Tournament Report: Bill Dooley Tournament
Anglers fishing in the Coach Bill Dooley Education Foundation Fishing Tournament over the weekend of April 21-23 were ready for a great weekend. The forecast was beautiful, with temperatures in the 70s and offshore seas and winds mild for what can at times be brutal in the springtime.
Based on entries, Tournament Director Kit Taylor reported it was scheduled to be an “intimate” field of 9 boats. In this event, prizes are awarded to the largest of each of three fish species—mahi, tuna, and wahoo—and then an extra award is given for billfish releases. With all those opportunities to win, plus a small field, anglers went into the weekend with a ton of confidence that they would be returning to the official weigh station at Bridgetender Marina to claim at least one of the spots on the leaderboard.
Ken Upton and crew on the “Gamekeeper” won the Tuna Division of the Coach Bill Dooley Fishing Tournament with a 20 lb. blackfin.
Ken Upton, on the “Gamekeeper” and in his second year with the tournament, had stacked his team with a group of youth anglers from around the neighborhood. He didn’t leave the inlet with one target species in mind but rather an area he wanted to target. A nice eddy had spun off the Gulf Stream north of the Steeples, and the idea was to get in front of this current and work that break. The reality of that spot, though, was a lot of grass and the fishing was slow.
They abandoned their plan and steamed north with the intention to focus on the wahoo bite. Turns out the wahoo also weren’t ready to cooperate. The boat, rigged with fresh electronics, only proved that they can’t catch every fish that’s marked if the fish don’t want to chew.
Finally, they got a strike on a blue and white spreader bar put together by Captain B.C.
Angler Devon Mellville was up for the task and jumped on the rod. The chunky 20 lb. blackfin tuna that was landed was enough to earn the team a victory in the tuna division.
Tom Ronner, on “Quote Boat,” and his team of Jeff “Doc” Thomas, Jennifer VanHoy, Adam Brown, and Alex Derbyshire started their day with the intention of fishing the break for tuna. Like many others, they also quickly found nothing happening, so the team made the decision to run out deep and target billfish. They figured if the bites are going to be slow and far between, may as well make that one bite count. Unfortunately, the billfish plan turned out unsuccessful as well.
In the early afternoon and starting the run inside empty-handed, they spotted a piece bamboo sticking vertically out of the water in about 95 fathoms. Barely above the surface, they made a pass and saw bait stacked up below.
Angler Alex Derbyshire hooked up on one of their blue/crystal skirted baits, hand tied by Jake Griffin, and soon a 14 lb. wahoo put them in the game.
Angler Adam Brown followed up by putting a 9 lb. mahi in the boat. The team had to pull in baits just as quick as they put them out, knowing that was all the time they had in order to get back to the marina before cutoff.
“Quote Boat” and team took first place in both the Wahoo Division (14 lbs.) and the Mahi Division (9 lbs.) of the Coach Bill Dooley Fishing Tournament
Alan Murray, on the “J&B,” was joined by a blend of family and friends. Based on recent reports, they planned on focusing their efforts on the more consistent wahoo bite. Like everyone else in the tournament, they also noticed that the great weather didn’t exactly transfer over to great fishing successes. They made a few moves, scouting both deep and shallow water areas and marking fish all day, but only had four wahoo strikes and no fish in the boat.
Their luck finally turned when fishing an area out in the 400’ depth range. Angler Jason Wardsworth hooked into a large sailfish. After making quick work of bringing in what was the largest sailfish they’d landed on this boat (approx. 80 lbs.), it was safely released. That one fish was enough to earn them the award for top billfish release.
The tournament weekend was a great success, serving as a benefit for the Bill Dooley Education Foundation, created in his honor to award scholarships to student-athletes for their academic achievements, personal conduct, and athletic prowess.
