Local group 'catches' a nice break on vacation
Giant blue marlin comes with $500K prize for fishermen
BY BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writer

Robert Lockwood stands with the blue marlin that he and four others brought him from 16 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Md., during the 35th annual White Marlin Open.

SAYREVILLE — One week later, Robert Lockwood still can't get over it.

He and a few friends go down to Ocean City, Md., to relax, enjoy some time off and go fishing. They wind up catching one of the largest blue marlins in state history, and take home a $500,000 prize.

"My adrenaline is still pumping," Lockwood said Monday, six days after he reeled in the 935.5-pound fish during the annual White Marlin Open.

Lockwood, whose family owns the Lockwood Boat Works Inc., Route 35, has been participating in the tournament for about 12 years, but unlike many others, he and his crew do it for fun.

"You're competing against the big hired guns — professional captains and mates with their 65- to 75-footers, guys who do this every day," he said. "We go for vacation and to have a good time. We want to catch fish, but that's extra. This time we happened to catch it."

Robert Lockwood stands with the blue marlin.

That they did. Lockwood, his brother Michael, and their friends Brian Walczak, Robert McKeon and George Boulieris, all from the South Amboy and Morgan area, went out to sea on Robert Lockwood's 38- foot Henriques boat, called the Last Run, on Aug. 4, 5 and 8. The first day, they spotted two big blue marlins feeding at a location about 16 miles off shore, so they decided to return to the same spot the next day.

About three hours after dropping their lines, the group hooked a white marlin that turned out to be too small and was thrown back.

"So we put our lines back in, and all of a sudden we saw what we now call the prehistoric monster, it was so big," Lockwood said with a laugh.

The group sprung into action, switching places and rods, which is no easy task. The idea was to have Robert Lockwood reel it in with his 130 Class rod, since he has some experience bringing in big fish. He brought the rod close to the fish, and after about 30 seconds of chasing, the marlin was hooked. The fish took off, and with it went almost half a spool, or 600 to 700 yards worth.

As they drew it in, Lockwood and the crew got a better sense of what they were dealing with.

"When it was about 400 to 500 yards out, it jumped a couple times and we finally figured out, 'This is the big one,'" Lockwood recalled.

"As we got him up close everyone worked as a team," he said. "I couldn't have done it without the crew."

Lockwood estimates he fought for two hours to get the marlin in, before the full crew used all their might to rope it and get it in the boat.

"It took every single one of us to get it into the boat," he said.

The crew notified the tournament boat of their extra-large catch, as is protocol, and by the time they returned to dock, word had gotten out about the catch.

"Everyone was waiting for us, cheering us on and high-fiving," Lockwood said. "They had 8,000 to 10,000 people there when we went to the weigh scale."

The 11.5-foot fish was the largest caught during the weeklong tournament, with nothing else even coming close, and was the second-biggest fish in the event's 35-year history. Another 7 pounds would have made it the largest ever caught in the state.

For Lockwood, his brother and friends, the half-million-dollar payoff was quite a nice bonus for signing up for a fishing tournament "just to be part of the fun of it." The group split up the money, and as is standard, set aside funds for the boat.

The money will come in handy for the five recreational fishermen, who will never forget the thrill of this catch.

"Just like everyone said, it's the fish of a lifetime," Lockwood said. "I'm always going to remember it."