Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Outdoors column: Brothers team up to win Fall Brawl

After dealing with aggravating northeast winds and 4-6 foot seas on the east side of Frying Pan Shoals on Sunday, the fishing duo of brothers Mark and Billy Emmart saw what they were looking for in the Yellowfin/OIFC Fall Brawl King Classic out of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.

The brothers, of Wilmington, N.C., were working an area about a mile southwest of the Fairway Ledges aboard Moon Doggie, their 31-foot Contender powered by Yamaha, in the Southern Kingfish Association-sanctioned event.

"About [1 p.m.], the fish took a naked pogy on top," recalled Mark Emmart. "He jumped about 10 feet in the air and came down on it. It was cool - it was a great visual."

Brother Billy was the angler while Mark took the wheel and about 15-20 minutes later applied the gaff at boatside.

"We were fired up - it's always exciting to put one on the boat like that," said Mark Emmart, who has fished king tournaments with his brother for about 30 years. "We thought he was in the mid-30s when we caught him but we were pleasantly surprised when he was 41."

Indeed, the smoker king weighed 41 pounds at the scales at Ocean Isle Fishing Center, to give the Emmarts the victory over the 170-boat field, many of which opted to fish closer to the beach, which helped block the northeast wind. Only 17 boats fished Saturday - when sea conditions wound up being better than forecasted leaving the rest of the field to fish on Sunday. Boats could fish one of the two days.

Sea Byrd out of Holden Beach, N.C., weighed in a 38.55-pound king caught earlier Sunday and held the lead until late in the day before the Emmarts arrived with the winning fish, which earned over $17,000. Steel Fishing out of Southport, N.C., finished third with a 35.25-pounder, the early leader that topped the boats fishing on Saturday.

Rounding out the top five were Mr. Goodhands out of Ash, N.C., with a 32.9-pounder and Wishful Thinking out of Monroe, N.C., with a 31.35-pounder.

The 170-boat field marked the fourth-largest king mackerel tournament in the Carolinas this year, according to Capt. Brant McMullan of Ocean Isle Fishing Center. For further details on the tournament visit www.oifc.com.