Big Rock week offshore, blackfin tuna join billfish action at Hatteras

Big Rock week put Hatteras offshore in full tournament mode, but the blackfin note mattered because it sat in the same water as the billfish circus. The June 9 Hatteras Island report came during the second day of the Big Rock with 211 boats fishing, and Marlin Fever’s 919.9-pound blue marlin already had the headline spot. For tuna anglers, that mattered because blackfin, dolphin and wahoo were all part of the same offshore spread.

The report also gave a clean read on conditions. Offshore water temperatures ran 71 to 74 degrees, while sound water sat at 76 to 78. The big boats had stayed home the day before because of rough conditions and because crews were getting ready for the tournament, which helps explain why the fleet did not fully press every bite window. Even so, the offshore list still showed blackfin tuna alongside dolphin and wahoo, while the release side included blue marlin, sailfish and white marlin.

That broader mix showed up again in the Hatteras Harbor report for the same date. Most of the big boats had their limits of dolphin, Calypso released two sailfish, and the inshore boats found limits of big bluefish plus a cobia and red drum. For Outer Banks crews deciding where to burn fuel, it was a week where the marlin fleet set the tone, but the same bluewater lanes still carried tuna and mahi opportunities for boats working the edges.

The tournament itself underlined how intense the offshore scene had become. The 2026 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament ran June 6-14 in Morehead City with 278 boats registered and a prize pool of $9,038,225. The official leaderboard also showed a heaviest tuna of 70.8 pounds on Watertight, a heaviest dolphin of 66.1 pounds and a heaviest wahoo of 53.4 pounds, which confirmed that tuna were not just background fish in the mix. By Day 4, only 105 of the 278 boats were fishing that day, and seven blue marlin had been weighed through three days.

The 919.9-pound marlin also carried historical weight. Big Rock traces back to 1957, and the catch topped the previous tournament mark of 914 pounds set in 2019. With the record fish carrying a potential $6.2 million payday if it held, the Hatteras blackfin line became more than a side note. It showed tuna were riding the same pressure, bait and fleet movement that had the whole bluewater scene fixed on Big Rock’s record board.