Florida boat wins $1.8 million grand prize at Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament
The wait finally ended for a West Palm Beach, Florida, boat crew Saturday night.
Game Time brought in a 516-pound blue marlin Monday and sat atop the leaderboard until the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament scales closed late Saturday to claim the grand prize of an estimated $1.8 million.
None of the tournament’s 302 boats caught a bigger blue marlin after Game Time, captained by Ben Brownlee, reeled in its catch on opening day in the lucrative Morehead City, North Carolina, event.
Pipe Down, a boat based in New Smyrna, Florida, brought in a blue marlin Saturday night, but its 425.1-pound catch landed in fourth place.
The tournament’s total purse was more than $7.5 million, and more than $3.5 million went to two boats.
While Game Time earned the grand prize, Release, a Hatteras Harbor, North Carolina, boat captained by Rom Whitaker, won the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize of $1.729 million for being the tournament’s first to reel in a blue marlin weighing more than 500 pounds. The 504-pound blue marlin took an hour and seven minutes to reel in Monday by angler Kirk Pugh, a Wilmington, North Carolina, resident.
Release was second overall in the blue marlin category, followed by Builder’s Choice (New Bern, North Carolina) with a 431.8-pounder.
Complete official results were not yet posted on the tournament’s web site.
