CCCF Spanish Mackerel Tournament
Richard Hall with the 6.45 lb. spanish mackerel that won the Carteret Community College Spanish Mackerel/Dolphin Tournament. The big spaniard fell for a naked pogy at an artificial reef off Beaufort Inlet. Photo courtesy of Ted Lewis.
A stout 6.45 lb. spanish mackerel earned first place in the 4th Annual Carteret Community College Foundation Spanish Mackerel Tournament for Morehead City’s Richard Hall.
“I worked hard enough for it,” Hall said. “I’ve fished this thing all four years, got skunked one year, didn’t make the leader board one year, and finished second last year.”
Hall, fishing alone aboard his 20’ Grady White, looked for bait Saturday evening, but that was the extent of his pre-fishing.
After catching some small menhaden on tournament morning, he headed for a well-known artificial reef three miles off Atlantic Beach and began slow-trolling.
Regular shark hookups kept Hall busy over the morning, but he didn’t hook a mackerel until well after 12:00 noon.
“Usually you catch the little sharks the size of your forearm out there,” Hall continued. “For some reason the bigger ones were there that day, and I even foul-hooked a couple of 50-pounders earlier in the day, which was a handful.”
Finally something took off with a naked menhaden that Hall was trolling long, and it didn’t act like one of the pesky sharks.
“I knew he was a mackerel when he ran out instead of down,” he said.
Fishing solo, Hall had plenty to do before he could get down to getting the fish in the boat.
“I was by myself,” he explained, “so I had to run the boat with the wind blowing, clear the lines, and have the gaff ready in a rod holder. All in all, it wasn’t too bad, nothing compared to those sharks.”
After getting the boat in order, Hall got down to bringing in the fish, and he was pleased to see it was a large and well-hooked spanish mackerel when he got his first look at it.
“I saw he had the hooks in his mouth,” he said, “so I knew I didn’t have to baby him. Not like a king when you see you’ve just got it hooked a little bit in the skin.”
Putting some more heat on the fish, Hall soon had it within gaff range. A few moments later, the winning fish was in the boat, though the angler didn’t know it.
“I figured he was about 4 lbs,” he explained, “because he came in so easy. I guess fighting those sharks threw me off.”
Soon after putting his big spaniard in the boat, Hall decided to head for the scales.
“My bait wasn’t looking good and I got second by a tenth of a pound last year, so I figured it was best to get him in before he lost any more weight,” he reported.
At the scales, Hall was pleasantly surprised to learn the mackerel weighed more than half-again what he’d estimated.
“I was definitely surprised when they said he was 6.5 lbs.,” he reported. “I figured I’d be in the top ten, not winning.”
Caitlin Hamer, on the appropriately-named “Smackerel,” earned second place in the event and the Top Lady Angler title with a 6.19 lb. spanish. Jim Massengill, aboard the “Lady Lou,” scaled a 5.59 lb. fish to round out the top three.
This year’s tournament also featured a dolphin division, which Stewart Dudley topped with a 26.92 lb. fish.
The CCCF Spanish Mackerel Tournament raises funds for Morehead City’s Carteret Community College. More information and the event’s full leader board are available at www.carteretsmt.com.
