During the 25th Annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, on The Outer Banks of North Carolina, held August 11 – 15, 2008, a North Carolina state record was broken when Florida resident Trey Irvine landed the largest blue marlin in the state’s history, weighing in at a whopping 1,228.50 pounds. This smashes the previous record weight of a 1,142-pounder caught in 1974.

While the record catch received the bulk of the attention, the majority of anglers did well during the tournament, landing a total of 23 blue marlin, 59 white marlin, 20 sailfish and one spearfish.
The recent tournament, and its’ blue marlin star, brings to national attention a fact that frequent visitors and locals already knew: Hatteras Island is Marlin Country. Continue reading →