DU Band the Billfish 2008
Coming out of the gate with two sailfish releases on Friday, Capt. Cameron Guthrie and Morehead City’s “Impulse” crew followed them up with a sailfish and a blue marlin on Saturday to amass 850 release points and secure the win in the 2008 Ducks Unlimited Band the Billfish tournament, held July 31-August 2 out of the Morehead City Waterfront.
Fishing with boat owner Donald Lane, mates Nathan Newlin and Mark Chambers, and Stan Dean and sons Tyler and Blake Dean aboard the 58′ Carolina Custom sportfisherman, Guthrie pointed the boat to the south Friday morning, his sights set on some promising conditions around the 400 loran line.
The strategy paid off when the boat raised a sailfish in 150 fathoms of water around 10:30.
The fish fell for a naked, circle hook-rigged ballyhoo in accordance with the new government regulations regarding billfish tournaments, and Tyler Dean took the rod.
After a few jumps and some surface battling, the crew were able to release the sail in short order, earning 150 points, and then they resumed trolling the area with new confidence that there were bills in the vicinity.
“We got another sail maybe an hour later,” Guthrie recalled. This fish too fell for a naked ballyhoo, raised by the secret combination of teasers Newlin and Chambers were running.
Stan Dean took the rod for sailfish number two, and in a similar fight, with a few quick jumps shortly followed by a release, earned the “Impulse” its second 150 points.
With 300 points after day one, the crew were tied for second place. On Saturday Guthrie chose to go north, fishing some good water around the 800 line in 100 fathoms, an area more commonly trolled by the Ocracoke fleet.
“We caught that next sail around 11:30 maybe,” Guthrie explained.
Like the first day’s fish, the team’s third billfish of the tournament fell for a naked ballyhoo on a circle, and Tyler Deans took the rod. As with the Friday fish, the team was able to release it quickly.
With two sail releases, Tyler Dean was definitely in the running for the event’s Junior Angler prize, and the crew decided to let him take the rod on any other billfish they hooked.
“They just wanted to make sure he got it,” Guthrie said.
The coup de grace both to Tyler’s victory in the Junior Angler competition, and to other boat’s chances of catching up with the “Impulse,” came when a blue marlin struck another naked ballyhoo Saturday afternoon.
Tyler took the rod when the marlin bit, and the fish jumped twice before taking the fight deeper.
Deft boatwork combined with Dean’s skills on the rod soon put the leader at hand, and the mates released the estimated 100 lb. marlin for another fight. The fish earned the crew 400 points, bringing their total to 850 points, a number that eluded the other 49 boats fishing the event.
Matching the “Impulse” with two sail releases on Friday was Capt. Glynn Loftin on the “Frequent Flyer,” a fellow Morehead City charter boat.
Fishing with boat owner Gary Joyner, his sons Chris and Nate, mate Alan Willis, and Freddy Koonce and his sons-in-law Chris and Brad, the boat also struck out to the north on Saturday morning, but they didn’t find much action until early afternoon.
“If we’d found what we found Saturday afternoon earlier,” Loftin explained, “and the fish had started biting, I’d like to have seen it.”
Finding a solid bait mark in 100 fathoms in the low 600 loran numbers, the “Frequent Flyer” crew circled the marks, pulling naked ballyhoo and dredge teasers, until a sailfish came up shortly after 1:00. After they released the first sail, the crew had fast action until the tournament’s official lines-out time of 2:00, releasing another sailfish, a white marlin, and raising two more sails that spit the hooks.
Several other boats were fishing the same area and also hooked up on some billfish, including several blue marlin.
With a large cash award for a grand slam, and already having turned loose a white marlin and a sailfish, everyone aboard the “Frequent Flyer” was hoping to raise a blue marlin, but it wasn’t to be.
“I think we’d have had a strong chance if we’d had till 3:00,” Loftin said.
Atlantic Beach’s “Babara B,” captained by Gray Blount, took third place in the Band the Billfish release division.
The NC Ducks Unlimited Band the Billfish Tournament is in its 20th consecutive year in Morehead City. The 49 participating boats released a total of 27 billfish over the two fishing days, including 18 sailfish, 5 white marlin, and 4 blue marlin.
The event raises money through auctions, games, and donations for NC Ducks Unlimited, and the money goes towards wetlands protection and expansion projects within the state.
“Wetlands are absolutely vital to our water quality,” Tournament Chairman Bob Lichauer explained, “and this year we’re going to cross the one million dollar mark for funds donated to enhance the wetlands of NC-all the money stays here.”
