Barta Billfish Tournament
Greenville, NC's "Barabara B" crew took first place at the 2009 Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament, rebounding from a slow start to release six sailfish on day two, earning 2800 release points and the overall victory.
“We were way south of the bite yesterday,” Bill Blount, owner of the “Barbara B,” reported. “We ended up releasing one sail around the 500 Line at the end of the day.”
With only one sailfish release on Friday, July 17, the first day of the 5th Annual Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament, the “Barbara B” trailed several boats going into Saturday, but a strong performance on the event’s final day of competition propelled them to the top of the leader board, earning the Greenville, NC-team the victory in the charity event.
“Today we jumped one fish off,” Blount continued, “but we caught every one we saw other than that.” A total of six sailfish releases on Saturday carried the team to 2800 release points (400 per billfish) and a narrow victory over the “Stream Weaver” crew, whose six releases in the tournament fell one short.
With his son Gray Blount running the boat and George Blount, Matt Godwin, and Tom and David Benson aboard the 61’ Omie Tillett, Bill Blount and the “Barbarba B” crew decided to fish further north Saturday, in an area where many of the tournament boats had reported solid sailfish action on Friday.
“We heard about that good bite from yesterday,” Blount explained, “so we headed north today to around the 775 Line.”
Upon arriving, it didn’t take long for the anglers to find action while dragging a pair of natural mullet dredges and a squid daisy chain for teasers. Per tournament rules, the team only used naked, circle-hooked ballyhoo.
“We hooked a doubleheader at 8:18,” Blount said.
With Tom and David Benson on the rods, the team released both sails in short order and went back to trolling amidst a growing fleet who’d also heard about the billfish action.
The bite continued through the morning with several other boats in the area reporting releases before the “Barabara B” team’s number was called again, culminating when David Benson released another sailfish at 10:39.
Alll the youth anglers releasing billfish at the Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament receive a trophy commemorating their catch.
The boat owner got in on the action for the team’s next sailfish, and Bill Blount angled one to a successful release at 11:35, before a lucky break gave the “Barbara B” an opportunity to take the lead.
“There were a lot of boats in the area,” Blount said. “They were all there. ‘Stream Weaver’ was right beside us when they hooked that blue one, which was a blessing for us. They had a pretty big blue on a sailfish pole, and they had to fight it for a while.”
With five sails on the board for the tournament at that point, the “Barbara B” was one release, or 400 points, behind the “Stream Weaver,” and in the time the “Stream Weaver” spent fighting their marlin, the “Barbara B” scored the pair of releases that propelled them to victory.
Blount brought another sailfish to the leader at 11:42 to bring the team into a tie for the lead. David Benson sealed the deal for the Greenville anglers, posting their final release at 1:35 while the “Stream Weaver” was still locked in battle with their blue marlin.
“David had never caught a sailfish before this tournament,” Blount said, “and he caught four of them over the last couple days. It’s a blessing to be getting this trophy, but the real blessing is just to be able to go out and catch fish.”
The “Stream Weaver” marlin continued to fight until after the official lines-out time of 2:00, pulling the hooks just as the anglers were about to score the release. While it’s many anglers’ dream fish, the blue marlin on the line prevented the team from fishing for sailfish for the last few hours of the tournament, giving the “Barbara B” the chance to catch up.
A total of six sail releases for the Wrightsville Beach boat put them in a tie with the “Caroline” at 2400 release points, but the “Stream Weaver” crew tallied their final release first to earn second place.
Like the winning boat, the “Stream Weaver” anglers, under Capt. Mike King, tallied one official release on Friday, but they confirmed the presence of a good sailfish bite by releasing four sails after the event’s lines-out time.
Returning to the area on Saturday morning, King and anglers Bill Squires, Bill Coleman, Steve Diab, and their sons were able to tally five official sailfish releases before hooking their blue marlin. Also in line with the winners, they trolled a pair of natural mullet dredge teasers and a squid chain to draw billfish in, and circle-hooked ballyhoo drew their bites.
“We fished the same area both days, around the 750 Line, but the fish were a little deeper yesterday,” King reported, “out in 120 fathoms. Today the bite was on in around 80 fathoms.”
After scoring five releases Saturday morning, the blue marlin (which the crew estimated at 450 lbs.) inhaled a dink ballyhoo on one of the crew’s 20 lb. test sailfish rods around 11:00, and the team’s Junior Angler, Jackson Diab, fought the fish for the remainder of the event’s fishing day.
The 2400 points earned by Fayetteville, NC’s “Caroline” were good for third place in the tournament.
In the Charter Boat Category, the “Maggie” and “Sea Hag” each had 1200 points, but “Maggie” took the top spot based on time.
“Builder’s Choice” took the top spot in the Amateur Boat competition, posting 2400 points to top the 1600 scored by “Penta Gone.” Dalton Meyer, on the “Penta Gone” earned the billfish category’s Top Junior Angler award.
The Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament is in its fifth year, and proceeds from the event go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Coastal Carolina.
