gets quickly placed into the water and the fishing begins.
The fishing is completely different for every boat out there. Someone will almost always hook up early and get a quick white marlin or sail to claim the daily first fish prize. There will be some game fish caught and also some blue marlin hooked up, and all too often lost. Early or late, first day or last day, eventually it will be your turn. Just as you begin to wonder what you are doing wrong, are you in the wrong place or pulling the wrong baitsâBAMâ âThere she is, big blue marlin!â Everybody is yelling and frantically clearing teasers and rods, your heart races as you get yourself into the chair and hook that big reel into the harnessâall the while the line is peeling off at an incredible rate! You finally get the fish stopped, the boat starts backing down, water is coming into the pit and you start gaining line⌠And this is where I stop and you have to write your own ending. Blue marlin fishing is nutsâfish jump off, pull off for no reason, come to the boat, but are too small, or you could manage to land a huge fish to weigh in and win it all. Win lose or draw it is an awesome four days of fishing.
The Big Rock tournament here on the Crystal Coast, Morehead City NC, is a great event and a lifelong memory makerâregardless of where you finish. The stories of the one that got away are often more memorable than the ones you kill or release. This has been added to my bucket list, you may want to consider it too.
Already crossed Morehead City off your fishing bucketlist? Check out this month’s additional featured locations: St Marks, Banana River, and Arrowhead Lake!
Capt Troy Pate is the operator of the James Joyce II, a 51-foot Custom Carolina from the Morehead City NC Waterfront. He has been at the helm for several years fishing the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament for the owners of the boat and captained a win for the Kelly Wagner Lady Angler tournament. He can be reached at www.moreheadcitycharter.com.
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