Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament
Reeling Them in for More than Six Decades
TowneBank and Towne Insurance were honored to help sponsor the 2026 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in June. The 68th annual tournament was held in Morehead City and featured a $9 million purse. A record 278 boats competed, with Marlin Fever taking first place.
The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament began in 1957 when the Fabulous Fishermen’s Club offered a little red wagon full of silver dollars to the first person to catch a blue marlin.
Today, the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is the largest nonprofit fishing tournament in the world.
The Tournament is driven by a central mission of “Charity First” through the Big Rock Foundation. The organization has contributed $14 million to local causes since 1986, including outdoor learning centers, athletic equipment, musical instruments, and library upgrades for 14 local public schools, plus helping to fund a new Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plains facility in Beaufort.
Towne Insurance has a long history of working with the Big Rock organization with services managed by Tim Kelly, Risk Advisor, and Madison Taylor, Senior Commercial Account Manager.
For more information, visit TheBigRock.com.
Insurance products offered through Towne Insurance, a subsidiary of TowneBank, are Not bank deposits or obligations, Not FDIC-insured, Not guaranteed by TowneBank, and may go down in value.