The fishing team recently caught a prize-worthy marlin at the 66th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina.
The team aboard the Hatteras-based boat Release caught a 504-pound blue marlin and won $1.7 million.
Captain Rom Whitaker of the 53ft Bobby Sullivan led the team to success, with angler Kirk Pugh landing an impressive big blue fish.
“They’ve been fishing this tournament together for 22 years and have never caught a marlin in this tournament before,” a North Carolina resident close to the anglers told Fox News Digital (the resident asked not to be named for privacy reasons).
Blue marlin live in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. According to National Geographic, the fish averages 11 feet in length and weighs between 200 and 400 pounds.
The tournament got underway on Monday with a record number of 302 fishing boats.
“Captain Rom’s Fab Fish Rebel win yesterday afternoon and the shuffle on the Gametime leaderboard made for a perfect start to the week,” Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament Executive Director Madison Strike told Fox News Digital.
She said Big Rock is the largest non-profit billfish tournament in the world.
“The Big Rock Foundation is the charitable arm of the tournament and has donated more than $10 million to worthy organizations since 1986. For the past three years, the Big Rock Foundation has donated more than $1 million per year,” Strike said.
The fishing tournament is scheduled to continue through Sunday.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Captain Rom Whitaker and one of the anglers, Kirk Pugh, for comment.
