Bald Head Rodeo 2008
Adding a 188.18 lb. day two weight that would have crushed any other boat’s two day total to an already strong first day’s total, Wrightsville Beach’s “Tuna Trappe” amassed an aggregate of 307.04 lbs. to take first place at the Bald Head Island Fishing Rodeo by more than 100 lbs. Held May 30 and 31, the event attracted 23 boats and featured competition for the highest aggregate weight of dolphin over 15 lbs. and tuna and wahoo over 25 lbs. A solid dolphin bite on both days provided the “Tuna Trappe” anglers with the bulk of their aggregate weight, complemented by a single wahoo.
“We started out at the 150 Ledge on Friday,” Capt. Brian “Squid” Smith explained, “but we were actually offshore of the fish. We moved inshore to 20-25 fathoms and found them. It was more like a late summer bite with the fish inshore.”
With Tim and Todd Sutton, Adam Thompson, boat owner John Lancaster, Tim Raines, Jimmy Kretz, and Josh Lee aboard the 68′ B & D sportfishermen, the anglers picked up fish slowly but steadily over the afternoon. Though the anglers caught around a dozen fish over the day, only six were over the tournament’s 15 lb. minimum weight.
Although they had one of the event’s top weights after day one, the anglers decided to fish a new area on Saturday.
“A buddy gave me a tip last night, and we took a gamble and ran up there,” Smith said. The anglers started fishing around the 220 Ledge, but as on Friday, they moved inshore before finding the best action.
“We ended up about a mile inshore of there,” said the captain. “I don’t know what was holding the fish in there, but we had a lot of bites today.”
With over 20 dolphin and seven wahoo in the boxes when they headed for the scales, the anglers definitely stayed busy. Only one of the wahoo made the tournament’s minimum weight, but the 188.18 lb. total they posted for the final day’s fishing would have won the “Tuna Trappe” the event had they stayed at the dock Friday.
Carolina Beach’s “Musicman,” captained by Dave Marshall, took second place, weighing in 130.78 lbs. of dolphin on Friday and a 36.04 lb. wahoo on Saturday to make up their 166.82 lb. aggregate. Fishing with the Jessen party, from Raleigh, and mates Shane Berry and Timmy Skidwell, the “Musicman” also weighed in the heaviest dolphin in the tournament at 37.80 lbs., and the wahoo was the largest caught Saturday.
Fishing between the Same Ol’ and the Steeples on Friday, the “Musicman,” a 40′ Key West custom, hooked their dolphin while trolling over ledges on the break between 130-200′ of water.
“We caught them all on ballyhoo on wire,” Marshall said. “We always run wire if there’s no yellowfins around, because the mahi don’t care.”
Starting out below the Steeples on Saturday, the “Musicman” trolled north until they found action. The wire turned out to be a good idea, as the boat hooked the big wahoo on a ballyhoo beneath a dark-colored skirt on top in the same area where they’d been nailing the dolphin Friday.
“We caught a lot of dolphin today, too,” said Marshall, “but no big ones.”
Finishing third in the meatfish aggregate category, Capt. Chris Bailey and the “Reel Quick,” out of Wrightsville Beach, weighed in 143.02 lbs. of dolphin and also released a blue marlin during the event. Owner Carol Thomas, Tom Hollinshed, and mate Forrest Mitchell joined Bailey aboard the 58′ C & L Boatworks custom for the tournament.
After a fairly slow day Friday where they weighed in 33.72 lbs. of dolphin, the “Reel Quick” anglers returned to the Same Ol’ on Saturday, and they were happy to find better water than the day before with a good amount of scattered grass. Staying in the same area all day, the team caught 109.30 lbs. of qualifying dolphin, lost a 60-70 lb. wahoo that skied on a bait, and released their estimated 150 lb. blue marlin. Ballyhoo under a variety of skirts fooled their dolphin, and the marlin fell for a blue/white lure atop a ballyhoo.
The “Thunder,” a 55′ East Bay also from Wrightsville Beach and captained by Scott Toomer, took fourth in the meatfish competition with a 132.96 lb. aggregate weight. Fishing with mate Chris Jones, Craig Parker, and boat owner Allan Toomer, the crew found solid fishing Friday, weighing in 100.06 lbs. of dolphin. Returning to the same area on Saturday, well to the south of most of the tournament boats, they found tougher conditions, and they were only able to weigh in 32.90 lbs. of dolphin on day two.
Finishing fifth in the meatfish category with a 124.18 lb. aggregate wasn’t the entire story for the “Jolly Mon,” captained by West Baylor, as the 50′ Hatteras took home the tournament’s billfish release prize as well. Also aboard the boat for the event were boat owner George Holding, Frank Holding, Randy Edwards, and Capt. Rick Croson was working the cockpit.
The “Jolly Mon” fished the area around the Same Ol’ both days, finding good dolphin action in around 150′ on day one. A small temperature break and weedline were holding the fish, and the anglers continued fishing the area until 11:30, when a bill popped up in the spread.
“That sail hit the bridge pole and I fed it back to him and hooked up,” Baylor said.
A ballyhoo under a blue/white/chartreuse Blue Water Candy Mini Jag fooled the sail, and George Holding fought the sail to a successful release.
Though they landed plenty of dolphin on Friday, only 30.24 lbs. made it past the tournament’s minimum weight requirements.
Returning to the Same Ol’ Saturday morning, the “Jolly Mon” crew found a good enough dolphin bite in 150′ that they decided to head offshore to try and find a marlin by late morning.
“The marlin were out in about 400′,” Croson explained. “We lost one right away when we got there. It smoked the reel down but scratched through the 100 lb. leader. We spun it back around and stayed there and got the second one.”
The second fish bit a red/black Blue Water Candy Jag with a select ballyhoo, and Frank Holding fought the fish.
“That fish never jumped until I had the leader,” said Croson. “It just kind of went down to mid-column and stayed there. All we could see was a big blue shadow down there, and I knew it was either a 100 lb. wahoo or a billfish.”
After Holding fought the marlin for around 20 minutes with Baylor backing down, the fish came to the surface and Croson took the leader. After a quick jump, he was able to break the estimated 125 lb. marlin off, and the “Jolly Mon” had taken the lead in the billfish competition.
When they returned to the dock, the 93.94 lbs. of dolphin the crew weighed in secured fifth in the meat fish competition.
The tournament’s heaviest single wahoo was a 47.98 lb. fish weighed in by the “Sea Hag,” and “Rajin’ Regan” took home top tuna honors for a 28.08 lb. blackfin.
