The action was again slow on the final day of the 41st annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, yet it was not without some high-seas drama. As expected, a couple boats added to their tallies, but in the end Pelican would retain its top lead. Sweet Spot, last year’s winner, released the only fish it encountered, a white marlin, ending up with 900 points overall, 100 shy of Pelican.
“We were up around the 300s in green water. We saw lots of bait and it was slick calm. The majority of the fleet was up there,” says Capt. Chris Kubik, Sweet Spot’s skipper. “This is always some of the toughest competition. The Oregon Inlet fleet is the best there is, in my opinion. They know the water, they fish everyday and they’re always on ‘em, especially Arch [Capt. Arch Bracher, Pelican’s captain].”
Sweet Spot was competing in the Omni sonar division. The 360-degree sonar paints very detailed images of bait and targeted fish. Contestants opted which category to fish in during tournament registration.
“All our bites but one came off the sonar,” Kubik added. “When fishing is slow, it gives you an advantage. But it depends on how much attention you pay to the screen. Growing up fishing, we were always looking around, using binoculars. Now you need a couple Advil at the end of the day from eye strain staring at the screen.”
Capt. Steve Richardson has been competing in the PCBT for 15 years. He was running Short Rigger this year. The boat scored a white marlin release on Friday.
“We were up around the 150 line with about 20 other boats,” he said. “There was not a lot of anything. We caught that white on a naked ballyhoo, missed a sailfish and weighed a 32-pound wahoo. The fishing sucked this year. A lot of boats never caught a fish. There have been better years, for sure. But there have been worse ones, too.”
A total of 23 billfish were released on Friday, including three blue marlin, four sailfish and 16 white marlin. Historically, the PCBT is a white marlin-dominant event.
Wall Hanger was the top Omni boat on Friday, with three billfish releases, good for 300 points. Stacy Allen also boated a 27.4-pound dolphin to jump into first place in that division. Brian Allen runs the 57 Spencer. Secotan, another 57 Spencer run by Capt. Dan Spencer, released a blue to take second in the day’s Omni standings.
In the non-Omni division, Rigged Up, a 54 Omie Tillet (Capt. Charles Haywood), scored 300 points for three billfish releases. Sunday Funday, a 58 Jarrett Bay run by Capt. Randy Runyon, released a blue for the other daily winner.
The 41st annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament awards ceremony was held later Friday evening.
