Myrtle Beach Saltwater Classic
Todd Beard, Jason Miles, Hunter Miles, and Jimmy Grooms, the "My Boat" fishing team, earned first place and over $7,000 in the Myrtle Beach Saltwater Classic with a 29.35 lb. king mackerel they hooked on a live pogie in the Charleston shipping channel.
Knowing that rough weather would prevent them from getting far offshore, Charleston’s “Miles Away” fishing team elected to stay close to home in their hunt for a big king mackerel. And the strategy worked, leading them to the 29.35 lb. fish that took first place in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Saltwater Classic, held July 23-24 out of Harbourgate Marina. The near-30 lb. fish earned the team—Capt. Jason Miles, his son Hunter, and Todd Beard and Jimmy Grooms—a total of $7,890.
The crew, fishing aboard a 23’ Yamaha-powered Sea Hunt, didn’t have to wait long before their game plan of fishing the Charleston shipping channel was proven sound the morning of the event. After catching some pogies on the beachfront, they hit the channel and had quick action.
“We caught a 20 pounder right off,” Jason Miles explained.
The fish was good enough to encourage the anglers to stick around the area for the remainder of the morning, despite having no other strikes.
Around 1:00 that afternoon, as the “Miles Away” anglers were trolling the shipping channel in 55’ of water, their money-winning mackerel fell for a live pogie beneath a silver Pearl Baby skirt 15’ deep on the downrigger.
Grooms took the rod while the fish made its initial run.
“He took a half-spool on that first run,” the angler reported. “We chased him pretty good.”
The king apparently didn’t burn all its energy on the first run.
“He took another half-spool the second time,” Grooms continued. “The third run was a little shorter, and he came up to the top.”
With the fish on the surface, the endgame was near, and Jason Miles sank home the gaff around 15 minutes after the crew got their big bite.
With time running short for the anglers to make the long haul to North Myrtle Beach and the scales, the crew packed up and headed back inshore to the ICW.
“We knew we had a long run ahead of us,” Miles explained, “so we headed out after we got that fish in the box. It took almost 4 hours.”
The long run was proven worthwhile when the crew showed up at the scales with a mackerel that had a pound and a half on the second place fish.
Todd Dawkins, aboard the "2 Dogs," took home second place and more than $5,000 in the Myrtle Beach Saltwater Classic for a 27.78 lb. fish his crew hooked on a live pogie at the 30/30 off Carolina Beach.
Local crew “2 Dogs” weighed in the second place 27.78 lb. king. Anglers Todd Dawkins, Welsh Carson, James Hall, and Jerry Thumbleton, fishing aboard a Contender 23T, earned a total of $5,461.
Originally planning to fish the Shark Hole, where anglers have landed a surprising number of 30+ lb. king mackerel this July, the “2 Dogs” anglers changed their game plan as a result of some bait issues.
“Everybody was talking about the Shark Hole,” Dawkins explained. “We had some bait, but it was small and we wanted some bigger bait before we headed out.”
Hearing of some large pogies in Snow’s Cut, the anglers ran all the way to Carolina Beach, loaded up, and then changed the strategy.
“We went out Carolina Beach because it was a lot calmer over there with the southwest wind,” Dawkins said.
They ran to the 30/30, a live bottom area on Frying Pan Shoals, and hooked up before they even reached the numbers.
“There were a couple boats out there,” Dawkins continued, “and we hadn’t even gotten up to them when he hit the downrigger.”
Around 10:00 that morning, a pogy beneath a pink/white skirt fooled the fish, which the crew didn’t realize was a king at first.
“He was lazy,” said Dawkins. “We thought it was a shark, but I had both motors in gear and the shark was keeping up with the boat. When he passed us, we realized it was a king.”
Quickly clearing the lines, the anglers began to pursue their fish and were able to bring it to gaff in fairly short order, though the drama wasn’t quite over.
“He almost straightened a long gaff with a small hook,” Dawkins explained. “We were lucky to get him in.”
With the 27-pounder in the boat, the anglers fished the 30/30 for the remainder of the day, but they caught only amberjacks and a barracuda before deciding to run to Myrtle at 2:00.
Joe Wells, aboard the “Dirty Work,” captured third place and $3,156 with a 27.26 lb. fish. The “Mangler” crew, with Capt. Mo Mangan, earned fourth with their 25.69 lb. king, pocketing $4,050. And Derrick Blanton on the “My Boat/CK Blanton” rounded out the top five with a 24.56 worth $2,666.
Full results and information about upcoming Saltwater Classic Series events is available at www.bluewaterpromo.com.
