Barta Billfish Tournament
Capt. Alan Willis and the crew of the "Sea Hag" tallied five sailfish releases over two fishing days to earn 2000 release points and the win in the 2011 Barta Billfish Tournament. Their fish fell for dink ballyhoo near the Big Rock.
Topping a day one sailfish release with a quartet of the spunky billfish on the tournament’s second and final fishing day, Capt. Alan Willis and the “Sea Hag” crew accumulated 2,000 release points to score the top spot at the 2011 Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament, held July 14-16 out of the Beaufort waterfront.
Willis and the crew aboard the 61’ Custom Carolina sportfisherman–mate Tony Flowers, “Sea Hag” co-owner Mike Ledford, Sally Kirkpatrick and junior anglers Luke Ledford, Landon Badgett, John Kirkpatrick, and John Rhodes—actually tied on points with second place boat “Bill Collector,” out of Morehead City, but tallied their final release an hour earlier to take home the win based on time.
“We lucked out with the one on Friday and the four today,” Ledford explained. “We had a busy day today and caught all species from amberjacks and barracuda to tuna, wahoo, dolphin, and those sails.”
After a fairly uneventful troll Friday, the winning crew raised their first sailfish with time running short before the fishing day officially ended.
“We raised that one about 15 minutes before 2:00,” Ledford continued. A dink ballyhoo tempted the sail to bite, and Landon Badgett fought the fish to a successful release at 2:02.
A pair of dredges and a squid chain made up the “Sea Hag” crew’s teaser setup, with dink ballyhoo in the spread and also for pitch baits to tempt fish away from the teasers.
“That’s one of our favorite ways to fish,” Ledford said. “It’s just exciting.”
Morehead City’s “Impulse” fishing team had a pair of sailfish releases to take the lead after day one, but “Sea Hag” answered quickly on the morning of day two.
“We were fishing just south of the Big Rock,” said Ledford, “and we got our first one at 8:11.”
Again, a dink ballyhoo fooled the sail after it came up for a look at the teasers behind the “Sea Hag,” and John Kirkpatrick was on the rod for the crew’s second sailfish.
“Impulse” was fast to respond, turning loose a sailfish at 9:00 to regain the lead, and the “Impulse,” “Bill Collector,” and “Sea Hag” crews traded the top spot on the leader board back and forth over the event’s final day.
Capt. Stephen Draughon and the crew of the "Bill Collector" earned second place in the 2011 Barta Billfish Tournament with a five sailfish releases worth 2000 points. Their point total was tied with the winners, but they scored their last release an hour later than the "Sea Hag" team.
“Bill Collector” and “Impulse” each put another sailfish on the board before noon, but again, “Sea Hag” clawed their way back to the top, releasing another dink bait sail at 12:21 for angler John Kirkpatrick.
Less than a half-hour later, a double header of sails were next up for the winning crew, and John Rhodes and Luke Ledford each tallied another release at 12:42, putting the lead back in the “Sea Hag” corner for the final time.
“Bill Collector” released three more sails between noon and 2:00 that afternoon, putting five fish for 2,000 points on the board, but they were unable to score a sixth release and take back the lead.
“This was a great day, absolutely,” Ledford reported. “Any day you catch a billfish is a good day, and to catch four and get to have the kids catch them, it’s even better. We had a tough ride out today, but they did great, hung in there and didn’t give up.”
The last minute release pushed Capt. Stephen Draughon and the “Bill Collector” crew to 2,000 release points and into second place. Capt. Cameron Guthrie and “Impulse” tallied four sails over the event to secure third place overall.
Ran Johnston, fishing with Capt. Pete Zook on the “Fight’N Lady,” scaled a 40.3 lb. dolphin to top that category on the event’s meatfish leader board. A 26.6 lb. wahoo earned “Bill Collector” and Hunter Draughon the top spot in the wahoo division. Laurin Schad, aboard “Impulse,” took home the top king mackerel prize for a 17.22 lb. fish, and a 10.64 lb. blackfin tuna earned first place tuna for Avery Struyk on “Piracy.”
The Barta Tournament featured a new inshore division for 2011, with competition for bluefish, spanish mackerel, and pinfish.
A 4.02 lb. spanish mackerel gave Samantha Wainwright, on the “Fishing Partner,” the win in that category. Hayden Gizinski, on “10 Bravo,” earned first place bluefish for a 1.22 pounder, and Hunter Rice, aboard “Genesis,” scaled a .62 lb. pinfish to take the trophy there.
The Barta Boys and Girls Club Billfish Tournament generates proceeds for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Coastal Carolina, raising over $600,000 for the club to date. More information on the event, the Boys and Girls Club, and a full leader board are available at www.bartabillfish.com.
