Reelin’ For Research
Mate Gray Harris, Jim Molinaro, Matt Loga, Patrick Theisman, Dee Hobbs, Chris Codisco, and Todd Wade earned first place in the Reelin' for Research Tournament with a 65.2 lb. wahoo and a pair of gaffer dolphin good for a 92.3 lb. three-fish aggregate weight. They were fishing with Capt. Pete Zook on the charterboat "Fight-N-Lady" out of the Morehead City waterfront.
The crew aboard the “Fight-N-Lady” lived up to the tournament’s name, doing plenty of reeling on their way to capturing first place in the 4th Annual Reelin’ for Research Tournament, held out of the Morehead City waterfront May 5th. Matt Logan, Todd Wade, Patrick Theisman, Jim Molinaro, Chris Cordisco, and Dee Hobbs fished with Capt. Pete Zook and mate Gray Hall to scale a 65.2 lb. wahoo and a pair of gaffer dolphin for a 3-fish aggregate of 92.3 lbs. that handily earned the team the top spot out of the 49 boat field.
With a hard temperature break in around 100 fathoms the day before the event, the crew took off, but found the break in much shallower on the morning of the tournament.
“The break had pushed on inshore,” Zook explained. “So we fished it for a bit but it got more and more crowded, and I knew those fish would get picked off, so we moved on offshore of it.”
The team found plenty of action with gaffer dolphin, but their big bite didn’t come until just after lunch. As they trolled just off the break in 70 fathoms of water, something snatched a ballyhoo beneath an Iland lure on the captain’s long line.
Zook passed the rod down to the cockpit and the anglers began the battle.
“That fish put up a pretty solid fight,” the captain explained. “It was a short, fat one.”
Around 10 minutes later, Hall planted the gaff and brought the big ‘hoo over the covering board. Not only did the fat wahoo anchor their winning aggregate, it was the largest fish weighed during the Reelin’ for Research event.
“We were pretty excited,” Zook reported. “We knew it was the biggest that anybody in the tournament had caught that day, and we had some gaffers to go with it, so we knew we were in pretty good shape.”
Before heading back to Morehead and the scales, the anglers aboard “Fight-N-Lady” had a little more excitement when a 200 lb. class blue marlin inhaled one of their baits and fought for around 10 minutes before pulling the hook.
A trio of blue water pelagics weighing 81.6 lbs. earned second place in the Reelin’ for Research Tournament for Chris Craven, Allen Oakley, Thomas Gore, Courtney Friedman, and Drayton Calmes—fishing aboard the “Sensation” with Capt. Dale Britt and mate Allen Scibal.
And Capt. Randy Hoft and the team aboard “Catbaby” weighed in a 71.5 lb. three-fish aggregate to place third.
Maegan Klein on the “Diamond Girl” took home the Top Lady Angler honors in the event with a 24.4 lb. wahoo.
Reelin’ for Research is an annual event in memory of Tony Montana, who lost a battle with cancer in 2005. In 2008, his son Richard Montana and a group of friends created the event, which has now raised well over $300,000 in the fight against pediatric cancer.
More information on the event and the Tony Montana Fellowship for pediatric cancer research is available at www.reelinforresearch.org.
