2004 Fishing Reports

Topsail Offshore Fishing Club King Mackerel Tournament
August 21, 2004 - 1st Place

July 17-18, 2004 - CCSA King Mackerel Tournament (4th Place)
July 31, 2004 - RSFC King Mackerel Tournament (19th Place)

Sea Drag'n

The Topsail Beach KMT has long been a favorite of the Sea Drag'n fishing team. The team found its first win here in 1996 and it has always been a special tournament for our team to fish.

We had lots of struggles during this tourney as other teams did. The Captain had to work Friday night until 2 am, then I drove to Atlantic Beach where the rest of the crew slept waiting my arrival. Lauren, Dad and Carol were going to be the shipmates for this tournament. First mate Brent was in Washington,D.C. settling into a new home. As I arrived at Atlantic Beach at 4 am, the wind, as forecast, was brisk out of the southwest 15-20 mph. Unfortunately it looked like the weather man was right on key for this forecast. Once the crew was awakened, we were off to the boat ramp. There we found our first struggle. Once the boat was off the trailer, she set hard aground on the bottom thanks to a dead low tide and a hard southwest wind. The crew perched up on the bow like a bunch of pigeons in roost and we were able to slide the Sea Drag'n into deep water. This was not a good sign of things to come.

As the light cracked, we headed for Harkers Island to look for a flip of hope from a mighty core sound menhaden. The waves in the sound were as forecasted - 2-3 ft - and the flips were nowhere to be found. We set off for several other spots, struggling as others were that morning with high seas and wind. Finally at about 7:45 am the spotter planes (Pelicans) went to work and clued us in on the hope of finding a pogie. Sister Carol steered the boat as Dad yelled out directions. I threw the Calusa net. It shook violently in my hand and the crew could see we had finally hit bait gold. We loaded the tank with beautiful Core Sound Shad and headed for the east side of Cape Lookout.

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