Mike Martin Pier Tournament 2005
Surf City Pier held the 1st annual Mike Martin Pier Fishing Tournament over the weekend of August 13-14, and 73 participants hit the pier starting at 6:00 am Saturday and ending 3:00 pm on Sunday.
The big fish of the weekend came from Eddie Perry, from Raleigh. Perry landed a 3.01 lb. trout with a little less than two hours left in the tournament. He had pulled his lines out of the water, and then a friend talked him into fishing for the last two hours. Shortly after, the trout hit a live shrimp.
Perry hadn’t caught anything all weekend but a couple of small blues.
When asked what he was going to do with the $500 grand prize, Perry replied, “Go fishing.”
Jimmy Grubbs, from Surf City, placed in several categories, including first place in flounder (1.88 lbs. caught on a gotcha head with a shrimp tail), second place in spanish (2.12 lbs. caught on a live grass shad), and first place in puppy drum (1.05 lbs. caught on cut shrimp)
Trevor Hooke, from New Bern, had the heaviest spanish with a 2.52 lb. fish caught on a live grass shad.
Sandy Sinclair, from Holly Ridge, had the second heaviest flounder, a 1.84 lb. fish caught on a live mud minnow.
Johnny Horner, from Surf City, landed a 1.21 lb. Virginia mullet on a sand flea. He was followed by James Tyndall with a .80 lb. mullet.
The pompano division was won by Ann Jones, from Hampstead, with a 1.86 lb. fish caught on cut shrimp. In second place was Michael Bryant with a .35 lb. pompano.
Edward Wright, from Louisburg, NC, landed a .51 lb. spot, and Kristie Grubbs, from Surf City, followed with a .42 lb. spot. Kristie also had the second heaviest red drum, with a .71 lb. fish caught on cut shrimp.
The Junior Angler Division was won by Cody Hairr (age 10), from Hampstead. Cody landed a 1.02 lb. flounder and a .40 lb. mullet. Victor Hernandez came in second in the Junior Angler with a .45 lb. blue.
The tournament was in honor of Mike Martin, who had worked at the pier since 1994 and had managed the pier for the last four years. Martin passed away earlier this year. Ed Lore, owner of Surf City Pier, said that Mike had been planning this tournament this past winter as a way to get people interested in fishing in the August heat. Lore wanted to make Mike’s tournament a reality, and he thanked all the participants and all the pier employees for making it happen.
