Rebel King Pier KMT 2004
The Rebel King Mackerel Pier Tournament had everything you look for in a pier king mackerel tournament: good weather, good conditions for fishing, lots of participants (over 60 anglers), and a king total on the weekend that went well into the double digits.
The tournament, held May 7-9, was hosted again this year by Ocean Crest and Long Beach piers on Oak Island. While last year’s event was marred by unfavorable weather conditions and failed to produce a single king catch, this year’s event had multiple king catches from both piers and an overall perfect environment for the tournament participants.
The winner of the event was Brad Gobel, from Lexington, NC, who caught a 19 lb. 4 oz. king on Saturday, May 8. Gobel, who is only 16 years old, hooked up the king on a grass shad at approximately 2:15 while fishing from Ocean Crest Pier. The king took about 15 minutes to land, and ultimately won Gobel $1000 in prize money. Gobel said, “This is definitely the most money I’ve ever won fishing.”
Gary Currie, of Greensboro, brought in the second place fish. His king weighed 18 lbs. 8 oz., and was caught off of the Ocean Crest Pier on a live bluefish at 12:30. The second place money was $552. Ron Brewer, from Winston Salem and fishing from the Long Beach Pier, took third place with an 18 lb. 0 oz. king. After a 30-minute fight, Brewer landed the $368 fish. All of the tournaments top three fish were caught on Saturday.
Weather conditions were favorable for king fishing over the entire three days. Friday and Saturday both saw a little chop on the water and wind coming out of the SE at 10-15 mph. No kings were landed on Friday, but Saturday saw a total of 9 kings caught from Long Beach Pier and 2 from Ocean Crest. Ocean Crest also had a 52 lb. 9 oz. cobia brought in. The cobia, caught by Buddy Dowdy of Lynchburg, VA, bit a live bluefish and took 1.5 hours to land. The fish won $260 in the tournament calcutta for the biggest fish.
On Saturday night the wind switched and started blowing out of the NE. Sunday morning saw river water around the piers and not much chop on the water. No kings were produced during tournament hours on Sunday.
The Rebel King Mackerel Pier Tournament also hosted a few casting events. Stanley Register won the anchor rod accuracy casting contest and a check for $250 by putting his cast inches away from a hula hoop placed off the beach. Dallas Hoffman took second in the event and $150 in prize money. J.C. Price took third in the event, and he was awarded $100. The anchor rod distance casting contest was won by Tom Sheppard, who took home $100 for his longest cast.
There was also a children’s accuracy casting contest. Jessie Perkins, of Oak Island, won a rod and reel combo for his casts to the hula hoop.
The tournament planners selected this weekend in part because of the two high tides that would be occurring during tournament fishing hours. Their strategy proved insightful, as the tournament produced several kings from both piers over the weekend. Bird Perkins, Tournament Director, commented, “This year we doubled the prize money that we gave away last year, and we plan on doubling the prize money again next year.”
For tournament info on next year’s event, you can contact Long Beach and Ocean Crest piers. “We hope more show up next year to fill all the king spaces,” says Perkins.
