Medical experts define obsessive-compulsive disorder as ritualized, repetitive behavior a person feels compelled to perform. There were all kinds of OCD types running through Oregon Inlet this week, but on Friday, the last day of competition in the 35th annual PCBT, Obsession led the fleet.
Capt. Jeff Ross and his crew aboard the 55 Sheldon Midgett based in Manteo scored three billfish releases to take the top daily boat honors. There were only 49 boats fishing the last day and 33 releases were recorded (four blues, one sailfish and 28 white marlin). Obsession’s late rally pushed it into the top five standings for the week.
Ann Warwick, a 76 Paul Mann owned by Chip Lacy and run by Capt. Brad Diaz, also had a good day on the water.
“We saw two fish and caught two fish and they did not cooperate,” angler Owen Maxwell said afterwards. “One went one way and the other blue took off in the opposite direction.”
“One of the fish came up on the dredge and was chowing down on the mullet,” team mate Frank Adams added. “We had just re-rigged a rod with a mullet and I felt it bump but missed. Kelly (Zaytoun) had the other rod and that fish grabbed her bait. Fortunately Owen’s blue came towards the boat and we were able to get the double-header. We had two cell phones recording, scrambling around the cockpit to get the IDs. It was definitely exciting.”
“It was a little choppy but not rough,” Maxwell said. “We were right out there with everyone else, around the 000 mark. At one point I counted 34 boats around us.”
Several other competitors experienced a frustrating day.
“I fished with the Desperado (VA) team Thursday and today,” said Ryan McKenzie with Release Marine, one of PCBT’s major sponsors. The 60 B&D Boatworks is owned by Joe Woodington of Virginia Beach. “We were right next to Bull (Sea Toy) yesterday when they got that triple and nothing. Same thing for today. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. The guys in the ‘pit worked really hard. We just didn’t see any fish.”
A total of 81 boats kept at it all week long. In spite of tough conditions they persisted, changing baits, changing dredges, changing teasers. Over and over again, in a ritualized, repetitive pattern. The medical experts might consider adding tournament fever to their glossary of afflictions.
