CCCF Spanish Mackerel and Dolphin Tournament
Jackson (age 4) and Mark Wade with the 4.140 lb. spanish mackerel that earned Jackson the Top Kid Angler title at the CCCF Spanish Mackerel Dolphin Tournament.
After a rough ride out and a morning filled with sharks, Bubba Sanderson and the “Connecting Point Computer Center” fishing team turned things around in a hurry, landing three fat spanish mackerel within an hour to take home first place in the Carteret Community College Foundation Spanish Mackerel and Dolphin Tournament, held July 27 out of The Boathouse at Front Street Village.
Sanderson, fishing with his younger son Sam and Morgan Shipp aboard a 22’ Jones Brothers Bateau, hadn’t pre-fished for the event, but he got some intel on where to head on tournament morning.
“My brother-in-law mates on some boats,” Sanderson explained, “and he told us the Summerlin would be a good bet.”
After buying some live menhaden on tournament morning, the anglers headed for the spot, also known as AR-285, and found plenty of action when they got there, but not what they were looking for.
“We had one spanish early, but he got off the line,” Sanderson continued. “Everything else we were catching was sharks.”
Their luck turned around about 10:00 that morning, when the crew got a different bite on one of their menhaden.
“That big one bit around 10:00,” Sanderson said.
Sam Sanderson took the rod and had to play the fish gently.
“The fish was foul-hooked,” Sanderson continued, “so we had to finesse it to the boat. We were lucky to get it. I pulled it in by the tail.”
After the morning’s shark assault, the trio were running low on bait and rigs, but the 5.77 lb. spaniard they put in the boat encouraged them to stick it out at the Summerlin Reef.
The decision proved a good one, as Shipp and the younger Sanderson put two more 5 lb. class spanish in the boat before 11:00.
Bubba and Sam Sanderson with 5.77 and 5.435 lb. spanish mackerel that earned them the top spot in several categories of the CCCF Spanish Mackerel and Dolphin Tournament. Their big spanish bit live menhaden at AR-285 while they were fishing with Morgan Shipp.
“I like to let them do the fishing and I captain the boat,” Sanderson explained.
With three big fish in the boat, the anglers headed for the scales around 11:30 that morning.
“I knew it would be at least an hour-long run,” Sanderson said, “and we didn’t want to cut it close. I was hoping we could kind of surf the waves in, which ended up working out.”
Running back into Barden’s Inlet between Cape Lookout and Shackleford Banks, the anglers made it inshore and to Front Street Village to scale their fish with plenty of time to spare.
“I’d thought we might have something going on with those fish,” Sanderson said. “And when we were carrying them up in a bucket, there were a lot of comments about the size, so we were feeling pretty good.”
As the scales closed, the “Connecting Point” fish held onto the top spot on the leaderboard, edging out the second place spaniard by just over a tenth of a pound.
In addition to first place overall, the trio of mackerel put Sam and Bubba Sanderson on top of the TWT, Rotary Team, and Teen leaderboards, and it also earned Shipp third place Lady Angler in the event.
Mike Street on “Team Kraft” secured second place with a 5.565 lb. spaniard, and “Just Rite” with Sabrina Ebron held down third with a 5.475 lb. fish.
Dave Collins took the top spot on the tournament’s Dolphin leaderboard with a 16.56 lb. fish.
The Carteret Community College Foundation raises funds for CCC students and programs and is one of the school’s most important fundraisers. This year’s tournament attracted 72 boats.
More information on the event and a full leaderboard are available at www.carteretsmt.com.
