Tournament Report – NC Offshore Challenge
A lucky raffle ticket draw turned into a lucky fishing trip for Roanoke Rapids, NC anglers Timmy and Bryanna Patterson and Freedom Bottoms, as the free trip they won with Oregon Inlet charterboat “Wave Runner” produced a 31 lb. dolphin that was the winning fish in the NC Offshore Challenge. The multi-port event was held out of Morehead City and Wanchese, NC, with the Patterson’s winning fish coming into the northern port.
“I got that raffle ticket from the Dixie Deer Classic,” Timmy Patterson explained.
After Patterson’s ticket was drawn, they were matched up with Capt. Brian White, mate Justin Walters, and the “Wave Runner,” and the anglers boarded the 63’ custom Carolina sportfisherman last weekend and headed offshore.
They landed in fish quickly and were experiencing steady gaffer dolphin action when the crew’s big fish bit around 9:30 that morning.
“He bit a ballyhoo on the short line,” Patterson explained. “The mate had that thing swimming just like a real minnow.”
Bottoms took the rod as the dolphin ran, and the crew got a look at it as it made one jump. After a 15-20 minute fight, the lady angler had the fish close, and Walters was able to reach out with the gaff and haul it aboard.
“We hoped that would be a good fish,” Patterson continued. “That was our first time we’d been offshore fishing, and I didn’t really know what a big one was.”
As it turned out, the 31 lb. fish not only topped all the dolphin that the other boats weighing in at Wanchese caught, it beat the Morehead City fleet’s best efforts as well.
The “Pelagic” crew, from Atlantic Beach, earned second place in the event with a 29 lb. dolphin, and Randy Straight aboard the Morehead City boat “Sensation” took home third.
The “Bootlegger” scaled a 46 lb. wahoo to top that fish’s competition, and Pace Mims, of the Outer Banks Anglers Club, landed a 36 lb. tuna to take first place in that category.
Alicia Oliver, of Detroit, MI, landed a 29 lb. dolphin to earn the event’s Top Lady Angler honors.
The NC Offshore Challenge is a non-profit event put on by the Hillsborough Sport Fishing Club that gets wounded warriors on the water and raises money to support their needs. More information on the event and the club can be found at www.hillsboroughsfc.com.
