Tournament Report: Spanish Mackerel Open
The annual Spanish Mackerel Open, hosted by Fisherman’s Post, was held over the weekend of June 10-12, and the event offers boats the option to choose their one day of fishing (either Saturday or Sunday) in a search for the heaviest three-spanish aggregate.
On the leaderboard at the close of fishing on Sunday (fishing times on both days was 6:30 am to 2:00 pm), Team Killbox, captained by Eric Gowdy, beat the field of 41 boats and took home first place with an astounding weight of 16.99 lbs. Gowdy, a Wilmington, NC native, was one of the few boats that chose to fish on Sunday.
Team Killbox, comprised of Eric Gowdy, Gavin Shoenwisner, and Brian Shoenwisner, took the top spot in the 2022 Spanish Mackerel Open with a three-fish aggregate of 16.99 lbs., including the single heaviest spanish in tournament history at 8.29 lbs. All were caught on live bait.
Team Killbox started the day by catching live pogies and then making a run offshore of Kure Beach, where a secret hole produced the tournament best 8.29 lb. spanish mackerel. After angling in the large spanish, the crew ran north to Johns Creek to round out their aggregate weight, beating some afternoon rain which caused a slow bite throughout the day.
Gowdy was skeptical of his choice of taking a lay day after seeing Saturday’s results, stating, “After seeing the leaderboard Saturday, I thought fishing would be tough, but sometimes that’s just how fishing goes. Everything has a way of working itself out.”
Team Killbox also took home the first place checks in the Single Big Spanish TWT and the Three Spanish TWT.
Team Habla Espanol earned the second place position with an impressive weight of 16.83 lbs. The boat, captained by Sutton Schilawski, of Wilmington, NC, elected to fish on Saturday. Schilawski started his day by finding some live pogies, and then the team headed about a half mile off Wrightsville Beach where they found favorable conditions. Schilawski recalled that the bite was pretty hot throughout the morning but slowed down around 10:00 a.m. All of their spanish came on live pogies slow trolled on live bait king rigs.
Team Habla Espanol’s heaviest spanish at 5.78 lbs. took second place in the Single Big Spanish TWT.
Team Habla Espanol (l-r Dayne Delabastide, Sutton Schilawski, and Jared Zeller) finished in second place with an aggregate weight of 16.83 lbs. Their fish came off of slow-trolled live pogies at the Liberty Ship.
Team Running on Empty took third on the leaderboard with their three-fish weight of 12.96 lbs., as well as third in the Single Big Spanish TWT with a 5.59 lb. spanish. Running on Empty was captained by Eric Hoffman, an Asheboro, NC resident. Hoffman and crew elected to fish on Saturday, but they had a little bit of a late start after having troubles finding live pogies.
The team finally got their lines in the water around 8:00 a.m. on the south side of the Oak Island shoals. The bite was pretty hot and consistent, although they battled through some bycatch of king mackerel and cobia. Hoffman ended by stating, “This is my third year fishing this tournament, and it’s great. The environment is always friendly and inviting, and we couldn’t have had more fun fishing.”
The title of Junior Angler was shared between Walker and Brynlee Bell for a 2.74 lb. spanish mackerel. The Pre-Teen Angler award went to Thomas Crawford for a 4.81 lb. fish, and Gavin Schoenwisner won Teen Angler for the 8.29 lb. spanish.
Payton Whitley was the Lady Angler champion with a 4.22 lb. spanish, and Charles B. Hoffman won Senior Angler with a 5.59 lb. fish.
All of the fish were weighed in at Motts Channel Seafood in Wrightsville Beach, NC, with the weigh-in broadcasted via the Fisherman’s Post Facebook page. To conclude the tournament, participants met up at Wild Wing Café to celebrate and award prizes and checks.
The Spanish Mackerel Open benefits First Fruit Ministries with the donation of all fish that are weighed in to help them in their mission to serve hot meals to people and families in need.
For more information on the event, including a full leaderboard of results, please visit www.FishermansPost.com.
