Ducks Unlimited Band the Billfish 2005
The 17th annual Ducks Unlimited “Band the Billfish” Tournament was the second weekend in a row in Morehead City where numerous billfish releases were recorded by tournament anglers. The D.U. tournament, with fishing days on July 29 and 30, saw a total of 96 releases, with Friday’s total at 8 blues, 24 whites, and 16 sails, and Saturday’s total at 3 blues, 18 whites, and 27 sails.
The top boat over the weekend was the “Trophy,” a 46′ Egg Harbor out of Wrightsville Beach. Capt./Owner John Horton, Mates Derrick Jarrett, West Paylor, and Stuart Smith, Tara Lynch, and Lane Swindell had a total of five releases over the weekend. On Friday they found two whites and a blue, and on Saturday they released two sails.
Their five-fish-release had them tied with two other boats that released five billfish, so the tiebreaker was decided on heaviest “sport fish.” A 12.8 lb. wahoo that “Trophy” caught at 1:30 pm on the second day of fishing put them on top and brought them over $40,000 in prize money.
“Run Off,” a charter boat out of Morehead City, came in second place. Their five releases included a blue and two sails on Friday and two more sails on Saturday. Their heaviest “sport fish” was a 9.65 lb. dolphin. John Collett, J.C. Collett, and Bill Coley chartered the “Run Off,” a 42′ Wesmac, for the event. The “Run Off” is captained by Brian Harrington with Mate Marty Hiatt.
The third boat with five billfish releases was “Sea Creature,” a charter boat out of Hatteras. They released a blue on Friday, and then on Saturday they had two sails and two whites. Out of seven hook ups on saturday, they released four fish. Capt. Steve Coulter and Mates Bobby Adisano and Matt Carter were joined by Jeff Gouge, Mike Buff, Ed Cook, and Paul and Ed Buchanon. The Sea Creature’s only “sport fish” was a 3.50 lb. dolphin.
The award for the most poundage of “sport fish” went to “Blue Water,” a charter boat out of Morehead City. Their 77.50 lbs. came from a 54 lb. wahoo landed by Ryan Kelly and a 23.5 lb. wahoo landed by Andy Conlan. The “Blue Water” is a 56′ Buddy Harris captained by Ken Kramer with Mate Capt. Gray Hall.
The first place wahoo went to “Forty Something,” a Morehead City charter boat captained by Dale Britt, with a 53.25 lb. fish. “Reel Kerr-Go” took second place with a 52.55 lb. wahoo.
The “Marquesa” had the heaviest dolphin, with a 26.95 lb. fish. They were followed by “Easy Money” who brought in a 17.50 lb. dolphin.
There was a tie in the Green Wing Angler award (the Junior Angler). Lilly Gray Warren (age 15), from Raleigh, had two releases while fishing on the “Honey Hush.” Kenneth Coffer Jr. (age 15), from Wilmington, also had two releases. Coffer fishes on “Desperado.” Also of note is that Kenneth Coffer Jr. is currently leading the overall junior division of the NC Governor’s Cup.
The Lady Angler Award went to Joy Chappell on the “Double Luv.”
The Hard Luck award went to Jean Kilgore out of Raleigh. She fought a blue marlin on Friday for over six hours only to have the blue eaten by a shark at the boat. She was fishing on the “Bill Collector,” with Capt. Stephen Graughon, and hooked up at 2:50 in the afternoon. They didn’t get back to the docks until after midnight. Jean was fighting the blue on 30 lb. test, and the blue completely spooled the line two times during the fight.
Tournament Director Mark Shouse noted at the end of the event, “Without our participants and our sponsors, there wouldn’t be a tournament.”
“We had good weather and great fishing,” Shouse added, “and we look forward to next year.”
All of the proceeds from the weekend go to Ducks Unlimited, the leader in wetlands conservation. For more information on D.U., you can visit www.nc.ducks.org.
