The Long Bay Artificial Reef Association (LBARA) held their 10th Annual Club Challenge on September 22 at Southport Marina, with the awards banquet following that evening at the Oak Island VFW Hall.
Several important announcements were made at the meeting, but most important was an announcement by N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Artificial Reef Director, Jim Francesconi, that the recently created AR 400 would be named the Bob Black Reef to honor all the hard work done by LBARA Project Coordinator Black.
Francesconi made the announcement to the room packed with members of the Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle, Charlotte and Winston-Salem fishing clubs. The response was thunderous applause and a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. Francesconi presented Black with a framed proclamation stating that AR 400 would forever be known as the Robert “Bob” Black Tower Reef.
LBARA President, Dale McDowell said, “Bob is very deserving of this honor. He has worked tirelessly for all our reefs and especially this one.”
McDowell presented Black with a plaque commemorating his efforts and his refusal to take no for an answer when dealing with LBARA reef projects.
The AR 400 project began approximately 3 years ago when the Coast Guard announced that Frying Pan Tower had reached the end of its useable life and would be decommissioned. At that time, part of the decommissioning was to include the tower being disassembled and removed.
This is when Black became involved and began working to have the tower materials placed in the water at the site to become AR 400. At this time the tower is still standing and derelict, due to a lack of funds for the project. A weather buoy anchored approximately 8 miles offshore is handing the weather monitoring the tower equipment once did and the project to use the tower for the reef has been approved contingent on the funds becoming available.
The reef was started without the tower material when the Capt. Greg MicKey was sunk there on August 4 of this year. The Capt. Greg MicKey is a former menhaden boat, originally known as the Coastal Mariner, but was re-christened as the Capt. Greg MicKey in remembrance of the popular captain and diver who lost his life in a diving accident at Frying Pan Tower several years earlier.
The Mickey is the centerpiece of the reef and sits in 70 feet of water approximately 1/4 mile northeast of the tower. The GPS coordinates are 33.29.302N and 077.35.265W.
The weather was almost perfect for the 38 boat field representing the 5 fishing clubs in the LBARA Club Challenge earlier in the day. There were flounder and king mackerel divisions with both club and individual honors. Each boat could weigh up to 3 fish of each species and the top 5 fish from each club would be tallied for club honors.
The LBARA had instituted a new idea for the Flounder Division this year and were offering the anglers and clubs a 10 per cent bonus for all flounder brought to the scales alive. These flounder would be donated to the South Brunswick High School (SBHS) Aquaculture class, where the students would work to spawn the flounder and raise their offspring to be released into local waters at a later date. SBHS students were on hand to weigh, secure and transport the fish to the school.
Anglers weighed 11 flounder during the day and 9 were alive and in good condition.
Capt. Tommy Helms claimed top honors in the Flounder Division with a 6.40 pounder. After adding the 10 per cent bonus for being weighed alive, this flounder was recorded at 7.04 pounds. Helms was fishing for the Ocean Isle Fishing Center Fishing Club.
The Ocean Isle Fishing Center Fishing Club also claimed top club honors for the Flounder Division with a total weight of 13.42 pounds. All of these flounder were weighed alive and taken to SBHS for spawning.
Capt. Ray Holmes led the Charlotte Offshore Sportfishing Club to a second place finish in the Flounder division with a total of 11.64 pounds of live flounder. Holmes also secured individual second place honors with a 2.86 pound flounder.
The Oak Island Fishing Club secured third place with a total of 6.60 pounds of live flounder. Capt. Ed Baldwin of the Oak Island club finished in third place in the individual standings with a 2.64 pound flounder.
The Charlotte Offshore Sportfishing Club claimed a species win for the fifth consecutive year by topping the King Mackerel Division with 69.34 pounds of king mackerel. The Charlotte Club also topped the entry numbers with 23 boats fishing the event.
Capt. Phil Brock, of the Holden Beach Fishing Club, landed the largest king of the day at 18.78 pounds and secured the top individual honor.
Capt. Brock and crew led the Holden Beach Club to second place in the club section of the King Mackerel Division. The club total was 50.60 pounds.
Second place individual king honors went to Capt. Terry Moore of the Charlotte Club with a 16.52 pound king.
Capt. Cheryl Davis boated the third place individual king in leading the Oak Island Fishing Club to third place in the club section of the King Mackerel Division. Davis landed a 16 pound king to lead the Oak Island Club to a total of 49.34 pounds.
The LBARA Club Challenge is an annual event to honor the clubs and fishermen who support them in their fundraising and reef building projects. With the entry fees and donations from the Charlotte and Winston-Salem clubs the 2007 event raised over $7,500 for future reef projects.
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