Hatteras Grand Slam
Combatting a rough weekend of fishing, Ken Miller and the crew of the Hatteras-based “Outlaw” tallied 450 release points on the final day of the Hatteras Grand Slam Billfish Tournament, adding to the 400 they’d secured for a blue marlin the previous day, to slide past their competition and take home victory in the event.
Miller, fishing with longtime partner Ron Lowe, Will Huntley, and Doug and Kara Solomon aboard the 57’ Island Boatworks sportfisherman, turned around due to rough seas on Thursday, July 11, the first day of the event, but they came back in style on their next two fishing days, releasing the blue marlin Saturday and a white marlin and pair of sailfish Sunday to end up on top of the pack.
“We made it 10-12 miles Thursday,” Miller explained, “and heard from the boats ahead of us it was just getting worse.”
They pressed on through slightly better seas on Friday, and trolled the morning away without much to show for it. Just after lunch, the crew raised a blue marlin and convinced it to eat, but lost the fish shortly after the hookup.
They returned to the troll, and just half an hour later, another blue rose from the depths to inspect the team’s teasers.
“That was about 1:15,” Miller recounted. “It came up on the teaser, and Ron reeled a plug up to her. She switched over and ate the plug.”
Kara Solomon took the chair as the fish bit, and she was soon hanging on as the fish ran and took to the air.
“It took 4-5 jumps right away,” Miller continued, “but then settled down and it was pretty docile from there.”
Solomon performed efficiently after the fish stopped leaping, working in concert with Miller’s boat handling to bring the leader to Lowe’s hand around 10 minutes after the bite.
On the board with 400 points for releasing the 250 lb. class fish, the anglers kept up the troll, but didn’t raise another billfish by the lines-out time.
On Saturday, the “Outlaw” anglers had their sights set on fishing the same water where they’d raised the blues the day before, in around 100 fathoms near the 000’s, but the ocean again made that difficult.
“There was a blended/blue color change out there,” Miller explained. “We tried hard to get out there, but didn’t make it until 1:00.”
They didn’t have to wait long for action once they reached their destination, as a white marlin appeared and attacked a dink ballyhoo shortly after 1:00. Kara Solomon was the angler on the white as well, and she quickly added 150 points to the team’s total with a clean release.
A pair of sailfish were next to check out the teasers and take baits in the wake of the “Outlaw,” and the team hooked both fish up, with Solomon taking the rod for her third billfish of the event and Huntley handling angling duties on the other.
Scoring quick releases on each of the sails, the crew knew they’d slid into the lead with little time left in the event.
“We knew that put us in first,” Miller said, “but another boat hooked up with a potential keeper fish right before or after we got the sails, so we were pretty nervous that last hour.”
Their fish, however, held up, and “Outlaw” earned the win with 850 total points.
Wrightsville Beach’s “Salvation” crew earned second place in the Hatteras Grand Slam, releasing a pair of blue marlin worth 800 points over the course of the tournament.
“Bill Collector,” from Morehead City, released four white marlin in two days of fishing to take home 600 points and third place.
More information and full results from the Hatteras Grand Slam are available at www.hatterasgrandslam.com.
