Country girls don’t need no Omni sonar. With less than a minute to go in the last hour of the last day, Capt. Charles Foreman relied on his vast local knowledge as a charter skipper to put his team on the winning fish. A sailfish vaulted Country Girl to the top of the leaderboard to […]
With the clock winding down on the last day of the 39th annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, Country Girl made it count with a minute to spare. The final fish put the 57 Buddy Cannady over the top for the win. “We had a triple blue marlin up first thing this morning but only one […]
Odds are really good the music playing aboard a certain sportfisher on Friday will be the melodic crooning of Willie Nelson. And the tune on the loop is guaranteed to be Blue Skies. That’s because Blue Sky, a 60 Spencer from Georgetown, South Carolina, scored three white marlin and one blue to take the overall […]
With the majority of the fleet opting to lay on Wednesday and fishing still slow for the dozen that ventured offshore, it was the perfect opportunity to walk the docks of the Pirate’s Cove Marina and admire the gorgeous sportfishers in their slips. A curious passerby tourist asked Tournament Director Heather Maxwell why all the […]
The Gulf Stream off North Carolina’s Outer Banks in August typically means lots of opportunities for white marlin on “dink” ballyhoo pulled behind dredges and teasers. But this is not a typical August, at least so far. The 86 boats in the 39th annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament are competing for $1,045,000 in prize money. […]
The 39th edition of the Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament kicked off Monday evening with refreshments, catching up with old friends and a discussion of the rules. As in years past most of the format remains the same. Only trophy-size blue marlin are eligible in the billfish weight division and the majority of the scores will […]
At the 33rd annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament, the bridesmaids walked down the aisle to the awards alter. After finishing second last year, Team Bi-Op-Sea captured the Billfish Jackpot and the top team trophy in 2022. The tally of two sailfish and one blue marlin releases based on time earned a jackpot […]
The action during the 38th annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament wasn’t quite up to the usual pace associated with this event. But that didn’t stop Wave Paver from claiming victory over the other 98 competitors and capturing the biggest share of the more than $1.2 million in prize money. The 77 Bayliss released 11 billfish, […]
Anglers are a superstitious lot. Bananas on board a boat are taboo. Mates will never wash lucky hats. Special food, music and rituals are observed to maintain good karma. So when a boat does well on a bad omen day like Friday the 13th, it goes against common logic. The secret? Not realizing the actual […]
It was a mellow Thursday, compared to normal OBX August standards. Wave Paver, Mama C and Tarheel padded their leads. But there is still one more day of competition in the 38th annual PCBT and the 39 remaining boats will be trolling naked ballyhoo and pulling dredges and daisy-chain teasers Friday in hopes of a […]
