Big Rock blog: Final day 'BANKWALKER' leads with a 449.7 lb. Blue Marlin
Day 5 saw 269 boats out on the water. Southern Grace boated a blue marlin weighing 653.7 lb. but after review and consultation with marine biologists, The Big Rock Tournament Rules Committee disqualified Southern Grace's fish due to a violation of Rule #24 concerning mutilation.
Lady angler Lizzie Montague remains at the top of the Blue Marlin Division with her 449.7lb catch aboard BANKWALKER.
Follow our coverage of the 67th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament on our daily blog and on our Big Rock page.
WNCT will provide live coverage of every blue marlin weigh-in throughout the tournament on WNCT.com and the WNCT 9 mobile app.
Release Division:
WAVE PAVER
Non-Sonar Division:
DEVELOPIN' HABITS
Outboard Division:
BEST MEDICINE
Dolphin Winner Take All:
SEA WISH
9:06 AM
The first unofficial blue marlin release of the day goes to BUILDER'S CHOICE at 9:06 AM
9:04 AM
Lines in! 254 out of 272 boats fishing for Day 6.
8:00 AM
The day starts with the traditional blessing of the fleet.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NFLPA interim executive director decision reportedly expected by Tuesday with J.C. Tretter, Don Davis in ‘2-man race'
The race to be the next executive director of the NFL Players Association is down to two men, according to The Athletic. Either NFLPA chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter or chief player officer Don Davis are expected to lead the union following a tumultuous week that saw Lloyd Howell abruptly resign. A decision is expected by Tuesday, when 26 of the league's 32 teams are scheduled to report to training camp, per ESPN. Representatives from all 32 NFL teams were on a call Friday night to discuss the union's leadership future. Tretter is reportedly seen as the leader ahead of Davis in terms of support from the players. Whoever gets the job is not expected to end up in the role full time. While Tretter seemingly has the support, Russini also reported on Saturday that a group of players are discussing potential legal action against the NFLPA and Tretter, "citing potential violations around inclusion, labor rights, and misuse of union dues." Howell, who led the NFLPA since 2023, resigned Thursday night after an outside investigator reportedly discovered Howell charged the union for multiple strip club visits, according to ESPN. Howell allegedly charged the union $738.82 on one receipt and another $2,426 during a separate strip club visit. ESPN's report marked the fourth time this offseason Howell's actions as NFLPA executive director came under scrutiny. Journalists Mike Florio and Pablo Torre previously unearthed two grievance rulings the NFL and NFLPA worked to keep secret. One of those rulings found evidence of collusion among teams, a potentially explosive revelation that Howell allegedly not only worked to keep out of the public, but also may have tried to keep from players.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2025 Anaheim Ducks Prospect Rankings: 10. Nathan Gaucher
The Anaheim Ducks have missed the playoffs every year since 2017-18 and in doing so, have drafted in the top ten for seven consecutive seasons and procured one of the NHL's deepest and most potent prospect pools. Despite several young players having graduated and become full-time NHLers, such as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger, the Ducks still have an impressive pipeline of potential impact and depth prospects yet to make the jump. Lukas Dostal: Increased Pressure, Journey from 'No-Name Goalie' to Paid Among NHL Elite Ducks Sign Drew Helleson to Two-Year Extension Ducks Sign Lukas Dostal to Five-Year Extension For this exercise, only players who haven't lost rookie status are eligible for a ranking, and to be clear, these are my (Patrick Present) subjective rankings. Honorable Mentions: Yegor Sidorov, Herman Traff, Tarin Smith, Lasse Boelius, Calle Clang It was a difficult decision to cut Sidorov from the list and rank Gaucher in the tenth spot. Ultimately, it came down to path and projectability. Based on his position demand, brand of hockey, and draft pedigree. It's a near-certainty that Gaucher will play NHL games, likely well over 100, in his career, beginning within the next couple of seasons. Though having shown more electricity and offensive upside to this point in their careers, the same cannot be said for Sidorov. Gaucher is a straight-line, tenacious, and defensively detailed right-shot center who plays a heavy brand and is difficult to play against on a shift-by-shift basis. He's an explosive skater, which he uses to cover a great amount of ice to eliminate time and space, whether that's in defensive zone coverage, on the backcheck in the neutral zone, or on the forecheck in the offensive zone. He utilizes his 6-foot-3, 207-pound frame to establish body position, protect pucks, and bully his way to the front of the opposing crease. The Ducks selected Gaucher (22nd overall in 2022) in the first round of the 2022 draft, Pat Verbeek's first draft as GM of the franchise, with a pick acquired in the trade of Hampus Lindholm to the Boston Bruins at the 2022 trade deadline. Before his pro career, and in his four seasons playing in the CHL for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, he scored 158 points (80-78=158) in 199 regular season games and added 29 (11-18=29) in 36 playoff games, en route to QMJHL and Memorial Cup championships in 2023. He won two World Junior Championship gold medals with Canada in 2022 and 2023, playing a shutdown, checking role and totaling six points (2-4=6) in 14 games between the two tournaments. Offense has not been easy to come by since beginning his professional career in 2023-24 as a member of the San Diego Gulls, as he's only produced 44 points (18-26=44) in 128 AHL games over the last two seasons. He is, however, making his trademark 200-foot impact on every game, and he quickly found his 'B-game' when failing to find scoresheets. 'Nathan has had to deal with a couple of really important injuries that have set him back a little bit since we drafted him. And unfortunately, he hurt himself right before camp, so it took him a while to get going this year because of that,' Ducks assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Martin Madden told The Hockey News: Anaheim Ducks, when asked about Gaucher's progression. 'And then, unfortunately, ended the season with injury as well. 'But he grew a lot in terms of his confidence with the puck, offensively. Overall, his offensive play grew as he gained confidence, establishing himself as a hard player to play against on the defensive side. They were using him in a checking role, PK. But as the season went on, his skating got better and better, and I think that helped with time and space, so he had more confidence in his hands. He had more confidence to look around and make plays.' The offense was coming around for Gaucher toward the final stretch of the 2024-25 season, as he scored 11 points (5-6=11) in his final 12 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Unfortunately, Gaucher bookended his 2024-25 campaign with injuries: first, he missed a significant percentage of rookie and training camps with a lower body injury, and then sustained the aforementioned shoulder injury to end his season, requiring surgery. He was given an estimated recovery time of 4-6 months after sustaining the injury in March and is expected to be fully healthy by rookie and training camps in September. It's plausible to believe Gaucher will rediscover what made him offensively successful at the end of last season, compound it with his defensive prowess, and hit the ground running in 2025-26, which will be his third season in the AHL. If he can continue to polish his two-way game and explore the reaches of his offensive capabilities, he will likely be playing NHL games within the next two seasons. Projecting Future Extensions for Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier Ducks Sign Clang, Myšák to One-Year Deals Ducks Prospect Uljanskis Chooses CHL for 2025-26 Season Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kevin Stefanski deliberately protecting Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders during Browns training camp
Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns coaching staff are slow-rolling Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders' development this offseason for a deliberate reason: They don't want the 'Grown QB' to be exposed during the difficult early portion of the team's schedule. 'The excitement surrounding Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is palpable, but there's a major reason the organization appears in no rush to throw him into the starting lineup – a murderous early-season schedule that would challenge even the most seasoned NFL veterans,' the Orange and Brown Talk Podcast crew, comprised of Mary Kay Cabot, Dan Labbe, Scott Patsko, and Ashley Bastock, wrote. Many are aware of Cleveland's deliberate slow-roll. ESPN's Harry Douglas tabs the Browns' seventh game of the season against the Miami Dolphins at home as the likeliest NFL debut of the 'Grown QB.' 'Game 7, that's when the Cleveland Browns play the Miami Dolphins. And if Shedeur Sanders goes into training camp and he's lights out, and he's playing very well in preseason, there's gonna have to be conversations that it might be earlier than that. Because what you don't want to do, if you're Kevin Stefanski, is have a guy show that he is the guy, but you not play him. Then you're gonna have some controversy when it comes to your roster and older players who are trying to win right now,' Douglas said on ESPN's 'Get Up.' Stefanski has been giving Sanders fewer plays to run than Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco, and has not deployed Shedeur against first-team defenders. Many a quarterback has sputtered under a fraction of the spotlight in their first NFL homes. With the revenue and interest he generates, Sanders needs to be protected as an asset until it's clear he is ready to either sink or swim in this league. Stefanski is way ahead of the curve on that.