Tom Rowland Podcast

For one week each June, nearly two hundred crews prepare their state-of-the-art multimillion-dollar boats and head to the Gulf Stream in pursuit of the prize of the Atlantic—a prize-winning blue marlin. Thousands of spectators flock to the Big Rock Landing hoping to catch a glimpse of history at the weigh-ins, while out in the blue anglers engage in lengthy battles with marlin in the range of five to nine hundred pounds. It’s the most electrifying spot on the Eastern Seaboard during that six-day period when life revolves around the epic annual maritime hunt known simply as The Big Rock.  This year, Michael Jordan entered the 62nd installment of the annual tournament and made an immediate impact.  Jordan and the crew on his boat, Catch 23, reeled in a 442-pound blue marlin Tuesday, the second day of the tournament in the basketball great's home state of North Carolina. Author Bethany Bradsher delivers all the action—behind the scenes, out at sea, and dockside—in page-turning style in The Big Rock.  Follow Beth