MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WAVY) — Leaving the corporate world behind about 40 years ago, Captain Rom Whitaker spent much of his life chartering fishing boats out of Cape Hatteras. He has fished in tournaments before, but on Monday, he reeled in the most valuable catch of his entire career.
As Whitaker put it, “We put a lot of time into being successful, and the good lord was looking after us yesterday.”
Out to sea early on the first day of the 66th Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, it took them about 45 minutes to get their catch on the boat. Captain Whitaker could tell right away, it was going to be a big one.
“So we started pulling it in the boat, and as we were pulling it in, it seemed like it got bigger and bigger,” Whitaker recalled. “And I said, man, that fish, I believe this is real close to a 500 pounder.”
Hoisting the ocean monster back to shore, they had hopes of winning the Fabulous Fisherman’s prize. It is awarded to the first crew that brings in a more than 500 pound fish. Part of the $1.7 million prize for this award rolled over from last year, since nobody managed to win it in 2023.
“I just had a really good feeling the fish was really thick,” Whitaker said. “I mean, from the head all the way back to just about its tail, it was really thick. And I said, boy is this a really nice blue marlin.”
The crowd erupted when they brought the catch back to Morehead City.
“Everybody was screaming,” Whitaker described. “I was a rock star for about an hour.”
The massive creature is just about double the height of the crew members when hoisted vertically. It clocked in at 504 pounds.
Whitaker said he might use his cut of the prize money to buy a new boat engine.
While they do get to keep the $1.7 million prize, they lost the honor of first place fish as of Tuesday. Another crew reeled in a 516 pound blue marlin. But there are still four more days left in the tournament, and Captain Whitaker plans to take his crew back out to sea on Wednesday.
