WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Captain Mel Miller and the crew of the Mara III sweated out nearly every hour and minute of the 9th Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament.
After all, bragging rights and $10,000 were on the line — and Miller and crew had caught the event’s second and third sailfish, back to back, during the opening moments of the July 26-27 tournament’s first day.
But four other boats — Turbulence, Pole Position, Chicken Ship and Silver Spoon — also had landed two sailfish. So Miller and crew were riding a smooth sea Saturday that belied their nerves, keeping their fingers crossed and lines in the water, 20 miles off Wrightsville Beach, hoping to land a third sail and put the matter to bed before the 3 p.m. lines-out-of-the-water deadline.
“In the case of ties, we go by time — the leading boats may be tied, but the one with the earliest release of a sailfish, wins,” said tournament director Lee Parsons, a Wrightsville charter captain and two-time winner who fished aboard the Gottafly.
However, no other boat with two fish landed a third sailfish Saturday, giving the honors to Mara III’s crew.
Saturday was a terrific day for sailfish as Wrightsville Beach lived up to its billfish reputation as anglers boated 18 sailfish, more than double Friday’s seven-fish total.
The sailfish division (entry fee $250) was a winner-take-all affair, but the Copper Marine Design boat of Wilmington’s Capt. Matt Davis earned $500 for landing the tourney’s first sailfish. Turbulence, with Capt. Dickens Pickens, won $500 for Saturday’s first sailfish. The 9th sailfish (in honor of the 9th tournament) prize of $500 went to S.S. Wonderbread and Capt. Jamie Rushing. Finally, major sponsor John “Boy” Isley’s (of the Charlotte John Boy and Billy radio show) Duh-Huh Donzi landed the 25th and final sailfish to earn $500.
In addition, the Music Man, captained by David Marshall of Carolina Beach, took the dolphin division and $3700. Capt Horace Sykes of Wrightsville Beach and the Just Because crew landed the second-largest dolphin and also won $500.
“We had our best field, 47 boats, and that was terrific,” Parsons said, “but more importantly, we raised $10,000 for a charitable cause.”
The 2008 charitable money went to Brandon Matthews of Southport, who suffered a tree stand accident two years ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down and with damage to his hands.
“He’s hoping to have experimental surgery to regain the use of a hand,” Parsons said. “The $10,000 will go toward that.”
Parsons offered a special thanks to John Boy Isley and Big Show Foods for donating all food for the tournament’s awards ceremony.
The late Eddy Haneman of Wrightsville Beach was the first captain to spend his winters criss-crossing the state in the 1940s, speaking to clubs and promoting fishing at N.C.’s coast. Haneman also is credited with the local idea of catch-and-release of sailfish by having captains fly sailfish flags from their boats when they returned to port instead of killing these valuable fish. Haneman’s wife sewed the flags.
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