Capt. Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament 2007
Many North Carolina fishermen are calling the 2007 sailfish season the best they’ve seen in recent memory, and the record 25 sailfish released during the Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament, held July 27-29 at Bridge Tender Marina in Wrightsville Beach, attest to that opinion. The winning boat, Figure Eight Island’s “Retriever,” would surely agree, as they tallied four of those releases and raised one more sail over the event.
The “Retriever” crew consisted of Bob Wright, his sons Brent and Rob Wright, and Clint Richardson aboard the 31’ Oceanmaster center console. They caught all of the sailfish that earned them the victory on Friday, the first of two days of fishing..
All of the “Retriever” sails bit near the 30/30, a live bottom area offshore of Carolina Beach. “We were fortunate,” Brent Wright said. “We had three of them come up on the teaser. That just makes things easier because it gets them closer to the boat.”
The first sail rose on the teaser shortly after the crew began trolling. They sent back a naked ballyhoo pitch bait, and Rob Wright hooked the fish.
After a fairly quick fight featuring a few jumps, Rob had the fish boatside.
With their first release on the board at just after 8:00 on Friday morning, the “Retriever” was in a good position on the leaderboard early, and they began looking for another fish.
The next sail didn’t show up in their spread until around 11:00, and Richardson brought this fish to the boat after another short battle. Richardson hooked up and released a third sailfish around noon, and an hour later Bob Wright caught and released one, bringing the team’s total up to four. Naked ballyhoo accounted for all of the crew’s sail bites.
Brent Wright estimated the team’s largest sailfish to weigh around 50 lbs., with the others in the 30-40 lb. class.
Saturday was a bit slower for the team, but they raised another sail in the early afternoon. It rose up to inspect the team’s teaser, a “Retriever” secret, but the crew couldn’t interest the fish in a hooked bait.
Fortunately for the crew, the four sails they caught Friday were more than any other boat could put together over two days of fishing, and they held the top spot on the leaderboard through Saturday. Other than the sails that earned them the victory, the crew landed several dolphin, bonita, and king mackerel over the course of the event.
In addition to the overall win, the “Retriever” crew earned a prize for releasing the event’s 8th sail (as this is the Eddy Haneman’s 8th year). At the awards ceremony, they donated their entire check to the tournament’s youth beneficiary.
This event also presents prizes for the first sail released each day and the final sail released in the event. The “Horse” captured Friday’s early release award, and “Dawg Catcher” set free the first sail on Saturday. “Whipsaw” caught the final sail in the tournament.
Last year’s overall winner, Capt. Lee Parsons fishing aboard the “Gottafly” with Dickie Burwell, weighed in the event’s heaviest dolphin at 13.52 lbs. The dolphin ate a naked ballyhoo while the pair was trolling around a hard bottom area 12 miles offshore of Wrightsville Beach.
“Dawg Catcher” took the second place dolphin in the event.
This tournament stands as a memorial to Capt. Eddy Haneman, who was in large part responsible for bringing the charter boat industry to Wrightsville Beach, and whose wife, Mary, attends the awards ceremony each year.
Tournament co-founder Kit Taylor (who began mating for Haneman in 1969) explained the creation of the event: “The whole thing came about because a bunch of us who were lucky enough to have worked for Capt. Eddy wanted to do something to raise money for charities through local fishermen. We decided to do a tournament, and the name that kept coming up was Eddy’s because he was the originator. He was really instrumental in building the fishing community up around here and exploring the great offshore fishing we have here at Wrightsville Beach.”
Raise money for charities the tournament does, benefiting Cape Fear Hospice and a foundation for the education of children with Down’s syndrome. The event also chooses a local child or family to support each year.
This year the money generated from the BBQ meal provided by John Boy and Billy Big Show Foods went to the Verzaal family from Wilmington. Paul Verzaal is a Wilmington police officer whose son Justin was diagnosed with a severe form of muscular dystrophy several years ago. While medical insurance covers many of his bills, the family still must provide a massive amount of money for wheelchairs, leg braces, a lift van, and a myriad other expenses.
In addition to the money generated by the meal, all the teams receiving checks donated their winnings to the Verzaals.
Unlike many billfish tournaments, the Eddy Haneman is geared towards anglers in smaller boats. Taylor explains, “That’s why we have our boundaries 25-26 miles offshore, so small boats can fish it as well as the big ones. It makes it possible for the small boats to compete against the big guys, because nobody can run out to the Gulf Stream and billfish.”
Brent Wright added, “I think a lot of people overshoot the fish this time of year anyway. We fish it (Eddy Haneman) every year because it’s easy, it’s laid back, and perfect for smaller boats.”
