Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament
Capt. Jesse Granitzki, mate Chris Stine, and the crew of the "Bi-Op-Sea" took first place and $297,296 at the 2011 Pirate's Cove Billfish Tournament with one blue marlin and 19 white marlin releases they tallied over three days of fishing. Their fish fell for dink ballyhoo behind dredge and squid chain teasers northeast of Oregon Inlet.
Waiting for the final three days of competition to begin fishing, Pirate’s Cove’s own Capt. Jesse Granitzki and the crew of the “Bi-Op-Sea” released a blue marlin and 19 white marlin to accumulate 1400 points and take home nearly $300,000 in the 28th Annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament.
After fishing the Alice Kelly tournament and several charters prior to the event, Granitzki had a good idea of where to begin trolling on Wednesday, August 17, their first fishing day. With mate Chris Stine, boat owners Dell Dembosky and Craig Johnson, and Mark Viveiros and Doug Milner aboard the 59’ Paul Spencer sportfisherman (hull #1), the captain headed northeast out of Oregon Inlet.
“I started up around the 000’s and worked my way down to the 850’s,” Granitzki explained.
Dink ballyhoo fished behind mullet and ballyhoo dredges and squid chain teasers made up the “Bi-Op-Sea” billfish spread, and it didn’t take long for the tactic to prove its worth.
A blue marlin was first to commit to the spread, and Doug Milner handled the angling duties, securing a quick release on the 150 lb. class fish.
The anglers released four more white marlin as they worked their way south over the day, an impressive total, but not leader board-worthy yet, as many of the boats fished Tuesday and found the billfish.
On Thursday, the anglers returned to the area, and lacking rips or bait concentrations to prospect, they located the marlin the same way the rest of the tournament participants did.
“There was just a big fleet of boats catching billfish out there,” Granitzki continued. “We found them all over the place, from the 850’s on up to the 100 Line. We had some in on the break in around 50 fathoms, and caught some on out in 500 fathoms.”
Capt. Bull Tolson and the crew of the "Sea Toy" took home second place in the 28th Pirate's Cove Billfish Tournament with 18 releases worth 1260 points over three days of fishing.
This time, the crew had a banner day, releasing 10 white marlin to tie the top boat for the day, but missing out on the Daily Points prize based on time.
The “Bi-Op-Sea” crew went into the competition’s final day with 15 releases good for 1050 points.
“Two other boats had 17 each,” Granitzki reported, “but they were fished out of days. We were feeling pretty good about it, but there were some other good boats with 9-10 each, so we knew they could have a good day and be right there in it.”
Hooking several doubleheaders, the “Bi-Op-Sea” crew took the lead by midday with three releases, then adding two more to cement their victory, returning to Pirate’s Cove with five white marlin flags flapping in the breeze.
Their 20 release total handily pushed them past the pair of boats tied for second place with 18 releases each.
Capt. Bull Tolson’s “Sea Toy” tallied their final release a mere three minutes before Capt. Harvey Shiflet and the “Cacique” to earn second place based on time and knock “Cacique” to third.
A full leader board for the Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament can be found at www.pcbgt.com.
