Jodi Tynch Memorial KMT 2009
Mark Clements, Ronnie Kestner, and Stephen Yopp--the “Lucky Bird” crew, with a 43.2 lb. king mackerel that won the first annual Jodi Tynch Memorial King Mackerel Tournament. The huge king fell for a green-skirted split-tail ballyhoo on the downrigger at the 10 Mile Boxcars.
Deciding to memorialize his late wife Jodi and generate money for the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center at the same time, Mike Tynch was a man on a mission, and it’s now a mission accomplished after the successful Jodi Tynch Memorial King Mackerel Tournament, held June 27 out of Wrightsville Beach’s Mott’s Channel Seafood and David’s Deli.
The event ultimately raised over $6,000 for Hospice after the winners decided to donate all of their $1,495 earnings back to the event’s worthy beneficiary.
A monster 43.2 lb. king mackerel earned Hampstead’s Mark Clements and the “Lucky Bird” anglers victory in the event. Clements fished with Ronnie Kestner and Steven Yopp aboard his 25’ Wellcraft for the event, and he credited the greenhorn offshore fishermen with bringing the team the luck to hook their massive mackerel.
“Ronnie’s never been saltwater fishing before this year,” Clements explained, “and Steve caught his first two king mackerel that day. You know how it is; I think having those two on board brought us that fish.”
After starting the day strike-less near Dallas Rock, then moving over to the 10 Mile Boxcar area, the anglers hooked a pair of small kings that Yopp brought to the boat.
“Then we got into the sharks,” Clements continued. “I said we’ve got to go after that.”
Hearing boats talk on the radio about dolphin action at the Dredge Wreck, the anglers headed out there, but they found little interested in the live pogies they were slow-trolling.
Blake Moore, Bladen Porter, Kelly Porter, and Tristan Crumpler with the 24.4 lb. second place king mackerel. The king fell for a dead cigar minnow behind a green South Chatham Tackle Pirate Plug at AR-368.
Clements soon made the call to return to the 10 Mile, and it didn’t take long to see it was a good idea.
“As soon as I pulled up, we caught a 12 pounder on the downrigger,” the winning captain said, “and I dropped it right back down to the bottom and that big one bit.”
After experiencing only marginal success while trolling pogies, Clements had sent a split-tail ballyhoo down for the 12 lb. fish, and another split-tail bally under a green foil skirt fooled the winning fish at 2:45 in the afternoon.
“He had a little run right off the bat,” Clements reported, “but not much fight after that. I just reeled him up like he was a brick. I thought it was a shark, but when I saw him shine down there, I knew it was something special.”
The fish apparently put up little resistance at boatside, and Clements soon passed the rod off to Kestner and planted a gaff in the king.
“All I did then was cut the line, put the fish in the bag, and head for the scales,” said Clements. “I’ve been fishing since I was eight-years-old, and that’s the biggest king I’ve ever caught. I’ve been trying to break that 40 lb. mark forever. I guess now I’m shooting for a 50+.”
Taking first place by almost 19 lbs., the “Lucky Bird” anglers definitely made it a decisive victory, and though unable to attend the awards ceremony, Clements informed Mike Tynch by phone that the crew would be donating the winnings back to the tournament and Lower Cape Fear Hospice.
The “Double Trouble” crew of Kelly and Bladen Porter, Tristan Crumpler, and Blake Moore weighed in the 24.4 lb. king mackerel that earned second place in the tournament, garnering the team $897.
The anglers, fishing aboard a 23’ Trophy walkaround, only had one solid strike on the day, and they made it count. At 10:30 on Saturday morning while they were trolling past the reef buoy at AR-368, something grabbed a dead cigar minnow behind a South Chatham Tackle Pirate Plug 40’ deep on the downrigger.
Jamie Milam, of the “Prime Time” fishing team with the third place king mackerel in the Jodi Tynch Memorial Tournament. The 23.5 lb. king ate a naked pogy on top at the Dredge wreck while Milam was fishing with his father.
“The water looked good, but I couldn’t really figure out why I was there until that fish hit,” Kelly Porter explained.
Bladen Porter took the rod after the strike, and the king stayed down, making a solid first run.
“It almost got to the point where we’d have to chase him,” Porter said, “but it didn’t come to that. We fought him back to the boat.”
Although Bladen battled the king to the surface twice during the fight, it sounded both times. The third time the young angler brought it to the boat, his father was ready with the gaff and put the second place king on deck.
With plenty of time left before the weigh-in began, the “Double Trouble” crew kept fishing in the area. They then tried a few more spots without another strike before heading to the scales.
Hauling a 23.5 lb. king mackerel to the scales to earn third place and $598 were Jim and Jamie Milam aboard the 23’ Onslow Bay “Prime Time.”
After starting their day at the Cabbage Patch with little to show for it, the Milams began to work their way inshore, ultimately scoring their only king mackerel strike of the day at the Dredge Wreck. A naked pogy trolled long on top fooled their big king, and Jamie took the rod as it ran.
“It came up and didn’t really act like a king,” Jamie Milam reported. “It circled the boat a couple of times, and then Dad just gaffed her.”
Weighing in a 16.4 lb. king to earn fourth place, Patrick Scott and the “Wild Child” fishing team took home $200. Matt and Kelli Davis topped the event’s largest dolphin TWT with a 17.6 lb. fish worth $350.
After losing his wife to cancer on Febuary 3, Mike Tynch resolved to make a donation to Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center on the 3rd of every month, and it only took a month to realize he wanted to take it even further.
“They so diligently took care of her,” Tynch explained, “and it started on March 3rd. I was there to make my donation, and the Holy Spirit just laid it on me that I needed to do something more.”
A lifelong fisherman, Tynch arrived at the idea of a memorial tournament fairly quickly, but held back at first.
“It just got so overwhelming, I sort of put it to the side,” he explained. “Then some guys in my Sunday school group said, ‘Hey, are you actually going to do this,’ and I said Yes, I am.”
After resolving to make the event happen in late March/early April, Tynch got on the phone and started making calls, and his drive to make it a successful tournament and benefit didn’t end until the event was over. There were 29 boats that turned out for the First Annual Jodi Tynch Memorial King Mackerel Tournament, and plans are already in the works to have it around the same weekend next year.
“June 30 was Jodi’s birthday,” Tynch said, “so I’d like to have it as close to then as possible.”
Mike Tynch wished to express his sincere gratitude to all the anglers that fished the event and the sponsors and organizations that made it possible, including Gore Marine Metal Fabrication, Cape Fear Marine and Yacht Group, GoGas, Majestic Design, Mott’s Channel Seafood, and David’s Deli.
