Kings of the Coast Pier KMT 2007
It was a good weekend for Ocean Crest Pier angler Tom “Coach” Coley, who not only landed a 17 lb. king mackerel last Thursday, but also caught the 23 lb. 13 oz. king mackerel that took the top spot in the pier’s second annual Kings of the Coast Tournament. The Ocean Crest Pier held the event September 21-23, 2007, just after one of the first cold fronts of fall pushed big numbers of pogies and mullet out of the internal waters and onto the beachfront.
Coley, who hails from Statesville, NC, earned himself $925 with the big king. His king ate a live bluefish fished on a trolley rig off the pier’s west side just before 5:00 pm on Friday, Sept. 21. After the strike, the king made a long run seaward, and ran far enough offshore that Coley was easily able to pass his rod over the anchor rods of the anglers fishing nearby.
The king kept running offshore while Coley maneuvered over a few more rods, eventually slowing down directly off the middle of the pier’s tee. The initial run tired the fish. Coley had a lot of line to recover after it stopped; fortunately, the exhausted fish could do little but swim straight back at the pier while Coley cranked.
After Coley worked the fish back inside the anchor lines, it gathered the strength for a few right and left zigzag moves just off the end of the pier, but the king was soon close enough to the pier for Ocean Crest regular Bo Crump to jerk home the pier gaff and haul it in.
Coley’s king was the first one hooked in the tournament, and he had to fish for two more days hoping that no one would deck a larger fish.
Coley has been chasing king mackerel from piers for 24 years and fishes most of the Ocean Crest Pier king tournaments; however, this is his first victory.
Thomas Cutler, a 14-year-old Oak Island angler, nearly took the lead shortly after Coley’s fish hit the deck, hooking and landing a 23 lb. 2 oz. king just an hour later to earn the $555 second prize.
Cutler’s king bit a live trolley-rigged bluefish around 6:05 on Friday, and, like Coley’s, proceeded to make a long offshore run.
After the big run, Cutler’s fish came most of the way back before beginning to put up a struggle. The king played a back and forth game off the pier’s southeast corner for several minutes, forcing Cutler to repeatedly maneuver through a web of anchor and fighting lines before relenting to the pressure.
When the king finally neared the pier, Crump and Tournament Pier Master Eric Montieth sank two gaffs into it and lifted it to the planks. The money-winning fish was the second king Cutler has caught from the pier.
Third place in the Kings of the Coast event went to Ervin Hammonds, of Southport, for a 16 lb. 8 oz. king he caught on Saturday. Hammonds not only pocketed the $370 third place prize, but he also took home a $100 bonus from Pier Manager Dave Cooper for the first king weighed in on Saturday.
Hammonds’ king also fell for a live bluefish on a trolley rig, this one fished off the east side of the pier. He fought his king for around 15 minutes and also had to perform a back and forth routine with the king, weaving in and out of a number of fighting and anchor rods.
When he tired the king enough to get it pier-side, Tom Coley gaffed it.
Overall, the 37 participants in the 2nd Kings of the Coast Tournament hooked 10 kings and brought five to the scales. The high winds and muddy water that were prevalent the week leading up to the event gave way to calmer weather during the event’s opening day, leading to ideal fishing conditions.
