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more Mercury Trail stories<< BOBCAT WINS TOPSAIL KMT WITH A 32.70
Moore and Crew Take Home Over $10,000!
by Max Gaspeny
Hailing from Clinton, North Carolina, Henry Moore’s Bobcat fishing team won the 22nd annual Topsail Offshore King Mackerel Tournament, weighing a 32.70-pound king mackerel. The Bobcat crew beat out the 99 other boats fishing the event, which was held June 29th through July 1st out of Surf City’s Soundside Park.
The Bobcat team caught bait easily Saturday morning in the ICW north of New River Inlet. “It was one throw and go,” Moore recalled. With a full livewell, the Bobcat, along with several other boats, headed to a hard bottom area 15 miles out of New River Inlet in 65 feet of water.
“There were three or four of us fishing together,” said Moore. After the crew caught several amberjacks and smaller kings, the tournament’s winning fish bit around 9:30. A naked pogy trolled in the flat line position fooled the 32-pound mackerel.
Moore grabbed the rod after the strike as the king took off on the surface. After the fish’s first run, the fight went quickly. “It only took about 10 minutes,” Moore explained. “He ran, we chased him down, and he went around the boat one time.” As the fish got closer to the 31’ Yamaha powered Contender, Moore handed off the rod and readied the gaff. “When he got close, I stuck him.”
The Bobcat’s king battle took only 10 minutes from bite to boat, and the fish was in the box by 9:45.
The quick bite at the hard bottom area continued, and the Bobcat crew stayed there for the remainder of Saturday’s fishing. “We caught five or six other kings, a couple of dolphin, and we had to wade through the amberjacks all day,” Moore said.
The first place finish earned Moore and the Bobcat crew a check for over $10,000.
Cape Carteret’s Liquid Fire team took second place in the event with a 32.15-pound king mackerel. Team Captain Mark Henderson fished the event with his father, Charles Henderson, sons Josh and Crockett Henderson, and brother-in-law Chris Waters aboard the Liquid Fire, a Yamaha powered 25’ Contender.
The family fishing team was trolling 10 miles out of New River Inlet when their king hit at 1:35 on Saturday. “We were just following some bait schools,” Mark Henderson said. The second place king ate a naked bluefish and immediately took off on a solid run as Josh picked up the rod.
“He strolled off a couple hundred yards of line, then sounded,” Henderson described the king’s struggle. “The he came back up, took one more run, and we got on top of him.”
When the Liquid Fire crew got a look at their king, it was hooked by just one point of the lead treble hook, and Mark Henderson seized the first opportunity to gaff the poorly hooked fish.
“Dad put the boat on him, and fortunately he was close enough that I could get a gaff in his back. Then Chris grabbed his tail, and we brought him over the gunnels. I was scared to bring him over myself because the gaff was just hung in the skin on top of his back.”
Like the winning fish, the second place king’s fight was short, and the mackerel was on the Contender’s deck just five minutes after the strike.
The big king not only gave Liquid Fire second place overall, it also earned Crockett Henderson the Top Junior Angler award in the tournament. In addition to the second place fish, the crew landed several more kings, some dolphin, and many amberjacks over the course of Saturday’s fishing.
Mark Henderson wished to express his gratitude to all of Team Liquid Fire’s sponsors, including Berkley, Tica, Rapala/VMC, Spro/Gamakatsu, Terminator, Stevenson Automotive, James Wells, DDS., Andy’s Restaurant, Fairway Restaurant and Onslow County Motor Company.
D. Allen Kinney’s Gambler, out of Oak Island, weighed the 31.85-pound third place king mackerel. Kinney fished the event aboard his 28’ Yamaha powered Hydra Sport.
“We were fishing on some good, hard bottom in about 55 feet of water, 14 miles off the beach,” Kinney related. The team was anchored up and chumming when the king struck a live pogy around noon. Kinney grabbed the rod after the strike and began to play the king from the anchored boat.
“I never come off the hook [when fighting a king],” Kinney said. “I just feel like it’s easier to deal with them that way. Plus, you stand the chance to get another hookup.”
After a long first run, the Gambler king was fairly cooperative in coming to the boat. Then ten minutes after the bite, the team was able to sink a gaff in the tired king and bring it aboard.
The Gambler anglers boated several other kings on Saturday, with one around the same size as the third place fish. “I actually weighed the wrong one,” Kinney revealed. “My fish went 31.85, and after they weighed it, I said can I weigh this one? He was 32.15.”
Although Kinney’s second fish was the same weight as the Liquid Fire king, Liquid Fire weighed in first, so Kinney would have still placed third with his heavier king.
The Gambler team caught bait easily Saturday morning in the ocean off Bald Head Island. Kinney wished to express his gratitude to BlackBarry Marine for the timely assistance they’ve given him with his new boat.
The Sharon Leigh, a 29’ Mercury powered Sea Vee Captained by Jeff Morris of Wilmington, captured the tournament’s fourth place spot, weighing a 30.85-pound king.
Morris and fishing partner Brooks Schomp found the fourth place king early Saturday morning. After catching bait at Wrightsville Beach, they headed southeast out of Masonboro Inlet.
The 30-pound mackerel struck around 7:45 as the pair was trolling around the 30/30, a popular spot off Carolina Beach. A naked pogy trolled 40 feet deep on the downrigger was the king’s final meal.
The Sharon Leigh’s king hit the second line set out, and Morris picked up the rod.
“He hit and ran off around 150 yards,” Morris recalled, “and we ran him right down.” When the Sea Vee reached the king, Schomps stepped from behind the wheel, grabbed the gaff, and sealed the king’s fate.
“We had him in the boat in less than 15 minutes,” said Morris. With a 30-pound king in the boat, the Sharon Leigh anglers decided to run inshore and fish the remainder of the day at Carolina Beach Inlet.
Aside from a large spanish mackerel they caught outside the inlet, the fourth place fish was the only action the team had Saturday.
Phil Cottrell and the Long Overdue, of Newport, North Carolina, captured fifth place overall and the top Class of 23’ honors in the event. Cottrell and teammate Paul Prystash have already put some hefty kings aboard their 23’ Mercury powered SeaCraft this season while fishing in Division 10, taking the top Class of 23’ honors in the Hog’s Breath, and a third place in the same Class at the Miami Tournament.
Cottrell and Prystash secured their second Class of 23’ victory of the year by weighing a 28.20-pound king. They found their fish while trolling Beaufort Inlet around 10:30 Saturday morning, and the king fell for a naked pogy in the prop wash.
Cottrell was on the rod for this fish, and grabbed it while the fish made its first run. As Prystash drove the boat, the pair proceeded to chase the fish down in less than ideal sea conditions, with a falling tide flowing directly in the face of the southwest winds.
“It was stacked up pretty bad,” explained Cottrell, “and we caught up to the fish in the worst part of the inlet. When we got on top of him, Paul left the wheel and belly gaffed him just to get him in the boat quick.”
The Long Overdue began the day trolling inside the inlet around the state port wall. With no strikes by 10:00, they headed to the Beaufort Inlet and hooked their king immediately when they arrived. The 28-pounder was their only bite of the day.
Cottrell would like to express his gratitude to Long Overdue’s sponsors Mercury Marine and Outback Marine of Morehead City.
The Topsail Offshore King Mackerel Tournament is put on by the Topsail Offshore Fishing Club, a non-profit organization meeting on the first Saturday of every month. The tournament benefits the club’s many charitable causes, including the NCDMF artificial reef program.
Tournament organizer Greg Mosher wished to thank the event’s sponsors East Coast Sports, the Town of Surf City, Tex’s Tackle, and Onslow Bay Boatworks, as well as all of the participating anglers.
FINAL STANDINGS
TOPSAIL OFFSHORE FISHING CLUB’S KMT
TOPSAIL, NORTH CAROLINA
DIVISION 2: |
| 1. |
BOBCAT••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
32.70 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Henry E. Moore III
|
| 2. |
LIQUID FIRE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
32.15 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Mark Henderson
Crockett Henderson
Chris Waters
Joshua Henderson
Charles Henderson
|
| 3. |
GAMBLER •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
31.85 |
| Hydra Sports/Yamaha
Allen Kinney
|
| 4. |
SHARON LEIGH•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
30.85 |
| Sea Vee/Mercury
Jeff Morris
Brooks Schomp
|
| 5. |
LONG OVERDUE••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.20 |
| Sea Craft/Mercury
Phillip Cottrell
Paul Prystash
|
| 6. |
SERVICE CALL •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.00 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Patrick Overstreet IV
Richard Shortt
|
| 7. |
SQUEEZE PLAY•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
26.90 |
| Offshore/Evinrude
Mike Sellers, Jr.
|
| 8. |
Bar Hopper••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 26.00 |
| 9. |
EAST COAST SPORTS••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.05 |
| Wellcraft/Yamaha
Randall Edens
George Edens
Cole Edens
|
| 10. |
SHOCK-WAVE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
21.15 |
| Contender/Mercury
Harold Hill
Jeff Hill
Scotty Brown
|
| 11. |
DIG IT•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
20.10 |
| Contender/Mercury
Tony Carroll
Greg Carroll
Trey Carroll
|
| 12. |
Big Bird •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 18.50 |
| 13. |
No Name••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 17.90 |
| 14. |
Bud Action••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 17.75 |
| 15. |
Super Natural•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 17.60 |
Class of 23’: |
| 1. |
LONG OVERDUE••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 28.20 |
| 2. |
THUNDER BALL•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
16.00 |
| ProLine/Yamaha
Charlie Neal
Chad Barnes
|
| 3. |
Blue Goose•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 15.35 |
SKA Top Junior Anglers
Presented by Gregory Poole Marine Power: |
| 1. |
Crockett Henderson•••••••••••••••••••••• |
Liquid Fire |
| 2. |
Chris Corlew & Preston Holt •••••••••••• |
Reel Jiggy |
| 3. |
Grayson Ketterer•••••••••••••••••••••••• |
UnReel Fishing Team |
|
