Manteo Rockfish Rodeo
Kennedy Bowman (age 4), of Wake Forest, NC, with the 11.27 lb. striped bass that earned her first place in the Manteo Rotary Rockfish Rodeo. She hooked the striper on a live eel near the old Manteo bridge while fishing with her sister, father, and grandfather.
Wake Forest’s Kennedy Bowman had a big day on November 19. Not only did the four-year-old top the Junior Angler division of the Manteo Rotary Rockfish Rodeo, her 11.27 lb. striped bass more than doubled the weight of the heaviest fish brought to the scales by any of the adult participants.
Fishing with her sister, Parker, and father and grandfather Frank Bowman, Jr. and Frank III aboard a 25’ Grady White, the family had an inauspicious start to the day.
“We had some motor trouble that morning,” Frank Bowman III explained. “We were finally able to get one motor running, but we didn’t get out there till 8:30.”
Once the anglers finally arrived at their first spot, the old Manns Harbor Bridge, it didn’t take long to find some action.
“We’d been fishing about 25 minutes when that fish bit,” Bowman continued.
Bump-trolling live eels in and out of the bridge pilings, the anglers got their big bite in around 14’ of water near the edge of the channel.
Kennedy was first to the rod when the fish bit and began the battle.
“We didn’t think it was that big at first,” Bowman said, “but she cranked on it for a while and we finally saw it before it took off on another run.”
Kennedy held on as the fish pulled drag and the anglers realized their fish had some size to it. Finally, around 10 minutes after it struck, the young angler was able to work the striper within range of her father’s landing net. When the fish hit the deck, the mood aboard the Grady soared.
“Kennedy was excited, her sister was really excited, and I figured she had the Junior Angler,” Bowman recalled.
The anglers continued fishing the bridge, and then tried several of the other bridges in the sound without another bite before heading to the scales.
“When we walked up, we were feeling pretty good,” Bowman said, “but a lot of times you’re feeling like that and there’s a 30 pounder or something on the leaderboard. This time, the leading fish was around 2.5 lbs. We all got really excited then.”
Richard Tipton topped the Rockfish Rodeo’s adult division, scaling a 4.66 lb. striper to take home the guaranteed $1000 first place check and the top spot in the TWT. A 3.69 lb. fish secured second place for Jaden Jennings, and Matthew Penny rounded out the top three with a 3.21 lb. fish. Sandy Martin captured the top Lady Angler honors for a 2.38 lb. striper.
The Rockfish Rodeo acts as a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Manteo. More information about the tournament is available at www.rockfishrodeo.com.
