Tournament Report: Emerald Isle Fall Fishing Tournament
The fifth annual Emerald Isle Fall Fishing Tournament was held the weekend of September 15-16, with a great group of anglers coming out to not only enjoy the hint of cooler fall weather but to support the town and local students.
This year saw 43 teams registered across the King Mackerel Division, with another 52 Surf anglers and 22 Junior Surf anglers entered in the one day event.
The prize pool features a bunch of different opportunities to win based on a team’s catch of the Single Largest King Mackerel, as well as offering TWTs for Winner Takes All King, Single Largest Spanish Mackerel, and Combo King Mackerel.
Anglers fishing the Surf Division were battling for the single largest weight of one of the following species: bluefish, sea mullet, spanish mackerel, speckled trout, and flounder.
The Emerald Isle Fall Fishing Tournament was created wholly to be a family-oriented event, offering additional prizes to the top Lady Angler, Junior Angler (King and Surf), and Senior Angler.
Team Pipes Plus, led by Kinston and Cedar Point anglers Henry Dail and Kevin Poole, walked away from Saturday with a win for their 14.93 lb. king mackerel.
Like most, the team stared down the coming weekend with a grim weather forecast. They mentally put a rough plan in place, counting on battling conditions all day. Luckily, conditions were more enjoyable than forecast and even improved throughout the day.
While the conditions may have been better than expected, the fishing action was not.
Kevin Poole and Henry Dail, of Team Pipes Plus, with the winning 14.93 lb. king mackerel in the 2023 Emerald Isle Fall Fishing Tournament. They found the king in 55′ of water using a live pogie.
Pipe Plus started their day fishing close to the beach, looking to avoid running further than needed with a bunch of swell in the water. Though they were set with some great live pogies, the kings weren’t there, or they just weren’t biting.
About mid-morning, they changed it up, running out to a well-known bottom 10 miles out (in about 55’ of water). Around 10:00 am, the reel started screaming as Henry Dail picked up the rod to land the 14.93 lb. fish that was the one, and only, king that mattered to them that day.
Team Nauti Buoys, led by Emerald Isle local Dusty Kiser and joined by Bradley Richards and Matias Daniels, took the second-place prize for their 8.14 lb. king mackerel.
The bleak forecast (7’ at 7 seconds) didn’t leave much room for planning or pre-fishing, so the team knew they would have to be flexible. They needed to find out what right area and right tactic would allow for not only a leaderboard showing, but a somewhat manageable fishing day.
They worked a series of hard bottoms and ledges in the 4-14 mile range, starting at their farthest spot off the beach and planning on working back in during the day. The conditions being more “rollers” and less “washing machine” was a welcome surprise, but the real issue was that the king mackerel did not want to cooperate.
Team Nauti Boys, with Dusty Kiser and Bradley Richards, took second place in the 2023 Emeral Isle Fall Fishing Tournament with this 8.14 lb. king that hit a live bluefish.
They hooked a small king early on a live bluefish. A jammed downrigger made landing the fish more of a challenge than expected, but Bradley Richards successfully put that first fish in the boat.
Sharks and amberjacks kept the team somewhat busy over the day. With Dusty watching the time, they readied to make the run to weigh-in. They had two rods instantly go off, and with only a small fish onboard, they pushed to get these fish landed. As they saw color, they realized they wasted time battling two more amberjacks and immediately popped them off to haul in and make time.
Matias was tuned into the live weigh-ins on the ride in, reporting that very few fish had even been weighed. The leaderboard was wide open, and Nauti Boys realized they had a chance. They pushed that throttle a little more and made it to the weigh-in with 5 minutes to spare.
Third place went to team Bowfin for a 5.24 lb. king mackerel.
The surf anglers also saw tough fishing. First place in the Surf Division went to Lorraine Nieradka for a 3.0 lb. bluefish, and junior angler Kenzie Moyer landed a 5.30 lb. flounder to win the Junior Surf Division.
The Emerald Isle Fall Fishing Tournament benefits Carteret County students by awarding scholarships to those interested in chasing their dream of being involved in the marine industry. The event also helps the town of Emerald Isle with funds for dredging to keep navigation routes open.
To see the complete leaderboard and find out more about next year’s tournament and other great Town of Emerald Isle events and programs, go to EIFishing.com or visit their Facebook page.
