Oak Island Open Pier Tournament 2007
Angler Terry Hunt caught not only the winning fish in Category Three competition of the 2007 Oak Island Open Pier Tournament, held June 8-10, he caught the only other qualifying fish as well. Hunt’s 28 lb. king and 24 lb. 8 oz. king easily gave him the uncontested victory in the tournament that allows anglers to fish from either of Oak Island’s piers—Ocean Crest Pier and Yaupon Pier.
Category Three is won by the heaviest king mackerel, cobia, tarpon, jack crevalle, or amberjack caught from either pier, and Hunt’s two kings were the only eligible fish landed during the two fishing day event.
Hunt, an accomplished pier king mackerel fisherman, traveled from Lumberton, NC, to fish the event on Ocean Crest Pier with his father Jerry Hunt and friend Cyril Gulledge. This was Hunt’s first year fishing the Oak Island Open.
The 28 lb. king that earned Hunt the $625.00 first place prize hit a live bluefish around 2:20 pm on Saturday.
“I was halfway down the pier trying to catch a speckled trout when I heard somebody yell out rod number 31,” Hunt said. “By the time I was halfway back to the rod, I could hear it screaming. When I picked it up, it was almost empty. I could see the spool.”
Fortunately for Hunt, the king slowed down just before spooling him. “It took me about 20 minutes to catch him,” he explained. “He went a long way out but didn’t go too much corner to corner. When he finally came in, he came to the right side corner.”
By the time Hunt had the fish near the pier, Gulledge gaffed and pulled up his friend’s fish. The team had the king on deck by 2:45.
Hunt’s second king, the 24.5 lb. fish caught around 8:45 Sunday morning, also hit a live bluefish.
In the event that a qualifying fish is not landed, it is the Oak Island Open’s policy to have a drawing among the eligible fishermen for the unclaimed prize. The amazing luck Hunt had while fishing the tournament must have rubbed off on his companions.
At the Awards Ceremony drawing, Jerry Hunt won the second place $325.00 prize, and Gulledge took the third place $250.00 prize.
Category Two’s winner is determined by the largest spanish mackerel, gray trout, speckled trout, sheepshead, flounder, bluefish, red drum, or black drum.
Monroe Grady, from Seagrove, topped the field of Category Two competitors by catching a 4 lb. 2 oz. sheepshead from Yaupon Pier. The big sheep earned Grady $500.00.
Grady caught his winning sheepshead on Saturday afternoon by dropping a sand fiddler crab next to a piling about 2/3 of the way out on the pier. He was fishing blind, as he had not seen the fish before hand. “I did see some bigger ones on Saturday,” Grady said, “but I’d run out of crabs by then, and they wouldn’t eat a shrimp.”
The husband and wife team of Tim and Kelly Alexander took second and third place honors in Category Two for a pair of black drum they landed near the end of competition on Sunday. Tim’s drum weighed 4.0 lbs. and garnered him winnings of $300.00, while Kelly’s fish weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. and earned her $200.00. The Alexanders were fishing from Yaupon Pier.
Category One awarded prizes for the heaviest pinfish, pompano, spot, croaker, whiting, or spadefish.
Glen Lanier took the top spot in Category One with a 1 lb. 10 oz. Atlantic pompano. Lanier took home $500 for the pompano, which he caught from Ocean Crest Pier.
The prize winning pompano bit cut shrimp that Lanier was fishing on a bottom rig just behind the breakers. The pompano struck in the morning on Saturday, and it was part of a catch of several more pompano and whiting for Lanier.
Second place in Category One went to Larry Kiger, for a 1 lb. 6 oz. whiting that earned him a check for $312.50. A 1.0 lb. spadefish earned third place and $125.00 for George Reynolds.
The Oak Island Open’s Top Junior Angler was Rakene Chowdhury, who caught a 3 lb. 9 oz. speckled trout from Yaupon Pier. Chowdhury was fishing in the tournament with his parents, and he caught the trout on a live shrimp fished under a float. The bite came around 8:30 Sunday morning, and Rakene fought the big trout for 5 minutes before he was able to get it on the pier deck. The trout earned him $75.00 and a trophy.
Second place in Junior Angler competition went to R.J. Taylor, who caught a 1 lb. 9 oz. speckled trout to earn $50.00.
The 2007 Oak Island Open attracted 160 entrants to both piers. The event is put on jointly by Ocean Crest Pier, Yaupon Pier, and the Oak Island Recreation Department.
In addition to Category One, Two, and Three prizes, the event gives away a huge number of special weight and other prizes donated by local businesses, and few people left the awards ceremony empty handed. Recreation Department Representative Rebecca Squires wished to express the tournament’s gratitude to the many sponsors who make the event possible.
