One little mistake cost one boat big money in the Big Rock.
What would have been the winning blue marlin, worth more than $1.2 million, in last week’s fishing tournament was disqualified today when Big Rock officials determined a hired member of the boat’s crew did not have a North Carolina coastal recreational fishing license when the record-setting 883-pound sailfish was caught.
Peter Martin Wann, 22, of Alexandria, Va., was cited on Sunday, six days after the fish was caught, by the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries for fishing without a license after he was reported by Big Rock officials.
In a statement today, Big Rock officials said the crewman, identified by a Department of Marine Fisheries spokesperson as Wann, purchased a license on his way to the weighing station in Morehead City at 5:51 p.m. on June 14, more than two hours after the marlin was brought on board the Citation by angler Andy Thomasson.
When no bigger blue marlins were caught during the final five days of the tournament, Citation was named the winner of $912,825 in first-place prize money as well as a $318,750 bonus for the first 500-pound marlin caught, but the official presentation was delayed Saturday night after a polygraph examination of Citation’s captain uncovered the licensing issue.
The Big Rock board of directors, which includes professional golfer Curtis Strange, a Morehead City resident, spent three days deliberating before disqualifying the Citation at 5:33 p.m. today and naming a 528-pound blue marlin caught June 16 by John Parks aboard Carnivore the $999,453 first-place winner.
