Capt. Ross Holmquist and Capt. Mike Sackman run No Worries Charters out of Port Royal, but they don’t fish together that often.
After June 14, they might think about changing that pattern.
Holmquist wound up fishing with Sackman, who owns the 30-foot center-console charterboat, after three people cancelled on a scheduled outing. And fish he did, catching a 26.98-pound scamp grouper that broke the existing South Carolina record by more than a pound.
“Mike and I don’t always get a chance to take a charter out together, but when he called me and told me that his trip dropped three people, I took that opportunity to get out there,” Holmquist said.
The two captains began the trip by catching menhaden off the beach and filling their bait tanks, then headed to some livebottom in about 120 feet of water. Holmquist rigged rods on the way out for the two remaining clients, putting together bottom rigs consisting of a 6/0 Gamakatsu circle hook, 60-pound fluorocarbon leader and a sliding sinker, fished on Shimano Tallus Stand-up rods and Shimano TLD reels spooled with 80-pound Power Pro braid.
Sackman got the boat positioned and was using the wind and current to drift over the livebottom. After Holmquist got the two clients fishing, he grabbed a rod of his own.
“When we got out there, Mike set the drift, and they all dropped down,” Holmquist said. “I was just working the deck for a few drifts, and after everyone got the pattern down, I dropped. I hooked the fish, and like most grouper battles, it was a tough fight until I got him off the bottom a little bit, then it was just dead weight all the way up.”
At the end of the trip, which featured a lot of nice grouper, snapper and other bottomfish being caught, Sackman steered No Worries back to Port Royal Landing Marina. He weighed the fish on certified scales, knowing it was a trophy, but he had no idea it was a potential state record until Capt. Tom Thomas of Top Gun Charters happened by and told him – just before he headed to the fish-cleaning station.
“If it wasn’t for Tom, it would have been nothing more than a picture and delicious dinner,” Holmquist said. “When we found out it was a potential new South Carolina record scamp grouper, it just made a great cap for a perfect fishing day.”
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