Reelin’ for Research
Drew Logan, Mitch and Zack Taylor, and John Henry–the “Cat Baby” crew, with the Dylan Price Cup they earned for scaling 83.9 lbs. of gaffer dolphin and wahoo on their way to victory in the 6th Annual Reelin’ For Research tournament. The hooked their fish while trolling skirted ballyhoo around the 300 line south of Beaufort Inlet.
Scaling a pair of gaffer dolphin and a wahoo that totaled 83.9 lbs., Raleigh’s Mitch Taylor and the crew of the “Cat Baby” earned first place in the 2014 Reelin’ for Research tournament, held May 3 out of the Morehead City waterfront.
Taylor’s friend Capt. John Henry, of Atlantic Beach, ran the 36’ Albemarle express for the event, and the pair were joined by Zack, Steve, and Jeff Taylor along with Drew Logan.
Heading south from Beaufort Inlet on the morning of the competition, Henry pulled back the Albemarle’s throttles around the 300 Line and the crew began deploying their spread.
It didn’t take them long to find a good gaffer dolphin bite, and they began hooking fish soon after putting the baits in the water.
“We stayed busy for most of the day,” Taylor explained.
The crew worked the area inshore and off and found dolphin action all over, landing 15 gaffers to 26 lbs. over the course of the day, a solid haul by any measure. However, the crew knew they’d need to add a kicker to those fish in order to have a shot at the leaderboard in the three fish aggregate event.
“I figured somebody would need 100 lbs. or so to win it,” Taylor explained. “We knew we’d have a chance since we had 6 or 8 fish between 15-20 lbs., but we hadn’t had a wahoo bite all day.”
After trolling north and into some shallower water, the “Cat Baby” crew’s number was finally called with only minutes before the 2:00 lines-out time in the event.
“That wahoo was the last strike of the day,” Taylor said. “We had about 10 minutes left to fish.”
A blue/purple Iland lure rigged on wire in the shotgun position fooled the fish, and Zack Taylor took the rod as the ‘hoo ran.
“It was a pretty typical wahoo fight,” continued Taylor. “He screamed off line for a good couple minutes before we started to move him to the boat.”
Once they got the fish turned, Zack Taylor was able to work it to the gaff around 10 minutes after the bite, and the anglers packed up and headed for the scales.
“We knew once we got that fish in the boat we at least had a reason to go weigh in,” Taylor said.
Once they arrived, the anglers were told that first place was currently 78 lbs. and knew they’d have a shot at taking the lead. Though their big wahoo was a few pounds shy of the largest weighed in the event, the fat gaffers carried them past their competition and into the top spot on the leaderboard.
At the awards ceremony, the “Cat Baby” crew were the first team presented with the Dylan Price Cup, a trophy commemorating Price, a friend of the tournament who lost a battle with pediatric cancer last year. The award will be passed along to the winning crew in the event each year moving forward.
Rich Falter on the boat “Fintastic” took home the tournament’s largest fish award for a 43.8 lb. wahoo.
Capt. Thomas Wood, mate Joey Rivenbark, and the crew of Morehead City charterboat “Dancin’ Outlaw” scaled a trio of wahoo on their way to a second place finish in the event with anglers Seth Marshall, John Fields, Matt Norman, Selton Griffin, Thomas Sommerville, and Matt Gilliam.
This marks the sixth annual Reelin’ for Research Tournament, held in the first week of May each year in memory of Tony Montana, who passed away of cancer in 2005. The event raises proceeds for NC Children’s Promise to fund research into finding a cure for pediatric cancers. With significant growth each year, the event has exceed all fundraising goals and was able to donate nearly $430,000 to the cause in 2014, bringing their six-year total to just over one million dollars. For a full leaderboard and to learn more about the event and NC Children’s Promise, visit www.reelinforresearch.org.
