Hookahoo
A long trip to the Gulf Stream turned into a banner day for Capt. Bob Nagy and the “Dropoff” crew out of Little River, SC, as the 29 lb. wahoo they caught ultimately ended up taking home first place in the 2012 Martini’s Hook a Hoo Rodeo, held out of Harbourgate Marina in North Myrtle Beach April 20-May 5.
“We fished the first Wednesday of the tournament,” Nagy explained. “We got prepared the day before and then left at 1:00 AM and took it slow on out there to save some fuel.”
Running to a temperature break they’d identified near the Blackjack Hole, the anglers immediately doubled back.
“The water temperature was supposed to be good out there,” said Nagy, “but it was too hot. We ended up running back down the break until we got to some 73 degree water.”
With mate Paul Pancake and Tommy Donahue, Tommy Kaegi, Randy Atwood, and others aboard, the crew put their lines in near the 100/400 around daybreak. The anglers immediately began hooking fish, with both dolphin and wahoo taking an interest in the skirted ballyhoo swimming in the 43’ Torres’ wake.
The anglers stayed busy for much of the morning, finding continued action in around 170’ of water, until their big fish bit around 11:00.
A ballyhoo under a blue/white skirt on top fooled the 29 pounder, and the crew took turns reeling the fish in before Pancake was finally able to plant a gaff in it.
Though it bested everything so far in the box, the anglers knew that a 29 lb. wahoo could easily be beaten in the ten fishing day competition, so they continued working the area, ultimately boxing up three wahoo, four dolphin, two king mackerel, and two amberjack before calling it a day and making the long run back to Little River Inlet.
Though the 29 pounder took the lead when the “Dropoff” crew did just that at the Harbourgate Marina scales, they knew that their fish was less than half as big as the previous year’s winner, so some tense days lay between them and the awards ceremony.
“It was just one of those things,” Nagy said. “People had caught bigger fish the week before, but I think the full moon screwed up the wahoo bite. There were a bunch of days where it was so rough you couldn’t fish, and then on the days they could, the fish didn’t bite too good.”
The team waited out the following eight days, and they were pleased to learn their fish held off the field, ultimately never leaving the top of the leaderboard.
A 21.06 lb. wahoo earned Brad Skidmore and crew aboard the “Start Me Up” second place in the Hook a Hoo Rodeo, and Capt. Danny Juel rounded out the top three with a 19 lb. ‘hoo.
Topping the event’s mahi category were Eric Jordan and the “Chasin’ Bugs,” who scaled a 22 lb. dolphin, and Cory Bellamy took home first place in the tuna division with a 20.07 lb. fish.
The Hook a Hoo Rodeo is a twice-yearly tournament that serves as a fundraiser for the Shriner’s Burn Center, a hospital network that provides no-cost treatment for children suffering from burns. More information on the event and the cause are available at www.hookahoorodeo.com.
