Ocean Crest Pier Queens Of The Kings
Peggy Groneman with the 2 lb., 11 oz. spanish mackerel that took first place in the second annual Ocean Crest Pier Queens of the Kings Tournament. The spanish fell for a live mullet on a trolley rig.
“I’ve never even been on the pier before,” Peggy Groneman said with a grin that was obvious even over the telephone. “I definitely hadn’t heard of a trolley rig before.”
Inexperience certainly didn’t work against the Boiling Springs Lakes lady angler on September 5, as she landed the 2 lb., 11 oz. spanish mackerel that topped the 25 woman field in the 2009 Ocean Crest Pier Queens of the Kings Lady Angler Pier King Mackerel Tournament.
The fat spaniard earned her not only the $700 up for grabs for the winner of the event, but a $2000 custom trolley rig rod and reel prize package including custom fighting and anchor rods from L&M Custom Rods.
Groneman decided to fish the event as several of her co-workers at Southport’s Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Real Estate (one of the event’s sponsors) were entered, and she found steady action on the event’s opening day, landing several bluefish.
Around midday Saturday, as she was moving her rod to allow another angler to get by while fighting a shark, the big spanish inhaled a mullet pinned to her trolley rig.
“I went over to my line to get out of her way, and he bit,” Groneman explained. “And the fish got tangled up with the shark. It was an exciting fight.”
After some tense moments as the shark and spanish fought against each other, Groneman was finally able to work her spanish to a waiting pier net, and it was hauled up to the pier.
“When it hit the deck, I was really excited,” Groneman reported. “I couldn’t tell what it was underneath the water.”
With a long time left in the competition, Groneman felt good about her fish, but she had a suspicion something larger might come along.
“I really expected something larger to come along, and kind of hoped it would because it would be good for the tournament,” the angler explained. “One lady caught one that I thought looked bigger, but I guess it wasn’t. When I found out I won, I just couldn’t stop laughing. I was in shock mode.”
Having gone from not knowing what a trolley rig was to owning a high-dollar trolley setup in just two days, Groneman plans to make use of the gear by fishing in Ocean Crest’s Kings of the Coast in October and returning for the Queens of Kings event next year.
Queenking Second
“It was so much fun, just a great time,” Groneman concluded. “I’d like to thank Dave and Melinda, the sponsors, all the ladies, and the Hope Harbor House.”
Right on the winner’s heels, Bobby Diaz Welch, of Oak Island, weighed in a 2 lb., 9 oz. spanish that earned second place and $300 in the event. Welch actually influenced Groneman to fish the event, as the two are co-workers at Coldwell Sea Coast.
“She’s an agent who works in my office,” Welch explained. “We helped talk her into fishing.”
Welch’s fish bit around 10:00 Saturday morning, and it also fell for a live mullet pinned to a trolley rig.
Though she’s a former Ocean Crest Pier employee, Welch had never caught a spanish mackerel before the week of the competition.
“I practiced on Wednesday,” she said. “I caught two spanish then, so that was my third one.”
“He put up a pretty good fight,” Welch added. “I still can’t believe I caught him.”
After the mackerel was netted and hit the deck, Welch took it to the pier house to weigh in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in my life,” she reported. “They were all yelling at me to hurry because I was losing ounces.”
Sherry Kiser, of Greensboro, rounded out a tight leader board, weighing in a 2 lb., 8 oz. spanish mackerel to finish third and earn $200.
“My husband has fished the king tournaments out there before, but this was my first time,” Kiser said.
After catching a smaller spanish earlier in the day, Kiser’s money fish bit on Saturday afternoon, and a trolley-rigged mullet fooled it as well.
“He fought a little bit,” Kiser said. “I got pretty excited. I’ve never even fished out on the Tee before.”
With her fish on the board, Kiser had to nervously watch several other anglers walk spanish up to the pier house to weigh, but none bested her 2.5 pounder.
Like the other women, the first-time king fisherman is now hooked.
“It was a great time,” she said. “I’ll definitely be back next year.”
The OCP Queens of the Kings tournament also served as a fundraiser for the Hope Harbor House, a domestic violence shelter in Brunswick County. Proceeds from the event and a raffle helped the pier donate $1250 to the charity.
