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May 4, 2009
Team Daiwa wins Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament
By IRENE NOLAN
Team Daiwa won the Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament with 49 fish and 353 points.
The team was boosted to the top with member Chris Mercer’s catch
of a 51 1/2 –inch red drum on the first day of fishing.
That fish also won Mercer the award for the largest fish caught by a
male.
Sixty-seven teams fished in the tournament last Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1.
The teams caught 643 fish over the two days – 290 of them in the first session on Thursday morning.
“The fishing was pretty good,” said Woody Billings of the
Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament Association.
“Thursday morning was really good. Then it slowed down in
the afternoon and the next day.”
The weather was sunny and a bit breezy with southwest winds, which was
a welcome change for the teams, which have had to deal with nasty
weather and heavy northeast winds in several of the tournaments in the
past few years.
The second place team was the McClammers with 37 fish and 169
points. In third place was the Surfside Anglers with 28 fish and
140 points.
The highest scoring women’s team was the Hatteraskals with 10
fish and 53 points. Second place went to the Rodrunners with 20
fish and 52 points, and the Island Girls placed third with 11 fish and
46 points.
Hank Griffin of Team Daiwa took the award for the most fish caught by a
male with 15 fish. Dawn Fenyak of Fish Tales and Bonnie Koehler
of Rodrunners tied for the most fish caught by a female with six each.
The award for the largest fish caught by a male went to Mercer of Team
Daiwa for his 51 1/2-inch drum. The female award went to Carol
Hunsecker of the Queen Mackerals for an 18 1/2-inch bluefish.
Session winners were Team Daiwa for the first with 30 fish and 283
points, Capers for the second for one fish and 61 points, Teach’s
Crew for the third with five fish and 53 points, and Riverside Rats for
the fourth with eight fish and 74 points.
Total number of fish caught by session was 290 for 1,644 points in the
first, 135 fish for 488 points in the second, 76 fish for 347 points in
the third, and 142 fish for 644 points in the fourth.
Proceeds from the tournament benefit Ocracoke Island’s non-profit
organizations. Funds from last year’s tournament went to
the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, Ocracoke Child Care Center,
Ocracoke Youth Center, and the Sigma Willis scholarship fund at
Ocracoke School.
Billings said a decision about where this year’s contributions
will go will be made at the tournament association’s fall meeting.
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