Georgia Outdoor Adventures Article (November 2K8 issue):

PURSUIING PENSACOLA PELAGICS w/THE ATLANTA SALTWATER SPORTSMAN CLUB

(Team Nikki Girl (L to R): Jason Craig, Dawn Brady, Capt. Pat Thai, & Lenny Pisarski)
 

Close to fifty anglers comprising ten fishing teams departed from Atlanta headed to Pensacola to compete in the Atlanta Saltwater Sportsman Club (ASWSC) annual Pensacola Tournament on October 4 - 6^th.  The tournament started off with the Captains meeting hosted by the Pensacola Big Game Club at Island Cove Marina.  After an appetizer of mahi bites provided by Lenny Pisarski, Team Outlaw fired up the grill and prepared a great meal for the club.

After dinner, the crews were given a mixed report.  On one hand, small craft advisory’s warned of high seas for both days.  On the other, the offshore report was that blue water fishing in the area had been great this season with a hot Wahoo, Marlin, & Sailfish bite.  Tournament sponsor, Outcast Bait & Tackle, generously donated tackle for door prizes, as well as specific local knowledge regarding rigging tips & techniques for the area.  

While some crews headed offshore to brave 4-6’ seas on top of 2-3’ swells, others stayed near or inshore and found eager Spanish & King mackerel, as well as Trigger & Snapper.  The large Pensacola bay provided lots of opportunity for the anglers. Looking for birds, and trolling under them with silver spoons and Clark Spoon rigs seemed to be the hot ticket for the Spanish mackerel.  Live bait, Mann’s stretch 30’s, and larger spoons on planers or poor man’s downriggers seemed to work well on the kings. 

Bill Rhodes, fishing on Two Bills, landed one of the nicer kings caught during the tournament while fishing the turning basin in front of the Naval yard.  Jace Spencer, captaining his own vessel, No Name, caught a 15 lb. King drifting live bait. He also fought & released a 6-7’ Hammerhead inside the bay.  While the mackerel bite was dependable, bottom fishing worked well for many teams fishing both near and inshore.  The largest red snapper of the tournament was landed by Jim Mason, The Last Bastian, in the bay under Three Mile Bridge.

Despite offshore seas being forecast at 4-6’,  teams Lil’ Ti and $EA $ICKNE$$ headed East into head seas towards the Nipple, while Team Outlaw chose a smoother South bearing for the ride out and headed towards the Edge.  With heavy seas but light current, they were able to hold up on bottom spots. They fished the elbow ledge for bottom fish, targeting  ledges and mounds that were 305 feet and came up to 298 feet. Their tactic was jigging for Amberjack, and they were rewarded with three fish up to twenty pounds. They also found Red Snapper using cut cigar minnows.  

While Outlaw bumped bottom, Lil’ Ti and $EA $ICKNE$$ decided to keep moving and troll for pelagics.  In rough seas, trolling provides a little comfort and safety by allowing the captain to pick a smoother attitude towards the waves.  Team Lil’ Ti, a 29’ Everglades, capitalized on the troll as they hooked and landed a sail at mid-day for 350 valuable points.  Oddly enough, on the troll on the way out, they had also hooked a monster shark on the shotgun line. Too bad shark aren’t on the tournament points matrix!  Team Lil’ Ti finished with a great day despite the ugly seas.  They amassed a lot of points which lead them to an eventual 2^nd place finish in the tournament while one of their anglers caught his first wahoo, and another, Richard Watkins, released his first sailfish. Congratulations to their crew.

Meanwhile, Team $EA $ICKNE$$ had also chosen to troll.   They found bonito and plenty of barracuda around the cut-off Chevron rig.  They decided to move on and found a nice rip nearby with a temperature break and a scattered weed line, broken by the heavy seas.  On the first pass by, they missed a nice dolphin, followed by a finicky white marlin.  They re-rigged and the captain brought the boat back to their waypoint when the marlin hit again, the Tiagra 50W screamed as the marlin headed for parts unknown.  While the fish took the spool down to the Dacron backing, the captain struggled in vain to keep a good boat attitude in the high seas to allow for maximum leverage, and to help the angler keep tight on the fish.  It wasn’t meant to be as after the long run ended and the angler started to make headway on the fish, the line went slack, the fish had thrown the hook.  While they didn’t land their billfish, Team $EA $ICKNE$$ could take consolation later in landing what would later be confirmed as the largest wahoo of the tournament.

With the sea’s growing overnight, Saturday found many tired crews electing to stay a little closer to shore.  Not discouraged, Team Outlaw & Nikki Girl left Pensacola inlet in 15 to 20 knot winds out of the east, and decided to head west with following seas.  Team Outlaw fished in eighty five feet of water half way between Pensacola and Orange Beach. They found some snapper, and then moved a few miles over to the Wallace, a liberty ship, where they caught a 29 lb. King mackerel that ended up being the biggest of the tournament.  As they continued to fish, they noticed something in the water about one hundred feet away from the boat, so they  motored over and saw that it was an old crab trap buoy marker, and it happened to be loaded with dolphin. They threw out some chum to keep them around and landed quite a few, keeping some, and tagging and releasing the rest. Many ASWSC captains are participating in a dolphin tagging study this year.  Despite a wet ride out for the 22’ Nikki Girl, the team was rewarded with tournament limits of AJ, Snapper, Triggerfish, & Kings, accumulating enough points for a top five finish. On their way back to weigh in, they stopped at the sea buoy and found hungry Spanish mackerel, and were rewarded with incredible triple and quadruple hook ups.  

 (Team Outlaw (L to R): Danny Bolayer, Capt. Mike Springer, Norman Bowen, & Randy Fetzer) 

 The tournament award meeting and dinner was held at The Shrimp Basket, which was a great location offering a nice atmosphere and good food.  Tournament Committee Chairman, Mike Springer, applauded the efforts of the club, recognizing despite horrible conditions and small craft advisories, the assembled anglers had landed quite an impressive list of species including Sailfish, Dolphin, Wahoo, Black Fin Tuna, Amberjack, Red Snapper, Triggerfish, and King & Spanish Mackerel.  Congratulations to the teams, top five places were as follows:

1^st Place - Outlaw, Captain Mike Springer

2^nd Place - Lil’Ti, Captain Richard Watkins

3^rd Place - Nikki Girl, Captain Pat Thai

4^th Place - Glory Days, Captain Ted DuBose

5^th Place - Two Bills, Captain Bill Rhodes

The Atlanta Saltwater Sportsman Club meets monthly, sharing tips, techniques, and our latest adventures. If you would like more information about the club, its events, tournaments, or membership, please visit www.aswsc.org, or e-mail me at theseasickness@yahoo.com.   Our next club fishing event is our annual Sailfish Tournament in West Palm Beach, hope to see you there.

Tight lines… Tom Adrien, Captain Team $EA $ICKNE$$

Special Thanks to Terry Todd, Editor/Publisher, Georgia's Outdoors Adventures, for supporting us and publishing these articles on behalf of the ASWSC.  If you would like subscription information, please visit http://www.teamgoa.com/