By Capt. Dave Lear, pcbgt.com
There was a significant shift on Thursday as the 41st annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament starts to wind down. Several boats made gains on the leaderboard, setting the stage for Friday’s final-day showdown. With $1.2 million-plus on the line, antacid tablets will chomped quicker than a chin-weight ballyhoo.
Pelican, a 56 Paul Mann based at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, is now sitting atop the Omni division leaderboard with 1,000 points. Capt Arch Bracher and his experienced anglers will be listening intently to Capt. Marty on Tournament Control radio as they fun fish Friday. Thursday was the boat’s final day of competition.
“I’ll hear what’s going on,” Bracher said at his slip at the Fishing Center. “There are three really good boats still left to fish tomorrow. Odds are they’ll catch something. But I hope they don’t,” he added with a laugh.
Bracher said they fished the northern boundary limit, running 70 miles each day. “We missed one and caught all the rest today. For the amount of bait we saw, there weren’t that many fish. There have been more sails again this year. We had perfect weather, so I was hoping the fishing would be better.
“This is always tough competition,” he added. “The guys who fish it also go all around the world fishing and they do it well.”
Sweet Spot, another Omni sonar boat, was the top boat for Thursday with three blue marlin releases (750 points). Capt. Chris Kubik runs the 62 Spencer and the team will fish again Friday, starting the day with 850 points. Viking 82 is also fishing Friday and the team is currently in third place with 800 points. Re-Leasedand Desperado (NC) both also have 800 points but are done for the week. Marsh Madness will be trolling Friday, trying to add more to its current 700-point tally.
In the Non-Omni Division, Qualifier was the top boat with 350 points (blue and white). Capt. Fin Gaddy, a PCBT director, runs the 57 Paul Mann out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.
“We were up north a ways, below everyone else,” Gaddy said. “I did mark some bait and we caught our white around a school of porpoise. The blue was little, maybe 125 pounds. The water temperature was between 77 and 78 degrees, blended green and clear. I could see my dredge in the water.”
The Qualifier is outfitted with an Omni sonar unit, but the team chose to compete in the non-sonar division because the payouts are good and they liked the odds.
“I like tournaments because of the camaraderies and competition, not as a gambling event,“ Gaddy explains. “Pirate’s Cove is always fun because the boats are centrally located and the Pavilion is a good place to mingle with everyone.”
The game fish leaderboard flipped on Thursday. Braxton Allen (Wall Hanger/Capt. Brian Allen) weighed a 62.1-pound yellowfin. Brad Carter (First Look/Capt. Alan Scibal) was right behind with a 61.3-pounder.
Wahoo hit the scales as well. Jason Wordsworth (J&B/Capt. Alan Murray) scaled a 55.6-pound speedster, while David Reed got on the board with a 47.2 ‘hoo on Yellowfin (Capt. Jeff Garnet).
The competition heats up again Friday morning at 8:30, with lines out by 3:00. Teams must turn in scorecards by 7 p.m. The awards ceremony will be held later Friday night.
Will Pelican keep gliding to victory? Or will Sweet Spot, Viking 82, Marsh Madness or a mystery team make a late charge? We’ll know the answer quicker than you can say, “Heather is a red head!”
