The week may be starting off wet and woolly, but anglers will be able to reflect on their recent catches until skies clear again. ED KILLER/
But after a 56.4-pound bull dolphin landed on the deck of Unreel, his Mercury-powered Fort Pierce-built 27-foot Ameracat, Chandler was outvoted 3-1.
It was only a few minutes after noon, and the scales at Causeway Cove didn't open until 3 p.m.Angler Stephanie Langel had just battled the raging bull for 45 minutes until husband Phil Langel could gaff it and haul it over the gunwale. Erin Chandler had just reeled in a smaller fish—a cow, or female, dolphin—and the whole crew was celebrating. They knew the big dolphin was big.
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But was it big enough to win $10, 000 — the top prize in the 22nd annual Fishing Frenzy tournament presented by Geico Treasure Coast and the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce?
Chandler, of White City, said he and his wife had never entered a fishing tournament before. Erin, a breast cancer survivor, had not been on the boat in a long while, and one day while talking to their neighbors— the Langels— they all decided it would be fun to enter the Frenzy.
We took along some double-rigged ballyhoo, Chandler explained. I was checking some apps to see where the offshore temperature breaks were and found some that looked good down off St. Lucie Inlet. So that's where we headed after checkout at Fort Pierce Inlet.
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There were 131 boats entered in this year's Frenzy, Terissa Aronson said. The tournament paid out $10, 000 to first place, $3, 000 to second, $2, 000 to third and $1, 000 to fourth for heaviest dolphin, a fish better known on seafood restaurant menus as mahi mahi.
In 10 minutes, we got a little schoolie and I thought that was a good sign, he said. Then, for the next 2-3 hours it was nothing but weeds and bonitos.
Chandler trolled north along current edges and temperature breaks waiting for that one knockdown. The wives chose to take naps on the boat's bean bag chairs until something exciting happened.
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My wife grabbed the one rod and began fighting her fish on the one side, but Stephanie was the only one who saw the other fish bite, Chandler said.She said it was a big fish.
But no one knew for sure. What they did know was that the strike on that bait was so vicious, it buried the line into the outrigger clip. They had to break the clip to free the line and not lose the fish.
Then it was like musical chairs with rods and gaffs, Chandler said. It looked like if the fish had jumped one more time, it might have spit the hook. I don't think she could have battled it much longer. When we got it on board, it was the biggest fish wehad ever caught on my boat.
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And that's when Chandler suggested they keep fishing. But no one else agreed with that game plan. They wanted to make sure they had a chance to win the money.
Sundance Kid and Adam Lambeth of Vero Beach took second place with a 44-pound dolphin to earn $3, 000. Hot Pursuit with Doug McComas and Robert McComas took third place and $2, 000 with a 30-pounder. Fourth place went to Pale House and Wayne Klekamp with a 29.20-pounder worth $1, 000.
Tag Team's Erika Wright won the Lady Angler prize of $250 with a 31-pounder, while Jimmy Wright IVwon the top junior angler $100 with a 22.40-pound dolphin.The second weekend in May means most bluewater anglers have pretty much one thing on their mind— dolphin. It also means some of the area's offshore fishing tournaments have begun.
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The 22nd annual Fishing Frenzy, hosted by the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce and presented by Geico, was fished by 93 boats out of Causeway Cove Marina in Fort Pierce. Simultaneously, the Stuart Sailfish Club's KDW Tournament fished.
For the first time, competing teams were allowed to enter both tournaments although only the KDW in Stuart, which had divisions for kingfish and wahoo, featured species other than dolphin.
The Oculina Bank fishing team won the $10, 000 top prize in the tightly contested Frenzy with a dolphin weighing 29.40 pounds. Just 5 pounds separated first from fourth place. Brent Meloy of Port St. Lucie, team captain, said his crew left St. Lucie Inlet because they felt they had a better chance at catching live bait they planned to use.
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We caught bait at Bull Shark Barge and started out trolling at about 150 feet of water, said Meloy, who fished with his brother, Brian;son, Zachary; and family friend Jim Tourek aboard Brent's 26-foot Pro Line, namedZachary.We found convergent currents at 250 feetand were going to put out somelive bait and drift.
They had begun reeling in the lines to change out for drift fishing and had one last line in the water with a naked ballyhoo still on it, Meloy said.
As we started to reel it in, we got a hit, he said. That wound up being the winning fish. Or at least, Meloy thinks so.
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We later caught another dolphin just outside the Oculina Reef, Meloy said, and it was just about as big as the first one. We had a hard time trying to figure out which one was larger, in fact.
They guessed correctly because the second-place dolphin weighed 28.94 pounds, caught by Eric Kucera aboard the Summer Girl led by Jamie Chandler. Summer Girl won $3, 000.
The White's Tackle/Smoke Showfishing team finished just outside the money at the Frenzy, but did wind up with second- and third-place dolphin and third-place kingfish at the Stuart Sailfish Club KDW. That earned the crew $1, 000 combined.
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We were in 90 feet of water to the north of Fort Pierce Inlet on the Offshore Bar fishing around bait and a bunch of flyers (flying fish), said Kadri Benton, a member of White's Tackle/Smoke Show fishing team. Benton said his team caught its kingfish in 90 feet also.
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