Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament
Capt. Adam Thompson and the crew of the "Chicken Ship" took home first place in the 12th Annual Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament for a trio of sails they hooked at 23 Mile Rock while trolling dredges and dink ballyhoo.
With three sailfish releases on the event’s first day, Capt. Adam Thompson and the “Chicken Ship” crew eased past a record field of boats on their way to victory in the 12th Annual Capt. Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament, held July 28-31 out of Bridgetender Marina at Wrightsville Beach. Their trio of releases was tied with the “Whipsaw” crew, but they tallied their final sailfish first and earned the victory based on time.
Thompson, who runs the 54’ Jarrett Bay owned by House of Raeford Farms, fished with mates Kip Holiday and Brian “Squid” Smith along with customers from the farm, and the anglers didn’t have to wait long to find some good-looking water on the event’s first day.
Fishing near the 23 Mile Rock, which had been hosting a hot sailfish bite during the week prior to the event, Thompson liked what he saw Friday morning.
“There was lots of bait up top,” he explained, “and lots in the mid-water column. It was pretty obvious something was going to happen with the bait like that.”
Pulling a double-tier mullet dredge, a triple-tier ballyhoo dredge, and squid and ballyhoo daisy chains for teasers, the winning crew raised and hooked the tournament’s first sailfish on Friday morning. A naked dink ballyhoo on a circle hook tempted the sail to bite.
Smith was serving as not only mate but angler for the crew, and he hooked and fought the sail to a quick release after the crew snapped the leader-in-hand photo required by the tournament to verify the catches.
“Squid was the angler and hooked all three of our fish,” Thompson reported. “It’s usually the other way around. We fish together a lot, but he’s normally up top and I’m in the pit.”
After taking the lead on the first morning, the “Chicken Ship” never looked back, raising a double header in the middle of the day and securing a release on one of the two fish.
Another single sail was drawn to the teasers early that afternoon, and the anglers had their third release in the bag.
After their Friday success, the anglers headed back to the same area on Saturday morning, but they didn’t find quite the ideal conditions from the previous day.
“There was still some bait,” Thompson said, “but it had dissipated and was holding really tight to the ledges. With that many boats in the tournament it’s tough to go over the same ledges over and over again. I think that amount of pressure scattered the fish out a little bit, too.”
Grinding it out in the area for most of the morning, Thompson eventually decided to get away from the crowd.
“I broke off by myself late in the day to try and find something else,” Thompson explained.
Though they raised one sail on day two, the crew was unable to hook it. Fortunately for them, “Whipsaw” didn’t get their final release until Saturday, so the “Chicken Ship” handily earned the top spot.
“Whipsaw” did earn the First Sailfish Release Award on Saturday. As this was the 12th year of the Haneman Tournament, there was a 12th Sailfish Release Award, earned by Capt. William Reynolds and the “Reel Quick” crew. Taylor Pleasant on the “Reel Escape” earned the honors for the Last Sailfish Release in the event.
Parker Plott, aboard the “Horse,” was the tournament’s Top Junior Angler, releasing a sailfish and earning himself a full-size sailfish mount.
Capt. Mike White, on the “Offshore Account,” weighed the tournament’s heaviest dolphin, a 14-pounder.
In addition to highlighting the Cape Fear’s undersung sailfish fishery and celebrating its namesake, a pioneer of sportfishing at Wrightsville Beach, the Capt. Eddy Haneman Tournament is a fundraiser for Lower Cape Fear Hospice and chooses a deserving member of the community as a beneficiary each year. This year, 3-year old Sean Fleming was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma, and funds raised by the tournament went to the Fleming family to ease the financial burden of his struggle.
