Flat Bottom Girls Flounder Tournament 2008
More and more inshore tournaments are encouraging participants to weigh their fish in alive, with most offering cash incentives for live weigh-in or levying weight penalties against anglers who bring in dead fish. While most of these events immediately release the fish they’ve weighed, one tournament not only requires that fish be brought in alive, it retains them after weigh-in. The purpose-to further enhance UNCW’s aquaculture program’s flounder breeding research.
The 13 boats participating in this year’s Flat Bottom Girls tournament, held November 1 out of Triangle Lounge and Dockside Marina, brought a total of 27 live flounder to the scales for the program, including some hefty fish that earned lucky anglers winner’s checks. The majority, however, were between 14-16″, which Tim Barefoot, of Fish For Tomorrow and Flat Bottom Girls Tournament Director, was pleased with.
“UNCW really needs the males, and their maximum size is around 15 inches,” Barefoot explained, gesturing to an oxygenated holding tank, “so there’s a great chance we’ve got a bunch of males in there.”
Weighing in the heaviest fish of the tournament to take home the $1,000 guaranteed first prize was Taylor Barefoot, of Wilmington. Barefoot caught his 4.9 lb. flatfish while fishing with Hank Martinez.
The pair targeted ICW docks between Wrightsville and Carolina Beach in their search for a winning fish. While casting a Carolina-rigged finger mullet to a dock at around 9:30 on the morning of the event, he got a solid strike.
“I gave him the mullet for a little bit,” Barefoot said. “Since it was a tournament, I really wanted to make sure he had it.”
After he set the hook, the flatfish came to the boat fairly quickly.
“It was only about 20 seconds,” Barefoot recalled. “He got into some current a little bit, but then I got him right up.”
Martinez netted the fish when it was within reach, and both anglers grew excited about their catch.
“Oh yeah, I was worked up,” Barefoot continued. “I could hardly tie up some new tackle.”
After landing the flounder, the anglers fished a few more docks before heading to Dockside to weigh. Since the goal of the event is to get flounder for the hatchery in the best shape possible, participants can bring a fish to the scales (and the holding tank) at any point during the day between 12:00-5:00.
They returned to fishing, catching little else over the rest of the day, but were pleased to find out their big fish took first place by over one pound.
Wilmington’s Butch Remey hauled a 3.8 lb. flounder to the scales to finish second and earn $525. Remey fished with Donald Aiken and Brad Park, and the anglers found their valuable flatfish on a rock point extending into the ICW near some docks.
The fish struck a finger mullet around 2:30 just after Remey landed some smaller fish.
“I figured there was a big one in there and I caught four or five little ones, so I thought a nice fish was coming. I let him eat for a little while. You know-you’ve got to think sideways to catch the things.”
After he hooked the fish, Remey enjoyed a solid fight, with the flounder evading Aiken’s net a number of times. Finally, after almost 15 minutes, the angler was able to work it within range and Aiken scooped it up.
A 3.3 lb. flounder earned third place in the event and $325 for John Lomas, of Carolina Beach. Lomas fished with his wife, Teresa, Vicki Boyd, and Paula Lee, and the anglers had little to show for the day until late afternoon, when they were fishing the rock wall at Carolina Beach’s Joyner Marina.
“We’d caught several small flounder, and each of us had screwed up on a big one,” Lomas said. “The boat was in disarray and the attitude was poor.”
Then, just before 4:30, Lomas had a strike.
“It felt like a crab grabbed it, but then it took off, and I set the hook and said to the ladies ‘Flounder!'”
Lomas then worked the fish to the boat, where Teresa netted it and brought it aboard. With the weigh-in closing at 5:00, time was short.
“I looked at my watch, and it was 4:29,” Lomas related. “And I said we’ve got to go. We made it with a few minutes to spare, and I’ve got to say, it pays to have a fast boat.”
At the awards ceremony, Tim Barefoot wished to express his gratitude to the event’s many sponsors for making it another successful year, and he also presented Todd Byrd, owner of the Triangle Lounge, who hosted registration and helped out with running the event, with a special award.
“This is the first annual Kay Crocker Memorial Sportsmanship Award,” Barefoot said, handing a copper flounder sculpture from Blue Water Copper Works to Byrd. “Kay was a great friend to every fisherman in this area, and he will be missed. This award will come back and be given to a new person each year.”
