This past weekend the annual Jolly Mon King Classic was held from the Ocean Isle Fishing Center. This tournament has proven over the years to be one of the region's favorite and most attended events due in part to its pick your fishing day format, fishing boundaries and family oriented atmosphere and prizes. However, with gas prices approaching $5/gallon and a general pessimistic fiscal attitude, I expected the event's participation to be severely down. Friday evening registration continued into the evening and fishermen and their families just kept coming to take part in what many consider an annual tradition. And when all the Pogy's had been bobbed and all of Guy C. Lee's grilled chicken had been eaten, an impressive 294 boats registered to compete in the 2008 Yellowfin/Yamaha Jolly Mon King Classic. That is an incredible showing of support from area fishermen and my family and I are honored by the continued support the tournament has received.
And thus a large field of boats was set to compete for over $50,000 in cash.
As most tournament fishermen agree, the weather forecast often determines whether or not they choose to compete in an event. Particularly is the case with the Jolly Mon as many of the fishermen bring their wife and kids along to have chances at all the family prizes the tournament offers. The forecast was for Southerly winds at 10-15 knots on Saturday and Southerly winds at 15-20 knots on Sunday with a chance of scattered storms both days. By all means, the forecast was typical for any Summer fishing day, and the 10-15kt wind and 2-3 foot seas forecast for Saturday was nice enough to lure 250 out of the 294 boats to choose to fish on Saturday.. However, on Saturday morning a worst case scenario unfolded. Fishermen awoke to relatively calm seas and clear skies. They went about the normal business of catching bait and heading offshore to any of a variety of fishing locations all along the Brunswick and New Hanover coast lines. At approximately 9am a large
thunderstorm developed over the Whiteville area and began to intensify and expand to the East toward Wilmington. The storm was more or less stationary as it intensified and grew to extend from NC/SC border all the way to Wrightsville Beach. And then it started moving offshore, toward all the fishermen that were participating in the tournament. Many saw the storm coming and ran inshore to seek safety in the Intracoastal or mouth of the Cape Fear while others stayed offshore to ride out the storm. I have been fishing as a captain for 15 years and this scenario is not uncommon. In the Summer it is a reality that you may have to contend with storms, and the majority of the time I choose to ride the storm out as they typically pass very quickly.. As fishermen up and down the coast battened down to ride out the storm, one particularly intense cell came off of Holden and Long Beach and moved in on the fishermen fishing the Cape Fear River area. I have spoken to
several people that were fishing the Lighthouse Rocks area (an area of rocky bottom some 2-3 miles offshore of the Cape Fear sea buoy) and they have all echoed the same comments. It was the worst storm they have ever seen or been in all their years of boating, bar none. The wind went from light south to north at 40-50 knots and it began to hail and rain sideways. The seas went from 2-3 feet to 6+ feet in a matter of seconds with the waves coming from all directions. During this time, one of the tournament boats, Spring Run, owned and captained by Scott Hewett took a wave over the stern and began taking on water. The wind and seas were so intense that other boats in the area could not see the distressed vessel and the boat eventually capsized. There were a total of three men that clung to the overturned Spring Run as they rode out the storm. According to one of the crew members, Scott began experiencing chest pains and had a heart attack and died while
clinging for his life. The Coast Guard was on the scene shortly thereafter, to pick up the two surviving crew members, but Capt. Scott Hewett had lost his life, his body later recovered and brought to shore. Fortunately, there were no other boats that capsized or lives' lost as a result of the storm, but many fishermen were thankful for their well being after such an experience.
As for Scott, I knew him very well. He lived in Supply and boated out of Holden Beach Marina. He has been tournament fishing his boat Spring Run since at least the early 90's when I had my first encounter with him. We were both Kingfishing in a tournament around Yaupon Reef and there was a hot bite going on. Scott and I passed each other very close going opposite directions when his T-top rod bent double and the reel began screaming from the run of a big Kingfish. Somehow Scott managed to reach/dive for the rod and fall overboard with the rod at the same time. I can clearly remember the boat driving away and Scott floating behind the boat with rod in hand trying to catch that fish. I didn't know Scott personally back then, but I never forgot the boat or the incident. A couple of years ago Scott introduced himself to me and inquired about an opening I had available to work as a charter captain out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center. I did some research
on Scott and quickly found that he was a very reputable man. I also found out that he was the captain of the Spring Run and thus was finally able to put a face with a memorable fish story. I figured if he was willing to go overboard for a fish, he was willing to do what it took to put his clients on fish. He worked as captain of the MacMarle'n out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center the entire 2007 season and not only did a great job as a fisherman, but his character and attitude improved the entire business. All the captains and mates enjoyed Scott's presence. During his time working with me here at the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, I came to know and respect Scott very much as a man of honor. He always said what he was thinking and did what he said. He was up front and personable and as I said, a generally nice guy that was fun to be around. We have unfortunately lost a fellow fisherman and a good friend. He died doing what he loved, and we will never
forget him. He will forever be memorialized as part of the Jolly Mon King Classic. May his baits stay lively, lines stay tight and rods continue bent- here's to you Capt. Scott.

As the world continues to turn, so life goes on. Many fishermen headed back out or continued fishing after the storm had passed and there were quite a few nice Kings brought to the scale. First in was David Henderson on his 23 foot boat Ain't Life Grand. He was grinning from ear to ear and for good reason as he and his team posted a 36.50 pound King to take first place. He reported catching the King in the morning before the storm while fishing in the vicinity of the Shark Hole. Next in was Keith Logan on the 21 foot boat Logan's Love. He and team scaled a 36.65 pound King to take over first place. He also caught his fish early, before 7:30am while fishing the General Sherman wreck. The Reel Action later weighed a 34.95 to take third spot. By day end on Saturday 10th place was 26 pounds and 30th place was 17 pounds. There was still another day of fishing and the remaining 40 boats were poised to try to beat the fish weighed on Saturday. The weather
forecast had improved and was calling for Southerly winds at 10-15kts and seas of 2-4 feet with a chance of scattered storms. Boats headed out and despite the morning starting out a little rough, the seas calmed by mid day and there was never a sign of any storms all day. By all accounts, it was a great day to go fishing. Especially for Cameron Bowers and crew of the Takin It Easy, a 22 foot bay boat that weighed a 39.75 pound King to take the lead in the tournament. Jared Floyd on the Keepin It Reel scared the leaders with a 33.35 that ended up in 5th and so did Jay Bucklen on the Cape Contender who weighed a 33.15 to finish 6th. There were only a few boats that chose to weigh-in on Sunday and thus the leader board stayed close to the same. However, it was the Takin It Easy team of Cameron Bowers and Cody Davis that made a clean sweep of the event. They won the first place overall, first place 23 foot and under division, first place High Rollers TWT
and first place 23 and under TWT to win $31,785!

Complete Results:

1 39.75 Takin it Easy Cameron Bowers Raleigh, NC
2 36.65 Logan's Love Keith Logan Longs, SC
3 36.50 Ain't Life Grand David Henderson Charlotte, NC
4 34.95 Reel Action Jeremy B Harrelson Hope Mills, NC
5 33.35 Keepin It Reel Jared Floyd Murrells Inlet, SC
6 33.15 Cape Contender Jay Bucklen Wake Forest, NC
7 32.15 Tailwalker Stuart Ballard Georgetown, SC
8 29.80 Hot Rod Brett A Barnes Wilmington, NC
9 29.60 Dirty Girl Renny DelosSantos Inman, SC
10 29.60 Coon Dog Samuel J Cernugel Wilmington, NC
11 29.00 Got-Tu Charles Randy Smith Carolina Beach, NC
12 27.55 Rawhide Terry Godwin Wilmington, NC
13 26.35 Strickly Business Jeff Crouch Bolivia, NC
14 25.30 Trick C Jeff York Burlington, NC
15 25.05 Contend This Hunter Woodell Sanford, NC
16 24.05 Eren's Addiction Too Jack Bracewell Summerville, SC
17 23.25 Oil Slick Jack Kyle White Shallotte, NC
18 22.85 Sea'n is Believe'n Anthony Queen Rock Hill, SC
19 22.45 Four Sons Douglas David Ocean Isle Beach, NC
20 22.15 Reel Nautie Fred Trull Midland, NC
21 21.65 Iron Man Ironman Fishing Team L Georgetown, SC
22 21.15 Wrench Head Kevin W Lawson Ramseur, NC
23 20.90 Simply Storage Michael Kennedy Winnabow, NC
24 20.85 Mad Mouse Robert Ferris Harrisburg, NC
25 20.80 Hooligan Joseph R Winslow III Sunset Beach, NC
26 20.60 Cash Flow James Shackleton Sanford, NC
27 20.45 Schneider Stone Tommy Schneider Asheboro, NC
28 19.25 Total Chaos Jamey Cauble Belmont, NC
29 19.10 Tide Line Dieter W Cardwell Winston Salem, NC

30 18.85 Orange Crush Jody Clemmons Holden Beach, NC

In other Jolly Mon highlight news the Jr. Jolly Mon tournament took place on Friday before the main tournament Captain's Meeting. Results as follows:
1st King: Griffin Canady (12)-15.15, 2nd King: Jonathan Pugh (9)- 12.5, 3rd King: Layton Perkins (12)- 11.75
1st Dolphin: Tanner Junker (12)- 6.55, 2nd Dolphin: Matilyn Wilson (7)- 4.10
1st Sea Bass: Tanner Junker (12)- 1.55, 2nd Sea Bass: Jaqcob Starnes (4)- 1..05, 3rd Sea Bass: Jonathan Pugh (9)- .85

Also, the annual Pogy Bobbing Contest took place. Results below:

1st- Brandt McGilliwie (9): 9.15 seconds, 2nd- Nick Chase (13): 9.70 seconds, 3rd- Austin Aycock (9): 14.88 seconds
Thanks to all who participated in this year's Jolly Mon and thanks to all sponsors who helped to make the tournament more enjoyable for all the fishermen. I hope to see you back at next year's tournament.

For More Info Visit:

Ocean Isle Fishing Center
65 Causeway Drive-Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469
(910) 575-FISH - www.oifc.com

Southern Kingfish Association
www.fishska.com