The S.C. Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series recently completed its 19th season.
The brainchild of former Gov. Carroll A. Campbell, the Series is squarely focused on the conservation of billfish species, but it has also managed to prosper due to the popularity of offshore fishing.
Five individually run billfish tournaments comprise the Series, which is an official program of the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources — with additional funding coming from private-sector sponsors.
An advisory board for the Series has representatives from every part of South Carolina. Advisors meet throughout the year, not only to approve the coming year’s schedule, but to monitor trends in the realm of conservation and billfish. The most recent meeting included a presentation on the effects of global warming on our oceans, and the unknown ramifications for billfish.
Tom DuPre has headed up the Series for the past five years, with assistance from co-worker Vanessa Geddis. DuPre was pleased to say that, “Over the past 10 years, the percentage of billfish caught and released in our tournaments was right at 98 percent, with 2007 finishing at 99 percent.”
Only one blue marlin was brought to the dock this year, a 550.6-pound fish weighed in at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina Billfish Tournament by Game On.
The Governor’s Cup points system awards one point per pound for marlin that are weighed in. The catch-and-release of a blue marlin is good for 600 points, while the catch- and-release of a white marlin is worth 200 points. The catch- and-release of a sailfish counts for 100 points.
The crew of Game On did not win the tournament, even though they were the only boat to bring in a blue marlin, because the format is weighted towards conservation. The award of Outstanding Billfish Boat for the Charleston Harbor tournament went to the crew of Cerveza, which accumulated 1,000 points for the catch-and-release of one blue marlin and four sailfish.
The Series awards points for releasing fish at each of the five tournaments: Edisto, George-town, Charleston Harbor, Megadock and Bohicket. Each tournament has an individual winner, and the Series winner is determined by points accumulated in all five tournaments.
Fishing for billfish in the U.S. is governed by federal size limits for fish brought to the dock. While the federal minimum size limit for blue marlin is 99 inches, the Series has adopted a 110-inch minimum that further demonstrates its mandate for billfish conservation. Most of the blue marlin caught off the South Carolina coast don’t exceed 110 inches, so the size limit protects a great majority of fish.
The Series’ top awards are: Oustanding Billfish (single heaviest billfish), Outstanding Billfish Boat (most points accumulated), Outstanding Billfish Conservationist and the Blue Water Conservation award. The Blue Water Conservation award encourages the conservation of all marine fish and is awarded to the boat that has tagged and released the most dolphin, wahoo and tuna.
The Series draws serious anglers and their families every year, but the daily weigh-ins are more like a modern spectator sport. Tourists, locals, and even Gov. Mark Sanford mill around the docks, awaiting the return of the offshore sportfishing boats to see what the ocean may have yielded — a big blue marlin or a fish tale, a record-size tuna or the one that got away. It’s a neat tradition, and next year will mark the 20th Series. Dates have already been set for the tournaments:
May 14-17: Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament; May 28-31: Forty-first Annual Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament; June 25-28: Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina Billfish Tournament; July 9-12: HMY Megadock Billfishing Tournament; July 23-26: Bohicket Marina Invitational Billfish Tournament.
Besides the top awards, some other categories are worthy of recognition. Whether the subject is hunting or fishing, South Carolina sportsmen clearly see the need for more participation involving females of all ages and youths. Here is a list of the youth and female anglers recognized in 2007:
The 2007 Outstanding Youth Anglers:
First Place: Cole Malphrus, who caught and released seven sailfish while fishing aboard Heavy Iron, owned by Malphrus Marine.
Second Place: Kasey Dantzler, who caught and released a blue marlin aboard Dough Boy, owned by Ben and Cynthia Dantzler.
Third Place: James Johnson, who caught and released a sailfish aboard Petrel, owned by Harry Johnson, Jr.
The 2007 Outstanding Lady Anglers for the Governor’s Cup:
First Place: Ginger Speaks caught and released a blue marlin aboard Fin-Addict, owned by Danny Massalon.
Second Place: Kasey Dantzler, who caught and released one blue marlin while fishing aboard Dough Boy, owned by Ben and Cynthia Dantzler.
Third Place: Hope Hanckel, who caught and released one blue marlin aboard Major Motion, owned by Buck Morris.
Other awards included:
Outstanding Dolphin: 63 pounds, caught by Ben Polk aboard Special Lady.
Outstanding Yellowfin Tuna: 77.9 pounds, caught by Stokely Holder aboard Miss Y-IV.
Outstanding Wahoo: 61.6 pounds caught by Hunter Edwards aboard My Three Sons.
In addition, the top six boats in Series points qualify for the Carolinas Shootout:
Artemis: Owned by John Darby and captained by David “Bucky” Copleston;
Game On: Owned by Victor O. Roof Jr. and captained by Dennis Brookshire;
Bentley’s Best: Owned by Steve Deese and captained by Jim Moore;
Dough Boy: Owned by Ben and Cynthia Dantzler and captained by Ben Dantzler;
Major Motion: Owned by Buck Morris and captained by Wesley Morris;
Big Game: Owned by Terrell Rhye and captained by Charles Kersey.
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