A tournament fisherman caught an 883-pound blue marlin off North Carolina last week. That would have won him a $912,000 first prize, but one of the crew members on his boat didn't have a fishing license. So....disqualified. Oops.


Andy Thomossan thought he had set a new record at the Big Rock Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament, when his monster catch was easily the largest one pulled out of the water during the week-long event. But during a standard post-contest lie detector test—yes, that is actually standard; this shit is serious—organizers discovered that one of the "for-hire mates" on his boat did not have a North Carolina fishing license. The tournament rules require everyone on the crew to have one, even the chum wranglers whose only responsibilities include baiting hooks and keeping the beer cold. Carolina residents can purchase a 10-day license for $5.

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Thomossan did not appreciate the irony.

"It hurts," said angler Andy Thomossan. "No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it's a nice ending to the story, isn't it?" "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."

Fishing without a license in North Carolina carries a $35 fine and $125 in court costs, plus about a million bucks to anyone you happen to screw out of a record jackpot. This scofflaw also might end up fishing with Fredo, if you catch my drift.

Rules violation costs Citation win, record, $900,000-plus in Big Rock [Jacksonville Daily News]

$15 mistake could sink $912,825 payday [News Observer]


PHOTO: News Observer