The South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series made headlines this year when two of the scheduled tournaments were canceled due to the economic climate. One was the Bohicket Marina Invitational on John’s Island, which had its 26-year run as a Governor’s Cup Series event come to an end.
That left the Series with three events, and once again, sailfish determined the winner of Outstanding Billfish Boat.
Micabe fished all three Series events — Edisto, Georgetown and Megadock. After two events, the boat had 650 points for a blue marlin release and entry points. But at the final tournament — Megadock, out of the Charleston City Marina — Micabe released nine sailfish in two days, won the tournament and wrapped up the Cup with 2,475 points. Rookie IV of Charleston was a distant second in the Series standings with 1,750 points.
Micabe is a 55-foot Jarrett Bay out of Hilton Head Island is owned by Mike Larrow of Ridgeland, who served eight years on the Governor’s Cup Board in the 1990s. Micabe won the Outstanding Billfish Boat and Outstanding Billfish Conservationist titles for 2009.
Larrow credits Capt. Chris Jennings for putting Micabe on the fish and mentioned that every crew member caught at least one of the billfish that counted in the tournament.
“I’m proud that no billfish were brought to the docks during the 2009 series, and I hope that spirit catches on with the release of meat fish in the future,” he said.
Meatfish release? The Blue Water Conservationist award went to the boat that released the most meatfish during the series: Black Sheep out of Hampton. Dr. Lee Arnett of Spartanburg is the owner and captain; he and crew members John Murdaugh and Bubba Helton tagged and released 11 dolphin.
Other boats and fishermen who won awards in the 2009 series were:
Outstanding Dolphin: Trey Sires, Rapid Pace, 52.6 pounds; Outstanding Tuna: Trey Pierce, Christy II, 27.9 pounds; Outstanding Wahoo: John Jameson, Brainstorm, 69.9 pounds; Outstanding Youth Angler: 1. Will Gould, Kiki, 29.4-pound dolphin; 2. Buster Murdaugh, Black Sheep, 26.8-pound dolphin; 3. Boyce Campsen, Bench Mark, 25.6-pound dolphin. Outstanding Female Angler: 1. Kathy Baxley, El Tejano, one blue, two whites, one sailfish released; 2. Tara Asbill, FinAddict, two blues and one white marlin released; 3. Rebecca Wells, Rameseas, three sailfish released.
The Governor’s Cup has already had a few changes and could have more before the 2010 series. Graham Eubanks has stepped down as chairman, and Pete Loy, a CCA life member, has joined the board.
Early “dock talk” about 2010 has the Edisto tournament possibly changing dates, moving to July, and a new, multi-port event being added. Fishing would be out of Georgetown, Charleston and Hilton Head, with any billfish to be weighed coming to the scales in Charleston.
Participation numbers were impressive, even with only three tournaments in the 2009 series: 152 boats released 182 billfish, including 28 blue marlin, 17 white marlin and a whopping 142 sailfish. Also, the Megadock partnered with the S.C. Memorial Reef program and raised $60,000 to go towards the establishment of the “Deep Reef” when a suitable vessel can be purchased.
“The data set established by this Series is one of the best anywhere in the world given its 20-year history,” said Wally Jenkins, the series director.
An interesting bit of information came out of this year’s Series. Cowboy caught and released a white marlin during the Megadock tournament — a fish that had been tagged. The tag revealed that the Billfish Foundation had tagged the fish off Delaware in Sept. 2008.
Sportsmanship played a big role again — a hallmark of the Series. The crew of Artemis disqualified their dolphin at the Megadock — it would have taken first place — because more than one angler accidentally handled the fishing rod.
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