Pelican Wins Over Half-Million Dollars
in 23rd Annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament
Tournament presents record breaking purse of $1,047,135.00
by Matt Artz
Manteo, NC (August 24, 2006)— Captain Arch Bracher Jr. led the Pelican to the largest single cash award in Pirate's Cove history, taking home a check for more than a half million dollars and hooking the Top Boat awards in both the Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Tournament and the 23rd Annual Billfish Tournament during tournament week 2006.
The 56-foot Paul Mann out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center swooped into first place on Thursday with seven white marlin and one sailfish, and reeled in an additional three whites on Friday for a total of 770 points, to win a combined sum of $584,763.00.
"There was no secret," Bracher said prior to Friday evening's awards ceremony under the new Tournament Pavilion. "It was just good luck, and the anglers didn't miss much. Pretty much everything we saw, we caught."
Along with mates Pat Bracher of Big Pine Key, FL and Josh Howard of Nags Head, NC, anglers fishing aboard the Pelican were Doug Hinson of Avon, NC, Alan Huband from Mechanicsville, VA, Brian Light of Beaverton, OR, and Nick Morris of Alexandria, VA. In all, the team took seven first place awards, including Top Boat Overall.
In second place overall, Viking 74, with Captain Mike Brady up from Fort Pierce, FL, took home $234,185.00. Fishing aboard the 74-foot Viking were owner Pat Healey, Walter Johnson III and Eric McDowell all of New Jersey as well as Drew McDowell, Don Gemmell and mate Chris Martin of Florida.
"We were able to catch a few fish," Martin said, recounting Friday's action. "We were a little further north than yesterday. We got a couple more bites. We got a double out of a triple early, and a single out of a double around 10:00, then a double out of a triple around 2:00. It was good fishing weather. We caught six of nine bites, so that's pretty good."
Viking 74 took the daily awards on both Thursday and Friday, hooking nine whites and two sailfish to finish with 770 points, coming in second only based on time to Pelican.
In third place overall, Bluewater, a 64-foot Viking out of Hampton, VA, released seven white marlin and one sailfish for 560 points and $124,858.00 in cash awards. At Friday night's awards ceremony Captain Harvey Shiflet of Virginia Beach acknowledged his peers Bracher and Brady adding, "This is not about winning money, it's about doing what you love." The Bluewater crew included anglers Jud Black, Earle Hall, Dwight Wolf and Paul Summers all of Hampton Roads, VA, Jimmy Dewberry of Savannah, GA and Dan Stephano of PA.
Like many this week, Shiflet thanked longtime Pirate's Cove tournament director Heather Maxwell, as she is leaving the position this fall.
Fishing during the week started out slow given high hopes set by the Alice Kelly Ladies Only event on Sunday where 80 teams released 130 billfish. In the end 131 teams released 10 blue marlin, 57 sailfish and 192 whites. No billfish made it to the scale and at the awards dinner the tournament presented a record breaking purse of $1,047,135.00.
As is the tradition at the Pirate's Cove event many teams took their place in the winners circle including the Daily First Release winners, a cash prize divided by four days of fishing and based on the year of the event. All first fish where white marlin and were released prior to 9:17 AM by the Huntress, Pelican, Obsession and Lady Sarah.
Top meatfish awards were presented to Blue Sky angler Gregory Smith of South Carolina for his 55.1 lb. wahoo, Barbara B angler Scotty Capps of Morehead City, NC for his 69.8 lb. yellowfin tuna and David Gorelick of Wayne, PA fishing aboard the Hog Wild for his and 37.85 lb. dolphin.
Local boats fishing out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center captured the Daily Award and $19,040 each on Day One and Day Two. The Point Runner, a 60-foot Guthrie, earned 210 points and top spot on Tuesday and dock partner Smoker released four whites for 280 points and Daily honors on Wednesday. The Top Circle Hook award went to the team of the Carolinian and Capt. Tony Tillet, also out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center and the Top Tag Team award was captured by the Springs family fishing aboard Anticipation out of Myrtle Beach, SC.
Individual anglers were also honored in what has become known as the toughest angler tournament on the circuit. The Top Junior Angler award was presented to the seven-year-old tournament veteran Watson Caviness of Fayetteville, NC. Caviness released two white marlin during the week to add 140 points to Salty Fare's score. The Top Lady Angler fought hard to win the Annual Billfish although she has accepted the award at several other Pirate's Cove events in the past. Adding 140 points to team Huntress score for the week, angler Rennie McAllister of Richmond, VA was presented with a trophy and a custom marlin necklace from VanMark Jewelers of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Smyth McKissick of Chasin fame took the Top Angler Award with three whites and two sails released over three days of fishing. Rather than attend the Awards Ceremony, McKissick headed back to Greenville, SC where his son caught two touchdown passes to win his first football game of the season.
Maxwell received an emotional standing ovation after she was presented with a goodbye present (a new car) by her boss, Glen Futrell. "These tournaments will be here, and I’ll be on the docks with you. So, I thank you for everything." said Maxwell. "It's been my pleasure, once again, to host you all."
About Pirate's Cove Big Game Tournaments
Pirate's Cove Big Game Tournaments, Inc. is owned by Pirate's Cove and managed by Heather Maxwell. The Annual Pirate's Cove Billfish Tournament has been rated as #4 in the world by The Billfish Tournament Network and a Top Ten by Marlin magazine. PCBGT is the main supporter of the Dare County Shiners' Transportation Fund and the Outer Banks Cancer Support Group. For more information visit www.PCBGT.com.
About Pirate's Cove
Located on North Carolina's Outer Banks, Pirate's Cove is a gated resort community that features a 179 slip marina and four miles of canals with side-to small boat dockage. Pirate's Cove Marina boasts in-slip fueling, a charter fleet of 24 sportfishing yachts and accommodations for boats up to 120 feet. For more information visit www.FishPiratesCove.com
Turning the Tides in the Capitol Clash
by Steve Chaconas
When you put 102 of the top bass fishing pros in the world together on the Potomac, you know it will be a show of character and a show of characters. This August event didn’t disappoint as the Bassmaster Tour once again returned to the Potomac River after a two-year absence. You still found the sport’s Hall of Fame foundation: pros like Jimmy Houston, Rick Clunn, Denny Brauer, Ken Cook, and Paul Elias, and newer guys like Iaconelli, Jordon, Swindle and Hackney, the building blocks of the future.
Bassmaster’s improved high-tech stage gave fans a view of the anglers doing what they do best—catching bass. When they showed up at the daily launches at Smallwood State Park, came back for the daily weigh-ins, or followed their favorite pro to watch them work, the fans got their money’s worth at this free event!
Most knew it would take 15 pounds a day, totaling 60 pounds at least to win the Capitol Clash. Every day someone would surge forward with a 17- to 20-pound bag. To stay close you had to be consistent. Former Classic champ Michael Iaconelli faded from 2nd, finishing 4th but staying ahead of the pack for the coveted Angler of the Year honor to be settled in September.
Skeeter/Yamaha pro Kelly Jordon picked up his fifth major win (four B.A.S.S., one FLW). This puts him in some lofty company of a handful of longtime pros, and way ahead of his contemporaries. Jordon won this event in workmanship fashion. Staying in the hunt, Jordon didn’t’ play it safe. Each day he kept the pressure on his fellow pros, going from 3rd to 6th to 4th to the win. His opening day big bass was an indicator this Texan came to play!
Jordon changed from topwater when they quit biting, depending on the tide and the cloud cover. Jordon ran the tides a little bit, choosing moving baits over grass at higher tides and fishing the pockets at low tide. “It gets tougher when the tide is low because the grass gets matted, but you can see the holes better,” he said. “Each tide has its plusses and its minuses."
Looking for holes, Jordon took special notice of the thickest areas of grass. “If you look for the right type of grass in a big area, there may only be a little patch that may be 20 or 30 yards long, near matted grass. It has been key for me to find those right kinds of grassy areas where you can really pick them apart."
When it came to mats, he didn’t pitch to the openings. “I go for the big ones. The big ones are in the thickest grass you can find. I have been doing this for so long. This Potomac is the place to learn it. Pick the thickest grass you can with the most stuff piled on top and use the heaviest weight you need.”
The Capitol Clash came together when Jordon’s big fish bit on the first day. “I knew what I had. I figured I had a shot when I pulled up and caught the Big Bass (5-12) on Day One.” That's the biggest bass he had ever caught on the Potomac in three trips.
Jordon was relying on the fish to bite on Day Two. The fish granted his wish, but he wasn’t able to get them into the boat. "When they quit biting, I was three for 11. It was kind of frustrating, but that's fishing." Jordon ended the day with a limit and credits staying positive for remaining in the top 10. “I fished my strengths and today I decided that was what I was going to stay with and it worked for me.”
Using a reliable mix of a Boogy Man 1/2-ounce buzzbait, and a watermelon black fleck Senko, Jordon worked his way into mats. Punching through with a Lake Fork Packer Craw and a Lake Fork Craw tube on 65-pound Spiderwire braid and a 1-ounce Lake Fork Tungsten Mega weight, he used a 7'9" Fenwick Techna AV flipping stick with the new fast ABU Revo reel to horse the big bass out.
“I fished the buzzbait over grass as slow as I could get it,” said Jordon. He was dead-sticking a Senko, letting it sit for a few seconds, hopping once, letting it drop and making another pitch around grass.
Jordon never fishes for second place. Once in the top 10, he kept the pressure on as he says, "Keep on keeping on." In spite of releasing what would have proved to be the winning fish on Day Three, Jordon picked up his 4th B.A.S.S. win, his first since 2004.
For Jordon, there was no second-guessing his decision to release the 1 ľ-pound bass. B.A.S.S. rules allow anglers to cull only live fish. A dead fish would have cost a 4-ounce penalty, but Jordon was concerned it would keep him from culling up to a bigger fish. Going for the win, Jordon had confidence he would get that fifth bite. It didn’t happen and could have cost him the tournament. According to Jordon, he would have done the same thing if he had it to do over again. His victory margin was a mere 7 ounces over Skeet Reese. Jordon drove home for a few days’ rest to his Texas home, $102,000 richer.
Finishing in 2nd place was Californian Skeet Reese. Reese chose to be in the company of six other Elite Series pros, including Day Three leader Rick Morris. “Nobody staked claim to one piece of property. We just kind of rotated. If one guy was on one section, the other guy would just go to the next one.”
Would these fish hold up and would spectator boat pressure keep them from biting on the final day? “I'm sure there has to be five more somewhere around there,” said Reese. “If I can get five of them, I think I can have a legitimate shot at winning this thing.”
Tides were a key to his success too. As the day progressed, the tide fell and it got better. The majority of his fish came off of wood. He attempted other techniques, but kept coming back to flipping. “I've got to go with what brought me to the dance, and that was my flipping stick. I got back in the wood and started getting some bites.”
Reese used a Berkley 4-inch green pumpkin Power Hawg with a 1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight on 20-pound Vanish fluorocarbon line as his primary presentation, targeting the outside grass edges and wood. He was able to get a few keepers on a ˝-ounce silver blade Terminator buzzbait with a white skirt up shallow on grass when the water was up.
For Steve Kennedy, coming in third put him a step closer to becoming the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year as he also narrowed Michael Iaconelli’s lead for the Angler of the Year. He was getting bites, but according to him, “ If I could land them, I'd be awesome.”
On Day Three, Kennedy’s primary spot failed to produce fish. Moving to a backup spot, he picked up a limit in 30 minutes! ”I came back through and didn't get any more bites. I'm hoping there are some more there. I have another area or two I hadn't fished, but I’m pretty certain someone else has been fishing there so I don't expect them to be good.” Not counting on his new spot to produce, Kennedy was playing for five bites for the final day. ”I'm not going to do anything special. I am going to flip, flip, flip and if I get 10 to 12 pounds, I'm happy.”
This Alabama pro used a Zoom Horny Toad, and a Stanley Ribbit frog over grass early in the morning. As the tide dropped, he was flipping and punching through mats with a 1 ˝-ounce silver Tru-Tungsten weight with a variety of soft plastics in blue and green pumpkin: Zoom Speed Craw, a 4-inch Gambler Craw, a Yamamoto Palm Tree and a Sweet Beaver.
Crowd favorite, Michael Iaconelli slipped from 2nd on Day Three to finish 4th overall. The 2002 Classic Champ attracted a crowd off the water and on. “Spectators are part of the sport growing. I had 20 to 30 boats on me at one time today. They were great. They stayed back. And that's how you grow the sport, get new people involved. It's an awesome spectator sport. It's a great thing to watch.”
Even though he was in the middle of a dogfight on the Potomac, Ike was thinking about the Angler of the Year race. “Obviously it’s in the back of your mind, thinking about that title. That's what everybody shoots for in their career. It's something I would love to win. But you ultimately have to take one tournament at a time.”
Fishing an area he said was loaded with fish, his challenge was figuring out how to catch them throughout the day. “Every day has been different. If I get out there and figure out early exactly what they are doing today, then I have a shot to win.”
Many considered his Day One performance to be poor. Maybe so, but that motivated him to come out strong on Day Two. “I did a lot of soul searching that night and more analyzing what I did right and what I did wrong. It was my best day as far as getting my mind straight.”
Relying on a Berkley Beast (creature bait/tube) and a Lucky Craft Big Daddy Strike size 3 crankbait, depending on water level and clarity, he switched between them. In clear water, he pitched the Beast and worked the crankbait in stained water. He skipped the Beast in a crawfish color on a spinning rod with 10-pound Vanish under docks. On 14-pound Berkley Sensation, he pitched holes. He fished both baits with a 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight and a 3/0 Tru-Tungsten hook.
For a disappointed Rick Morris, still looking for his first B.A.S.S. win, getting close on the Potomac is no consolation. Having the lead going into the last day, Morris couldn’t get the bites he needed, and slipped to 5th.
He focused on the grass in a Maryland creek. “Everyone else was targeting wood. Tide was really the key. At high tide early in the morning, I could get frog bites and topwater bites. As the tide got down, the light switch would come on.”
For Morris, from Virginia, the key on the Potomac is to spend the whole tournament where you get a few quality bites. “You can't run and gun. These guys all know this water too well. You leave a spot to go somewhere else, Van Dam is going to be sitting there, Brauer is going to be on the next one and Klein will be on the next.”
Using spinnerbaits and buzzbaits in the morning, Morris relied on his custom RPM Okeechobee Special Flippin/Pitching Stick to pitch a Chatterbait (1⁄4-ounce when the water is low and a 3/8-ounce with higher water) to hydrilla, eelgrass and wood where fish were positioned.
The pros concur; the Potomac is all about tides! Combining tides with season, water temperature and weather conditions, anglers can make adjustments to catch fish. In this event, cloud cover and a chop on the water allowed anglers to toss moving baits. Buzzbaits, poppers, spinnerbaits and shallow-diving crankbaits were the most utilized tools. After that, pitching to grass was the next step in strategy after moving baits quit working. This judgment was made after going biteless for a half-hour or more. The pros took a top-down approach. Whether they started with a topwater or a beneath the surface moving bait, they all pretty much made it to the bottom.
Here is where they differed in their approach. Many opted for a weightless stickworm. A few more targeted grass clumps with a Texas rig. But, the most successful, including winner Jordon, punched through the dense grass mats.
A few fans were overheard to say they could fish with these guys. Maybe for a day. Maybe two. But three or four days, or a grueling 14-tournament season, nope! The elite fishermen were the ones on the water in August, fishing their way to the Classic, Rookie of the Year, Horizon Award, and Angler of the Year honors. Most of the familiar names will be back again next August as the Bassmasters are expected to visit the Nation’s river again.
Steve Chaconas is a bass fishing guide on the Potomac. For updated Potomac River reports, go to: www.nationalbass.com. Contact him at info@NationalBass.com.
