to get away before it put too much belly in the line. After all that jumping, I think it just wore itself out. Fifteen minutes later we had it next to the boat and it just laid there to give us a good look and an easy gaff shot.” The tournament has minimum weight and length rules for qualifying fish, so becoming skilled in quickly sizing up a fish at boatside is essential, but still nerve-racking. “When it was jumping I didn’t think it was big enough, but when it rolled over next to the boat I could see it was short, but really fat. I was more nervous on the ride home, staring at it, hoping it was over five-hundred.” Mercifully, the MTU-powered Mercenaria made that trip to the scales more quickly than most of the fleet could have. By 2:04pm they had weighed in their blue marlin at a respectable 572.6 pounds and set the bar for the rest of the tournament. Having entered the Fabulous Fisherman division, and in bringing the first blue marlin over 500 pounds to the scales, Mercenaria had just ensured themselves at least $777,750 in guaranteed prize money. Then the team’s exhilaration quickly turned to tension, as they waited through five more days of fishing to see if anyone could manage to leapfrog them on the leaderboard. “I was stoked we won the Fabulous Fisherman prize, but had little hope that the fish would hold 1st place all week. That’s a decent fish, but not a giant and we were fishing against the best in the game,” explained Sykes. That provided the mindset for the team the rest of the week– focus on themselves and go out and try to catch a bigger one–just like everyone else was trying to do. Over the course of that Monday afternoon and in the coming days, several more blue marlin were weighed. And each time, the Mercenaria team and their supporters sat on pins and needles as the boats would run in from offshore and hoist their fish. Ultimately, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief each time, as the scale was read out to the eager crowd at Big Rock Landing—no one brought in a bigger blue marlin the rest of the week, and Mercenaria won a total payout of a whopping $3,489,813—the second largest individual billfish tournament payout in history and certainly the largest for the Big Rock. Sykes added, “I’m so glad it hung on all week and super happy for my boss and crew, they all deserved it!” SISTERSHIP SUCCESS Luck, timing and skill all come into play to win the heaviest marlin prize in the Big Rock. But categories for billfish release points are arguably the most competitive. The release division typically becomes a showdown between the top teams with vast amounts of experience fishing together, along with the hottest hour-tohour knowledge of where the bite is most dependable. Range, speed, coordination and communication are essential to reeling in and releasing the greatest number of blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish over the course of the week. Coincidentally, another new Viking 72, Safari, owned by long-time Bluewater customers did just that—winning the billfish release category in 2022. Anglers Robert McNeill and Brett Goulding finished the week with a 650 point lead over the next two boats and walked away with another sizable chunk of that record purse— what amounted to $111,562.50 for their hard work. Robert McNeill guesses he’s fished over twenty Big Rock tournaments by now, doing so in nearly a halfdozen sportfish convertibles sold to his family by Bluewater Sales Professional Clark Sneed. All of Safari’s experience fishing together certainly was on display, as was their beautiful new 72C, and they deserve every accolade! Safari Captain “Moon” Crossman admitted there might be something special about these Viking 72s... “The fishability is great for a bigger boat. It can pick up and run, but also maneuvers great. The New MTUs have no delay. While wheeling around and backing down on a fish, it has incredible responsiveness,” he explains. The 72C also seems to have good harmonics, essential in not spooking any fish away. Particularly during the Big Rock, the Captain recounts seeing fish everywhere, “the sides, corner, all over…” and raved about the sonar, but says that’s not what helped them find the fish; it’s still all about locating that different patch of water along a break. McNeill interjected about the importance of the omnidirectional sonar, pointing out that once you find the good water holding fish, the sonar is key in helping to stay on top of them while trying to lure a bite. “On Monday we were marking a lot of fish, but not catching any. We started questioning the spread, and everything we were doing,” recounted McNeill. Next they took two lay days and then returned to fishing on Thursday with a full boat: Sitting Pretty: Mercenaria & Safari even shared the same dock during Big Rock 5 2023 SEASON
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