Island Harbor King Mackerel Tournament 2007
Barracuda are usually reviled by offshore anglers, especially during tournament time, but Joe Dean and Ernie White, the winners of the 19th annual Island Harbor Marina/Kencraft Challenger King Mackerel Tournament, would not have found their 30.55 lb. king if it weren’t for a few slimy barracuda.
“We’d been trolling around the Hutton for a while and the barracuda were just killing us, so we wanted to troll somewhere else to get away from the cudas, and that’s when we caught that fish,” Dean revealed.
Dean and White, fishing on the Evinrude-powered 235 C-Hawk “Sandra Jean,” had begun their fishing day trolling around the Hutton Wreck, 1.5 miles offshore of Bogue Banks, but the cudas forced them to change their game plan. At 9:45, just as they pulled away from the wreck, the 30 lb. king struck. “He bit just a bit west of the Hutton,” Dean said.
A foot-long Boston mackerel trolled 25’ deep on the downrigger fooled the money winning king, and White pulled the rod from its holder as the reel sang from the king’s first run. “He took off about 150 yards pretty fast,” Dean recalled. “There were some boats around us, and we were just trying to keep away from them.”
Despite the quick first run, the king tired quickly, and Dean was able to gaff the king just 10 minutes after it struck. With the 30 lb. fish in the boat, the “Sandra Jean” anglers decided to remain in the area and see if they could find an even bigger one. “We stayed there a while but didn’t get another one,” Dean said. “Then we trolled over to Southeast Bottoms, but there wasn’t any action there.”
The winning fish was the only king the anglers caught all day, along with several barracuda and sharks. Though they caught their big fish on a dead Boston mackerel, they also trolled live pogies, which they purchased at Dudley’s Marina. “We had a pogy on top and one on the other downrigger, but he ate the mackerel,” Dean revealed.
First place netted the pair of anglers a total of $7200, along with a Coca-Cola vacation package and other prizes.
Kenny Sullivan, fishing on the “Blarney,” weighed the 28.60 lb. second place king, earning over $4500.
A 26.00 lb. fish brought Hank Bowman, fishing aboard the “Neptune’s Fury,” third place and around $3000. The third place king also earned Buck Bowman the top Junior Angler honors in the tournament.
Greg Raynor’s “Miss Margaret” team took fourth place overall with a 24.5 lb. king that gave Donna Raynor the top spot on the Lady Angler leaderboard and Eric Raynor the second place Junior Angler finish.
Rounding out the top five boats was Jim Dawson’s “Fatal Attraction,” with a 23.45 lb. fish.
The event also presents awards to the anglers catching the largest kings from Kencraft and Bay Rider boats. Chip Sanders, on the “Reel Screamer,” took the Kencraft prize with a 14.60 lb. fish, and David Phillipelli, on the “Just One More,” earned the Bay Rider title, weighing in a 10.70 lb. king.
Since the tournament is in its 19th year, the 19th place boat also gets a check. This year it was Warren Williams, aboard the “Bite Me,” who took home the $190 prize.
For 2007, the Island Harbor/Kencraft Challenger King Mackerel Tournament attracted 88 boats, who fished the event with ideal sea conditions and light winds.
Next year will be the Island Harbor/Kencraft Challenger KMT’s 20th and final year, and the tournament organizers are planning to make the prize structure especially alluring for the event’s last season.
