U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament
Morehead City’s John Lewis, of the “Second Chanze,” with the 47.05 lb. king mackerel that earned him over $67,000 as the winner of the 2013 U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament. Lewis hooked the huge king on a live menhaden near the Cabbage Patch and battled it to the boat solo.
Fishing solo wasn’t a handicap in the 2013 U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament for Morehead City’s John Lewis, aboard the “Second Chanze.” The 47.05 lb. king mackerel he landed Friday, October 4, the event’s first fishing day, earned Lewis the win and over $67,000 in prize money, cash he didn’t have to split with any crew members.
Toting live menhaden and bluefish, Lewis ran his 23’ Contender to the spot, in 45’ of water off Carolina Beach, early Friday morning, and he was soon rewarded with a solid 28 lb. king mackerel.
Without much action afterwards, he decided to head towards Southport and catch some fresh bluefish around midday, then took off back offshore.
“I was actually going to go out to the old sea buoy when I headed back out,” Lewis explained, “but the water was ugly that way, so I went back to the Cabbage.”
As he came back across the spot with his spread out, Lewis got a good bite on a live bluefish, but the fish failed to find the hooks.
“I put out another pogy and came back over the spot and got bit again,” the winning angler reported.
This time, the hooks stuck, and Lewis knew he had a good fish.
Manning the rod and the helm, Lewis followed his fish, which took him uncomfortably close to some of the competition.
“He wanted to follow another boat,” he said. “It finally stopped doing that and came up and I saw he was a long, fat fish and there was just one hook in his eye, which made me nervous.”
The fish took another run after giving Lewis a look at it, and began circling deep beneath the boat when the angler again caught up.
“It would come up in the water, and then go down,” the angler explained. “Come up, and go down. I waited for the fish to go down one time, then bumped the boat in reverse. The next time it came up it was in gaff range.”
Lewis planted a gaff in the fish from the Contender’s bow, but realized that pulling the weighty fish in over the bow solo could be a bit awkward, so he walked to the stern to put the big king in the boat.
After taking the lead on day one, Lewis fished the second day as well, hoping that if anyone bested the 47 lb. fish, it would be him.
Fortunately for Lewis, no one was even able to muster a 40-pounder on day two, and his big king took home the big check.
Local Angler Boyce Broadwell and the “Nauti Lady” crew earned second place in the event with a 45.90 lb. king, and Brian Malcolm and the “Rough Book” took home third with a 39.55 lb. king.
