Hosanna! Big wahoo is Fifty-Fifty offshore winner

Tournament adds inshore division

George Campsen of Isle of Palms boated the biggest fish caught in Saturday’s Fifty-Fifty tournament out of Toler’s Cove Marina in Mount Pleasant, a 54.3-pound wahoo, caught while fishing on the Hosanna.

His brother, Boyce Campsen, managed to bring in a 24.8-pound dolphin giving the Charleston based boat a nice 50/50 catch.

Bob Mann of Summerville finished second in the wahoo division with a 28.2-pound fish caught on Capt. Rodney Monroe’s Wildcat out of Charleston. Justin Massenburg of Charleston was third with a 20.6-pound fishy caught aboard the Family Tradition.

Lauren Leasure, 15, from James Island, won the dolphin division with a 39.8-pound fish caught on Capt. Joey Smoak’s Fishwrapper. Adam Richardson of Mount Pleasant took second with a 39.8-pound fish caught aboard the Southbound. Alexis Lee, fishing aboard the Gusto IV, took third with a 32.6-pound mahi.

The target species in the Fifty-Fifty tournament out ofToler’s Cover Marina in Mount Pleasant have always been dolphin and wahoo, but this year, organizers added an inshore division to include flounder, black drum, sheepshead and trout.

John Haas of Mount Pleasant took the top two spots in the flounder division with fish weighing 3.6 and 1.8 pounds, both caught on mud minnows. Jim Reed of Mount Pleasant was third with a 1.8-pound fish – his fish came to the scales after Haas.

Reed, however, won the trout division with a 4.6-pound speck. Eric Stone of Mount Pleasant was second with a 3.6-pound speck. Mike Giannelli was third with a 3.4-pound fish. Reed’s trout hit a finger mullet, while Stone was using a mud minnow and Gianellia a menhaden.

Tom Benton crushed the sheepshead division with his 7-pound fish that hit a fiddler crab. Chad Mixon took first place in the black drum division with his 4.8-pound fish that ate a live shrimp behind Capers Island. Fishing with Mixon, Curt Ward took second place with a 4.6-pound fish. Bob Horner of James Island finished third with a 2.8-pound fish.

The Fifty-Fifty tournament benefits the South Carolina Memorial Reef. (http://www.scmemorialreef.org/)