Jodi Tynch KMT
Hunter Avery and Taylor Pleasant with a pair of king mackerel including the 19.5 lb. fish that earned them the victory in the 2nd Annual Jodi Tynch Memorial King Mackerel Tournament. Their winning fish fell for a dead cigar minnow under a purple/black skirt while they were trolling along Frying Pan Shoals in 80' of water aboard the "Reel Escape."
Hauling a 19.5 lb. king mackerel to the scales at Mott’s Channel Seafood, Hunter Avery and Taylor Pleasant, the “Reel Escape” team, earned first place in the 2nd Annual Jodi Tynch Memorial King Mackerel Tournament, held June 22, taking home $895 and a $150 gift card.
Avery, an employee of Wilmington’s Tex’s Tackle, fished the event with Pleasant aboard his 36’ Yellowfin, and the anglers did some pre-fishing the Friday before the event, eventually finding some fish they thought would be worth returning to during the competition.
“We found an area with some potential,” Avery explained, “so we went back there the morning of the tournament.”
Finding pogies the morning of the event proved more challenging than deciding where they wanted to fish.
“Bait was tough to catch, but we ended up jigging up some bluefish and greenies,” Avery continued.
It didn’t take long for their hunch about where they’d like to fish to be proven correct, as they hooked a winning fish shortly after arriving.
“We had an 18 pounder in the boat 20 minutes after we got there,” Avery said, “but we didn’t get another one until 1:00.”
With faith that the area had another big king, the anglers continued trolling over the course of the morning, finally hooking the fish they weighed around 1:45. A frozen cigar minnow on a homemade dead bait rig with a purple/black Blue Water Candy skirt fooled the winning king.
The fish hit a bait on the downrigger, and Pleasant took the rod while it ran.
“It probably took off 150 yards or so,” Avery continued. “We thought it was going to be a pretty good fish. It was rough so we got everything up and kinda turned toward the fish and chased him a little.”
About 10 minutes into the fight, the king showed itself, and Avery was ready with the gaff.
“He popped up by the boat and I stuck a gaff in him,” he finished.
After trolling the area for another 30 minutes, the anglers decided they were satisfied with what they had on board and headed for the scales.
Wilmington’s Greg Gross and the “Reel Life” crew earned second place in the event and $537 with a 17 lb. fish. Fishing with his wife, Vivian, and Joel Brown aboard a 22’ Grady-White, the crew headed out about 8 miles early in the day, but they ended catching their money fish much closer to the beach.
“He bit around 9:30 or 10:00 about half a mile offshore,” Gross said. “We were just about even with the Blockade Runner.”
A frozen cigar minnow also fooled the second place fish, though the “Reel Life” crew’s bite came on a silver-skirted minnow on top. Gross took the rod as the king made its initial run.
“He pulled off a few hundred yards,” he explained, “and then came right back under the boat. We thought he was bigger than he was.”
While Gross fought the fish, his teammates tried to keep it clear of the other lines and the boat.
“We had to do a little finagling,” Gross continued. “My wife was driving the boat. She did a great job.”
When the anglers finally worked the fish close enough to the boat, Brown was able to plant the gaff and put it in the boat.
“We were definitely pleased with that fish,” Gross said. “We figured there might be a few in the 20’s, but we knew that fish would place. We were happy to catch him, that’s all I know.”
Keith Thompson, on the “Reel Hustler,” earned third place, weighing in a 13.7 lb. king. Thompson, from Hampstead, NC, fished with Jeff Atkinson aboard his 23’ Sea Hunt center console.
“We went out and caught bait on Friday,” Thompson explained, “but most of them died overnight. We started out with three bluefish. Sharks ate two of them and the other one died, so we started pulling dead cigar minnows.”
After making their way through some sloppy seas to the Dredge Wreck, the anglers trolled for around an hour before hooking their fish. Atkinson was the angler, and at first the pair thought they’d hooked another shark.
“When he first hit he felt like a shark,” Thompson said, “lots of head shaking. He finally took off, and we figured it was something good.”
After the initial run, the anglers worked the fish to the boat. As they first saw the fish, they realized why it had been behaving strangely at first.
“He had the stinger treble in his gills,” Thompson said. “We were lucky to get him.”
Finishing fourth with a 10.7 lb. king mackerel was Hector Reyes on the “Whatever.” Sandy Thorpe, aboard the “Three Dolphins,” rounded out the top five with a 7.6 lb. king.
The Jodi Tynch Memorial KMT is a benefit tournament honoring its namesake, who lost her battle with cancer last year. Her husband, Mike, was driven to create the tournament in order to raise money for the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center, who took care of Jodi, and to memorialize her.
“Had I not walked hand-in-hand with her through her battle with cancer,” Mike Tynch explained, “I wouldn’t have the strength to put on something like this. She made me stronger as a man. This isn’t my tournament. It’s her tournament and everybody’s tournament, and it takes everybody coming together for the event to be a success and raise the money for Hospice that it does. I guarantee we’ll be back next year and after that.”
Tynch wished to thank all who fished the event and the list of sponsors who helped make it possible, including Corbett Timber Company, Mott’s Channel Seafood, West Marine, Tex’s Tackle, Intracoastal Angler, Gore’s Marine Metal Fabrication, GoGas Fuel, David’s Deli, Sylvan Learning Center of Elizabeth City, and Chris Jones of Carolina Outboard in Hampstead.
