Tournament Report – Cape Lookout Shootout
After fishing the Cape Lookout Shootout KMT since its inception in 2014, and fishing 7-8 tournaments annually overall, it would be “the easiest fish we’ve ever caught” that secured Mark Yokely and his team Mater Head their first Shootout win and a $39,785 check.
Mater Head, which is also comprised of Yokely’s nephew David and wife Brittany, had pre-fished for a couple of weekends before the September 8 tournament, and they knew they wanted to hit the 1700 Rock on the east side of the Cape. After checking out at 6:30 that morning, they found bait by 7:00 and were fishing 45 minutes later.
Their first strike would be a 15-18 lb. king that fell for a menhaden, and they had two or three other knockdowns before 9:00, when their winning king connected with a trolled bluefish.
“He only made one run,” Yokely recalls. “We turned the boat around and that was it.”
David, Brittany, and Mark Yokely, of “Mater Head,” with the 41.19 lb. king mackerel that won them the first leg of the Cape Lookout Shootout. The king fell for a trolled bluefish.
The 41.19 lb. fish came over the rails within ten minutes.
“The water was clear,” Yokely continued, “and I could see him swimming about five or six feet down. I said, ‘I can get that!’ and gaffed him. We knew it would be a top three fish, but we didn’t know it would win.”
Mater Head went back to the other side of the Cape and trolled a little bit, but they didn’t catch any more fish. It wouldn’t matter, of course, as they had a 4.03 lb. lead on the second place 37.16 lb. fish, which was caught by Knot Right. The third place honors went to Blue Water Candy, who weighed in a 35.48 lb. king. A total of 57 other boats also competed, and almost all of them brought a fish to the scales.
The Cape Lookout Shootout is composed of three legs and a championship, and the September 8 event was the first. October 13 will be the second, and Mater Head is planning on keeping the lead.
Yokely, who hails from Raleigh, would like to thank Angler’s Marine for helping him keep his boat on the water and in top condition for KMT fishing.
