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They Won Millions Fishing. Yes, Fishing. Here’s How

When it comes to winning angling’s big purses, luck has very little to do with success


spinner image fishermen celebrate on their boat
Photo: Triwork Studios

Fishermen often talk about luck: sometimes good luck; sometimes bad luck. But in successful angling, especially in the high-octane, pressure-cooker environment of tournament competition, luck has surprisingly little to do with success. The successful formula is largely a combination of preparation, determination, experience and hard work. Anglers, by and large, make their own luck. 

Jeremy Duffie is an example of that combination. Duffie is a saltwater angler who has been prowling the waters along the Maryland coast and beyond for years. His experience runs as deep as the ocean waters he fishes.

Competitive fishing isn’t Duffie’s business. That’s real estate development. But last August, competing in the 2022 White Marlin Open tournament out of Ocean City, Maryland, aboard the Billfisher, a sportfishing rig built and captained by his brother, Duffie landed a 77.5-pound white marlin on the tournament’s final day, which, it turned out, was the winning fish, netting a record $4,536,929 in prize money.  

“We got lucky,” Duffie said. “You don’t expect it.” 

Anglers might not expect to end up in the winner’s circle. But they prepare for it, hope for it, attempt it.

At the dock, as anglers mingle with fans and are immersed in the camaraderie that underlies the competition, the mood often feels festive, even jovial. Fishing tournaments at every level are family-friendly events. But on the boat, away from the dock and on the water, the atmosphere is electric and occasionally jolted by purely unpredictable moments of absolute pandemonium. The strike of a big fish does that. Bringing a marlin to hand requires teamwork, coordination, concentration ... and maybe a smidgen of luck.  

The on-the-water competition is friendly but fierce. Last year the Billfisher was one of 408 boats in the White Marlin Open. Tournament officials said more than 3,500 contestants competed. 

Given the unpredictability of fishing, the action is surprisingly scripted. The rules must be strictly followed: There are set fishing hours, minimum fish sizes and weights. Minimum and maximum numbers of days that must be fished. All-tackle International Game Fish Association rules generally apply. They are pages long. An error can lead to disqualification.  

On board a saltwater event, angling is a team effort. There is no limit on the number of anglers a boat can carry. But it’s not a tag-team effort. Once fish and fisherman are connected it largely becomes a one-on-one struggle, as mandated by tournament fishing guidelines that prohibit anyone other than the angler handling the rod to fight the fish. No one else is even allowed to touch the angler unless it’s to keep the fisherman from falling overboard.

The fight can last minutes or hours — more likely hours, but every hookup is different. As often as not, it ends with the fish disappearing into the deep and the exhausted angler wrestling to slow his or her heartbeat and reassemble his nerves.  

spinner image jeremy duffie poses with his prize winning catch
Jeremy Duffie with The Billfisher took first place and a prize of more than $4.5M in the 2022 White Marlin Open Tournament with a 77.5lb White Marlin.
Photo Credit: White Marlin Open

Winning boat crews are, at the discretion of the tournament director, subject to a polygraph examination. 

While the 10-member crew of the Billfisher savored the victory and shared in the lifestyle-altering winnings, fishing was and remains largely a family affair for Duffie.

“We just really enjoy the time with our family,” he said. 

Still, a six- or seven-figure angling payday isn’t pocket change. And the competition, regardless of the prize money, is intense. Fishermen who enter tournaments, whether it’s a local event or a major purse like the White Marlin Open or the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City, North Carolina, or one of the big-league bass fishing contests on the Bassmaster and Major League Fishing trails, do not cast a line with second place in mind.  

Capt. John Cruise III certainly doesn’t.

Cruise, who owns and operates Carolina Offshore Fishing, employs the preparation, determination, experience, hard work formula every time he takes clients onto the water or into competition. Cruise won the 2020 Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament on his 35-foot Pelagic Hunter II. He has collected other wins, including claiming the Big Rock Outdoor Division title in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

spinner image captain john and his crew pose with their catch
Captain John Pelagic Hunter II.
Photo Credit: Triwork Studios

But the 2020 Big Rock victory with a four-person crew aboard the 35-foot Pelagic Hunter II has been something of a game changer.

The winning fish came on the third hookup of the day. It was the only fish landed. The first two, Cruise estimated, were probably heavier than the one brought to the scale.

“We were very lucky,” said Cruise, who is also an active-duty Marine who intensely enjoys the competition and camaraderie from the big water tournament action and fishes four to six events a year. “But the one big change for me from winning [the 2020 Big Rock] is that it proved the little guy can do it, too. We’re coming to win in 2023.” 

Jeremy Lawyer’s story has more than an all-American undercurrent. It also has an All-American pedigree. 

A few years ago, Lawyer was working his day job but longed for a fishing career. He had fished local and regional events with his sights on the BFL All-American championship. The BFL All-American is something of a grassroots championship that gives working-class and weekend anglers a chance to jump to the big time. It’s the AAA championship of tournament bass fishing.  

Lawyer, who is from Sarcoxie, Missouri (population 1,406), won the 2016 BFL All-American and soon thereafter turned full-time pro. His tournament winnings on the Major League Fishing trail recently exceeded $1 million. 

spinner image jeremy lawyer has his picture taken with his prize catch
Jeremy Lawyer holds a chunky Kentucky Lake largemouth bass up for the television camera during the Major League Fishing BFL All-American Championship. Lawyer went on to win the tournament and jumpstart his professional fishing career.
Credit: Kory Savage/Major League Fishing

Lawyer credits another component to the winning formula: stick-to-itiveness. 

“My fishing career had been pretty solid,” the married father of one recalled. “I had kind of been fortunate enough to have my fishing winnings pay for tournament entries, but I wasn’t making real money. To get over the hump and try to become a full-time professional angler and find the means to fish for a living, it was going to take winning the All-American.”

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In 2015, he thought he’d done that. But he hadn’t. He finished second.

“I thought I had that tournament won,” he said, adding that the loss left him “deflated.” 

Deflated but not defeated.

“I had my dream of becoming a professional angler in my hands, and I watched it ride off into the sunset,” he said. “But that also lit a fire under me. The next year, when I requalified, it gave me so much more drive.” 

In 2016, he won. And he’s kept on winning.

“The experience was amazing,” he said. “Winning the 2016 BFL All-American absolutely changed my life, 100 percent.”

Lawyer’s fortune has been a quintessential American dream. 

“I came from an area of the world that if you made $15 an hour, that was a pretty good wage and a nice job,” he said. “So, to have some success — win the All-American, then win a Toyota Series event, then an FLW Tour event — when the fishing world is handing you $100,000 at a time and you came from a job that’s making $40,000 a year with a lot of overtime work, it was an absolute blessing. No doubt about it.”

At a tournament this year Lawyer’s winnings pushed his career earnings past $1 million. 

“That milestone would most likely never have been achievable without winning the BFL All-American in 2016,” he said. 

 

Share Your Experience: Do you have a story about tackling the big fish? Share it in the comments below.

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