Added on Thursday, November 12, 2009  Fish Post

Fall Brawl King Classic

With a 35 lb. king on the board after Day 1 of the Fall Brawl King Classic, held October 23-25 out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, brothers Mark and Billy Emmart, of the “Moon Doggie” fishing team, knew they’d have to find a serious smoker to take home the winner’s check.

The 41.00 lb. king mackerel they hauled to the scales aboard their 31’, Yamaha-powered Contender on the event’s second and final day certainly qualified, earning the Wilmington anglers a total of $17,541.

The Emmarts targeted the area around the Fairway Ledges, just west of Frying Pan Shoals in their quest for a big king, and they never left the area despite a somewhat slow start to the day.

“We’d heard about some big fish caught there earlier in the week,” Billy Emmart explained, “and we know that’s a really good place to fish this time of year.”

Trolling the area over the course of the morning, the anglers hooked a few smaller kings, a huge spanish mackerel, and plenty of sharks, but they didn’t find what they were looking for until after lunch.

“We’d thought about crossing over to the east of the shoals or going to Lighthouse Rocks, but we heard Lighthouse was all sharks on the radio, and didn’t hear much from the east, so we decided to stick it out,” Emmart continued.

The decision proved to be a good one just before 1:00 Sunday afternoon, as their 40 lb. fish skied 10’ in the air on a naked pogy rig in the Contender’s wake. After trolling the Fairway Ledges hard all morning, the brothers had worked their way about a mile from the main numbers when their fish went airborne.

“Yeah, we got excited when we saw that fish,” Emmart said.

Billy Emmart took the rod as the big king took off with the treble-hooked pogy in its mouth, but the fish didn’t take the typical long, upsea run of a big king.

“He didn’t run a lot,” the angler explained. “He didn’t really go deep either.”

Instead of running or diving, the fish simply slugged it out with the angler close to the boat for around a quarter-hour before surfacing near gaff range.

“He popped up pretty quick,” Mark Emmart said. When the fish was within range, Mark sank home the gaff, and the anglers had the winning fish on deck by 1:00 Sunday afternoon.

The Emmarts would like to thank “Moon Doggie” sponsors Power Marine Outfitters, Contender, Yamaha, Gore Marine, and Powers Boatworks for their support.

“We’d also like to thank Brant and everybody here at the Ocean Isle Fishing Center for putting on such good events,” Mark Emmart added.

Weighing in a 38.55 lb. fish good for second place were Pittsboro, NC’s Ricky Byrd and the “Sea Byrd” fishing team. With Brian, Ginny, and Danny Matthews and Will Richardson completing the crew aboard the 26’ Sailfish center console, the second place crew also caught their fish on Sunday and walked away from the event over $7,000 richer.

The second place fish also fell for a naked pogy on top and skied on the bait just behind the “Sea Byrd” while the crew was trolling just west of Yaupon Reef. The king fell for the fateful meal around noon.

“Yep, we saw him sky on it,” Byrd said. “It was a short line, pretty exciting for sure.”

Brian Matthews took the rod after the king fell back to the water and began to run, and held on while the fish dumped the reel.

“He ran about 300 yards in less than a minute,” Byrd continued. “We got the lines in and chased him down.”

The anglers caught up to the king after its initial run, but the fish decided to take the battle deep just as they closed in.

“He stayed down most of the time after we got up to him,” Byrd explained.

When Matthews finally tired the king and worked it to the surface, Richardson was waiting with the gaff, and he swung the second place fish over the Sailfish’s gunwale.

“We figured he was somewhere between 30-40,” Byrd said, “so we decided we’d pack it up and come on in to the scales.”

The scales confirmed that their fish was at the upper end of their guessed range, and that it would be taking second place in the event. Not only did the king earn second place overall, it propelled Ginny Matthews to the event’s Top Lady Angler spot as well.

The “Sea Byrd” crew wished to thank Interim Healthcare for their support.

Southport’s Randy Spainhour and the “Steel Fishing” team took third place in the tournament with the 35.25 lb. fish that led after the first day’s competition. Spainhour and teammate Buster Gunter fished the event aboard a 35’ Wellcraft center console, and they pocketed just under $7,000.

The anglers fished Lighthouse Rocks, and didn’t have to wait long on Saturday morning to put a big king in the boat.

“We stuck the gaff in him at 8:05,” Spainhour declared.

Chumming and live-baiting while at anchor, the anglers saw their third place fish take a bluefish dangling from a kite just before 8:00, and Spainhour took the rod.

The anglers stayed on anchor while fighting the fish, their usual plan unless fishing in a crowd of boats.

“We’ve got 500 yards of line on the reels, so we don’t have to chase them much,” Spainhour explained. “This one took about 15 minutes at the most, and it was more circling the boat than anything.”

When he’d worked the fish close enough to the boat, Gunter sank home the gaff and boated the 35 pounder.

“He wanted to go weigh it right away,” Sapinhour said, “but I’ve been doing this a long time, and I said no, let’s wait and see if we can get a bigger one.”

The anglers landed several more kings, but none nearly as big as the 35 before heading to the scales in the early afternoon.

Spainhour wished to thank boat owner Joe Buie for letting the anglers use the big Wellcraft for the event and season.

A 32.90 lb. king secured fourth place in the tournament for Ash, NC’s “Mr. Goodhands” team, and the “Wishful Thinking,” from Monroe, NC, rounded out the top five with a 31.35 lb. fish.