OCP Queens Of The Kings KMT
Missy Passmore, of Mahaffey, PA, with her first fish ever, a 3 lb., 10 oz. spanish mackerel that earned her the victory and over $900 in the 2010 Ocean Crest Pier Queens of the Kings Tournament. The spaniard fell for a live pogy on a trolley rig.
How many anglers catch a fish the first time they go fishing, let alone win a tournament? Mahaffey, PA’s Missy Passmore did both this past weekend, landing a 3 lb., 11 oz. spanish mackerel to take first place in the Ocean Crest Pier Queens of the Kings Pier King Mackerel Tournament on her first fishing trip. The victory was worth $930 and a custom king mackerel fighting rod.
“I’ve never fished before in my life,” Passmore explained. “My dad is really into it and so is my mom and they asked me to try it, so I did.”
Passmore’s introduction to angling didn’t get off to an exciting start, as she went strikeless for the first two days of the competition.
In fact, it was scarcely an hour before the end of the competition that the lady angler’s number was called.
“Somebody else had a shark on and they were by my pole,” she said. “And I went up there because I thought they’d have to go around me. That’s when it hit.”
The spanish took an unhealthy interest in a live pogy dangling from Passmore’s trolley rig, and despite some drama with several other lines, she reeled the fish to the pier net fairly quickly.
“The fish was wrapped up with some other lines, and I had to go around them,” Passmore continued. “I think it took 5-10 minutes to reel it in. I thought I was going to have to touch the fish, but I got really excited when I found out I didn’t have to.”
Included in her winnings was a custom king mackerel fighting rod, which thrilled her parents.
“My mom and dad got really excited when I won the fishing rod,” Passmore said. “I didn’t know what it was at first.”
With such success on her first outing, one would think Passmore will be a permanent presence on the Queens of the Kings roster, but apparently not.
“I’ll probably come down with my parents next year, but I don’t think I’ll fish,” she explained. “I enjoy watching watching everybody fish, but I don’t like doing it myself that much. Plus, that’s a lot of fishing.”
Former Queens of the Kings winner Wanda Johnson, from Statesville, NC, landed the 2 lb., 5 oz. spanish mackerel that took second place, earning her $456.
Wanda Johnson, from Statesville, NC, with the 2 lb., 5 oz. spanish mackerel that took second place in the Queens of the Kings. Like the winner's her fish fell for a pogie dangled from a trolley rig.
Unlike Passmore, Johnson had action right away in the event, landing her money-winning mackerel on Friday morning as the event was just getting rolling.
“He bit a pogie,” Johnson explained. “There were none around the pier for the tournament, but the husband of one of the ladies who was fishing went out and cast-netted some for us.”
After reeling in several sharks already that morning, Johnson thought she’d hooked another, but was pleasantly surprised when a spanish mackerel surfaced.
“I thought it was a shark till it came up,” she continued.
Shortly thereafter, Johnson was able to work it into the waiting drop net.
“That fish was in the lead from then until Sunday afternoon,” she said. “There were only four spanish caught in the whole tournament.”
Adding a second place finish to her 2008 Queens victory, Johnson has definitely established herself as a force to be reckoned with, and she doesn’t stick to the all-ladies tournament, either.
“I always have a ball down here,” she explained. “I fish every other tournament here that I can.”
Carrie Seay, from Belmont, NC, landed the 1 lb., 10 oz. spanish mackerel that secured third place and earned her $304.
The Queens of the Kings tournament is one of many tournaments hosted at Ocean Crest Pier. Anglers can look forward to a new upcoming event benefitting cancer research, the Fishin 4 a Cure tournament, on August 21st. More information about that event and all OCP tournaments is available at www.oceancrestpier.net.
