Fishermen on the boat Sensation were gearing up for a competitive time during a fishing tournament held in the waters off the coast of North Carolina. The fishermen were eager to take home the grand prize, which came with a whopping award of about $3.5 million for the team that brought in the biggest marlin fish. The team on the Sensation went on to capture a massive marlin weighing a total of six hundred nineteen pounds, earning them the victory in the tournament until something unexpected made them lose it all in a turn of fate.
The men of the Sensation thought they were going to take home the title of the best fisherman in the 65th Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, N.C. when they nabbed a large marlin. The team of fishermen hauled in the season’s first catch to weigh in at more than five hundred pounds, which would have earned them an additional $739,500 in prize money as a result.
However, competition officials promptly disqualified the fishermen when they went to weigh the marlin they had caught. As they hauled the marlin onto the scale and measured it at about six hundred nineteen pounds, the judges noticed that a chunk of the fish’s flesh was missing from its side – and this caused them to disqualify the massive fish from the tournament. Could this have been a ploy to avoid paying out so much money in the grand prize?
“It’s the final hour, the final day, and we fought with him for six hours,” Sensation Captain Greg McCoy told The Washington Post. “It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
On Sunday, tournament officials released a statement about the disqualification to explain why they would dare ruin the lives of the men on the Sensation.
“After careful deliberation and discussions between the Big Rock Rules Committee and Board of Directors with biologists from both N.C. State CMAST and NC Marine Fisheries biologists, as well as an IGFA official, it was determined that SENSATION’S 619.4lb Blue Marlin is disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal. It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed or boated, and therefore, it was disqualified.
“The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament follows IGFA rules regarding mutilated fish as outlined in Rule #23 in the Big Rock Official Rules. IGFA rules state that the following situation will disqualify a fish: ‘Mutilation to the fish, prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers that remove or penetrate the flesh.’
“This decision is consistent with prior decisions made by the tournament in similar circumstances over the last 65 years. SUSHI has been declared the first-place winner of the 65th Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament for their 484.5lb Blue Marlin. CHASIN A claimed second place with their 479.8lb. Blue Marlin. The 470.2lb blue marlin captured by C-STUDENT will finish in third place. The Big Rock extends its sincere appreciation to the 271 Boats that participated in the record-breaking 65th Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.”
What do you think about this boat’s bad luck?