Johnnie Mercer’s Dogfish Tournament March 12, 2009
Cliff Powell, Jeremy Vines, and Matthew McKinney pose with the third, second, and first place trophies in the fourth annual Johnnie Mercer's Pier Dogfish Tournament, held January 25th.
The area’s only January fishing tournament, the Johnnie Mercer’s Pier Dogfish Tournament, had another successful event for its fourth year running, with plenty of willing dogfish keeping the participants busy on January 25, 2009. The 49 anglers who fished the event traveled from as far away as Ohio, with the winner, Matthew McKinney, making the trek from Charlotte.
McKinney’s 9 lb., 8 oz. mega dog was actually in a tie for first with a fish caught by Jeremy Vines, but McKinney made it to the scales first and took the victory based on time.
Knocked down to second, Vines ended the event in another tie, this one for most fish, as he and Phil Jezslerski each landed 16 of the small sharks.
A 9 lb., 5 oz. dogfish earned the third place title for Cliff Powell.
Both spiny and smooth dogfish are eligible for the tournament, but spinies made up the majority of the 150 dogs that the participants caught and released over the course of the day.
James Neal, a fixture at the pier, was pleased with the participants’ ethics. “It’s nice to see so many people respecting this resource and letting the fish go unharmed,” Neal said.
Tournament day brought good weather (at least for January) to the participants, but it didn’t please everyone.
“I was a little disappointed that the weather wasn’t worse,” explained Corry Birchall, of Fort Mill, SC. “I had gotten some foul weather gear for Christmas and wanted to try it out.”
The dogfish tournament was the brainchild of regular Johnnie Mercer’s anglers Rick Britt and Arlen Ash. It started four years ago, and has grown since. This year the tournament was sponsored by the North Carolina Fishing Pier Society (www.ncfps.com) and featured prizes donated by local businesses.
