Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club KMT
Greenville, NC's Richard Hill and Gene Long--the "R/C Homes" crew--topped the pack at the Raleigh Saltwater Sport Fishing Club KMT with this 43.00 lb. fish they hooked on a live menhaden at the 1700 Rock.
Successful tournament fishing begins with a game plan, and Greenville, NC’s “R/C Homes” anglers stuck to theirs during the 28th Annual Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club King Mackerel Tournament, held July 27-29 out of Jaycee Park on the Morehead City waterfront, landing a 43 lb. king mackerel early in the day to slide past a 42.52 lb. fish and take home the first place check.
Fishing aboard a 38’ Fountain, Richard Hill and Gene Cross made up the crew for the event, and Hill laid out their strategy the night before the competition.
“I told Gene we were going to get baitfish and go straight to the 1700 Rock,” Hill explained. “A top-five fish comes off that rock every year in this tournament, and if there was one there, we were going to get it.”
The first part of the plan came together when they loaded up on menhaden with a single throw near Harkers Island, and the pair headed for the rock immediately afterward.
“We had lines in at 7:30,” Hill reported, “and that fish hit around 8:00.”
After the big bite, the anglers had to scramble to get lines clear and catch up to their fish.
“She peeled off 300 yards of line easily,” Hill said. “We had to turn around and run nearly full throttle to catch up.”
Hill took the rod on the fish, and after they caught up to it, the battle entered a stalemate.
“She stayed about 30-40’ below the boat,” he continued, “and was acting like an amberjack. It had run so hard at first I couldn’t believe it was a jack.”
After about 20 minutes of the up-and-down struggle, the anglers finally got a glimpse of their adversary.
“When she showed herself,” said Hill, “I got a look at her and let up on the drag and said she could take all day if she wanted.”
Fortunately for the anglers, the fish succumbed substantially before that, and 10 minutes later the king was moving into gaff range.
“I passed the rod off to Gene,” Hill explained, “and stuck a gaff in her. I was so worn out from the fight I had to get him to help me lift her in the boat.”
After a brief celebration, the anglers got some measurements on the fish, and they estimated it was a solid 40-pounder.
“She was 54 inches long by 24 inches around,” Hill said. “I called a buddy on the radio, and he said to go on home and let somebody else catch one.”
The “R/C Homes” anglers took the advice and were anchored up at Morehead waiting on the scales to open at 11:00.
With a modified Captain’s Choice format that lets anglers pick Saturday or Sunday to fish, Hill and Cross had to wait out a day on land hoping no one would muster a larger king.
“We were a little worried about that because Sunday was a whole lot calmer and 17 boats fished,” Hill revealed.
But their only real competition came Saturday after the anglers had weighed in and left, the 42.54 lb. king that earned second place for the “Service Call” crew.
“Team Zebra” secured third place with a 38.72 lb. king. A 38.00 lb. mackerel was good enough to give fourth place to the “Release.” The final 30+ lb. fish scaled in the event, a 33.6 lb. king, brought fifth place home with the “Germinator.”
The Club held a flounder tournament concurrently with the KMT, and Michael Whitlach took the top honors in it, scaling a 3.8 lb. flatfish.
More information on the tournament and the Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club is available at their website www.rswsc.org.
