Swansboro Rotary Blue Water Tournament
The “Carolina Time” crew prepares to release one of three blue marlin they hooked on Sunday, May 26 on their way to first place on the release leaderboard in the Swansboro Rotary Blue Water Tournament.
After two slow days of fishing, Capt. Shane Brafford and the crew of the “Carolina Time” had an explosive two hours as the clock wound down on their fishing day in the Swansboro Rotary Blue Water Tournament, releasing a trio of blue marlin to earn 900 points and the top spot on the release leaderboard.
With his son Hunter, wife Robyn, boat owner Steven Matthews, mate Michael Wade, Mark Parrish, and Tim Dean aboard the 57’ Gwaltney sportfishermen, Brafford and the crew were only able to muster a few dolphin on Saturday, May 25, the event’s first fishing day.
They had an equally slow morning on Sunday, but turned things around in a big way just after lunch.
“We were fishing in 200 fathoms behind the Big Rock,” Brafford reported.
While trolling a spread of large marlin plugs, the anglers raised a blue marlin to their teaser just after noon. The fish eventually fixated on a black/purple trolling plug in the right short corner and inhaled the lure.
Hunter Brafford was on the rod as the crew began the fight, calling in their hookup at 12:35.
“We got the leader on that fish pretty quick,” Brafford continued, “but it took off again and we thought it might be a kill fish so we wanted it back.”
The marlin never jumped, leading the crew on a chase for 35 minutes before they were finally able to grab the leader again and determine the estimated 325 lb. fish was a bit below the event’s 400 lb. minimum weight for a dead blue marlin. The 1:06 PM release garnered the team 300 points and got them on the release leaderboard with less than two hours left before the 3:00 cutoff of the fishing day.
“That was Hunter’s first blue marlin,” Brafford explained. “He’s hooked a couple for me before but never got to fight one.”
Getting back on the troll, the “Carolina Time” crew made it nearly back to the spot of their first hookup when another fish came in for a look at the teaser.
They successfully steered this fish to a hooked plug as well, and Mark Parrish did the angling duties, battling the estimated 400 lb. fish to a release in a flat 50 minutes to earn 300 more points for the team.
With less than an hour of competition left, they reset their spread, and again hooked a blue marlin when they approached the mark where their others had bit.
“We hooked all those fish within a quarter-mile of each other,” Brafford said.
This fish inhaled a trolling plug on the long outrigger at 2:38, and Tim Dean took up position in the fighting chair.
“That one was 400-450,” Brafford said. “We debated for a long time about whether to kill it or not, but I knew it might not beat Adrian’s fish so we decided to let it go for the points. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.”
The crew got the release at 3:00 on the nose, bringing their total to 900, and headed for home.
“Adrian’s fish” referred to the 452 lb. blue marlin Capt. Adrian Holler and the “Sea Striker” crew weighed in to take home the $37,800 bounty for the largest marlin killed during the event.
Finishing second on the release leaderboard were owner John Roberts and Capt. Mike Taylor on the “Weldor’s Arc” with one white marlin and two blue marlin releases for 675 points.
Capt. Cameron Guthrie and “Marlin Fever” rounded out the top three with two blue releases good for 600 points.
More information on the event and a full leaderboard area available at www.kingbluewater.com.
