Rules violation costs Citation win, record, $900,000-plus in Big Rock

Not specifically oceanography related, but just....weird.

Rules violation costs Citation win, record, $900,000-plus in Big Rock

The lack of a $15 fishing license cost the Citation $912,825, not to mention first place and a spot in the record books in the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament.

Ouch? You bet so.

“It hurts,” said angler Andy Thomossan, who caught a record 883-pound blue marlin Monday that he and everyone else bet would win the $1.66 million tournament. “No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it’s a nice ending to the story, isn’t it?”

Not for Thomossan and Co.

The Citation’s victory was initially put on hold Saturday night during the awards banquet and a day later erased by Big Rock officials because a crew member didn’t have a fishing license, said Thomossan, 63, who lives in Richmond, Va.

“We didn’t do anything wrong. But one of our people did. He failed to get a fishing license, but we didn’t know it. He told us he had it. He didn’t. So you take a man for his word, you know? I can’t do anything. They made their decision,” Thomossan said, referring to the Big Rock board of directors.

“They’re taking it away, everything. The fish is disqualified. We’re disqualified. So that’s the end of it. Yeah, wow. That hurts. To have it done it like that…, to have somebody beat me because they caught (a bigger) fish is not so bad, but…,” he said, his voice trailing off without completing his thought.

A North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License costs $15 annually for state residents 16 and older or $30 for nonresidents, according to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ website. A 10-day license can also be purchased for $5 for state residents 16 and older or $10 for nonresidents.

Also, fishing boat owners can purchase a block of 10 10-day fishing licenses for $150.

Under tournament rules, “anyone fishing aboard a vessel” in the Big Rock must have a N.C. fishing license, including the captain, the mate and anglers.

The lack of a license by a “for-hire mate” was discovered during a lie detector test Saturday night, said Michael Topp, one of the boat’s three owners. The tournament requires a lie detector test for the top money winners, including the captain, mate and angler as well as “others as deemed necessary.”

“Based on that, it appears that they are going to withhold all the winnings and disallow the catch of the fish,” Topp said. “It’s their tournament, their rules, their judgment. We, of course, feel that the action of the particular individual on an individual license should be dealt with on an individual license basis.

“We made the individual go and turn himself in once we found out about it. He’s obviously going to be fined.”

Topp declined to identify the crew member, and was nearly as speechless when asked how disappointed he was.

“I do not have the words,” he said.

Topp said he didn’t know if the board of directors had had made an official decision, which is expected today after the board meets.

“We did have a meeting with them today,” he added. “But the fact of the matter it was revealed last night in the lie detector that the for-hire mate … lied to us, concealed actually the fact that he didn’t have a license from both the captain and the owners. Hence, the situation.”

Asked if the situation was unbelievable, he replied:

“There’s lot of people that don’t think that’s the way the committee should have come down. But I don’t know. It doesn’t change how things are, and it’s not going to change how they come out.”

Topp was asked whose responsibility it was to make sure all members of the boat had fishing licenses. While sidestepping the specific question, he said he felt that was where “the tournament kind of crosses the line.”

He said it was the individual’s responsibility to have an individual license.

“That’s where the … line gets gray. Where do you transition from an individual responsibility to a tournament responsibility or a boat responsibility?” he said. “I think the Big Rock committee is doing what they have to do. I understand that. I’m a 30-year-old retired colonel. I know about rules.

“But the guys that did all the right things on the boat, the owners, the captain, we’re the victims here. We’re the victims of ‘administrivia.’”

As a result of Citation being stripped of its victory, the winning boat will now be Carnivore, which is captained by Ed Petrilli of Cape Carteret. Angler John Parks of Jacksonville caught what turned out to be the winner, a 528.3-pound blue marlin on Wednesday.

Also, the Big Rock record now reverts back to the 831-pound blue marlin caught in 2000 by Ron Wallschlager on the Summertime Blues of Kiawah Island, S.C.

On Sunday morning, tournament director Crystal Watters e-mailed a news release to the media that said the Big Rock board of directors had “withheld presentation of blue marlin prize money until an alleged rules violation by the top team has been totally researched and a decision made regarding this alleged violation.”

Watters said Big Rock officials would have further comment today.

“I really have nothing to tell you,” she said. “I won’t know anything until tomorrow until the board meets. The board is going to convene and make some decisions about the issues and then we’ll do a press release.”

Citation captain Eric Holmes didn’t return messages left on his cell phone.




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MOREHEAD CITY — A rules violation has cost the Citation its record-setting win in the 52nd Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament.



Angler Andy Thomossan, who caught the record-setting 883-pound blue marlin Monday, said Sunday afternoon tournament officials had stripped the Hatteras-boat of the win, the record and the $912,825 prize money from the $1.66 million purse.

“No record. No money. No fish. No nothing,” Thomossan said, adding the rules violation was that one of the crew didn't have a fishing license as required.

The lack of a license by a “for-hire mate” was discovered during a lie detector test Saturday night, said Michael Topp, one of the boat’s three owners. The tournament requires a lie detector test for the top money winners, including the captain, mate and angler as well as “others as deemed necessary.”

Under tournament rules, “anyone fishing aboard a vessel” in the Big Rock must have a N.C. fishing license, including the captain, the mate and anglers.

A North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License costs $15 annually for state residents 16 and older or $30 for nonresidents, according to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ website. A 10-day license can also be purchased for $5 for state residents 16 and older or $10 for nonresidents.

Also, fishing boat owners can purchase a block of 10 10-day fishing licenses for $150.

Thomossan said he first got wind something might be wrong at Saturday night’s awards banquet, and Sunday morning the tournament sent out a news release that said the board of directors was withholding presentation of the prize money until “an alleged rules violation by the top team has been totally researched.”

Tournament director Crystal Watters, who sent out the e-mail news release, said Big Rock officials would have further comment Monday.

“I really have nothing to tell you,” she said Sunday night. “I won’t know anything until tomorrow until the board meets. The board is going to convene and make some decisions about the issues and then we’ll do a press release.”

Citation captain Eric Holmes didn’t returned messages left on his cell phone.

With the Citation being stripped of its win, the winning boat will now be Carnivore, which is captained by Ed Petrilli of Cape Carteret. Angler John Parks of Jacksonville caught a 528.3-pound blue marlin Wednesday.