Category: Fishing

Wateree River fatal boat crash looks Murdaugh-esque

A fatal boat crash on the Wateree River has similarities to the Paul Murdaugh boat crash in Beaufort, SC.

A fatal boat crash on the Wateree River this past May has some similarities to the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach when Paul Murdaugh, son of disgraced attorney and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, was driving. The similarities? Drunken underage boat driver, a relative with some political power in the area, the sale of alcohol to a minor, and an attempt at a coverup.

That’s what is alleged by the parents of 15-year-old Chase Newman, who died at the scene of the May 5, 2023 crash on the Wateree River. They have filed a lawsuit against several parties. The crash involved a group of friends in two separate boats, which collided near Pine Tree Creek.

Zachary Cameron was driving the boat Newman was in when the collision occurred. One of the first officials on the scene was David West, the Kershaw County Coroner, who is also the granddad of Cameron.

Newman’s parents have alleged that Cameron was drunk, and that West intervened with law enforcement officials who arrived later, telling them that he had checked for alcohol, and that none was involved. He also allegedly advised the boat parties to get rid of any evidence of alcohol in both boats.

Aside from suing Cameron, Newman’s parents are also suing Trent Mathis, the driver of the boat that crashed into the boat Newman was riding in. Five convenience stores are also targets of the lawsuit for selling alcohol to Cameron, who was younger than 21.

No one was arrested at the scene, in large part due to West’s position as coroner, and in the way he inserted himself into the investigation and convinced law enforcement that his grandson had done no wrong, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also states that in the weeks following the crash, Cameron “discussed how drunk he was on the night Newman lost his life.”

Don’t cry for SENSATION, Big Rock Fans

Plenty of controversy abounds after SENSATION’s DQ from the 2023 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, including the boat’s owner declaring an official protest and securing the services of a law firm to take matters to court if his protest doesn’t result in overturning the DQ.

It won’t, nor should it. And it’s shameful that he’s even trying.

In case you’re not up to speed, here goes: The crew of the boat caught a big blue marlin. They brought it in to weigh. Tournament officials determined the marlin had been bitten by a shark during the fight. A rule in the tournament rule book, signed off on by the SENSATION and every other boat fishing the contest, states clearly in black and white that if a marlin is bitten by a shark or other sea creature during the fight, then it is disqualified.

So, pretty simple. Straight forward. No room for interpretation. Was it bitten by a shark or other sea creature during the fight? Yes. What does that mean, according to the rules of the tournament? That the fish is disqualified. Done deal. Sorry fellas, great fish, bad luck, thanks for playing and see you next year.

At this point, whether to entertain the crowd or to ensure SENSATION got a fair shake, the tournament weighed the fish anyway, then stated they’d release a decision about the winner in the morning. Many folks are saying this was a mistake, and that they shouldn’t have weighed it at all, since it was DQ’d anyway.

DQ announced next morning

But it was probably the right thing to do. During the night, the tournament consulted with fisheries biologists and the IGFA. Perhaps they just wanted to make sure that the two marks in question were bite marks, and not marks that were created by hoising the marlin into the boat. And this extra time would give SENSATION a chance to provide evidence that the marks occurred after the fight, and not during it. With several hours and all the evidence at hand, Big Rock released a statement Sunday morning confirming that SENSATION’s fish was disqualified.

So, even though all things pointed to a DQ Saturday night, Big Rock organizers decided to do a little more consulting, make sure they got it right, and again, give the boat’s crew a chance to provide evidence that those marks occurred after the fight, and not during. The crew offered no such evidence.

And in the end, the DQ was announced. 

Now, many Big Rock fans (fair weather ones at least), want to point to past winners, and how badly mutilated they were, and much more mutilated than SENSATION’s. What they’re failing to recognize, even when shown in black and white, spelled out clearly in the rule book, is that those mutilations occurred AFTER the fish were caught, tail-roped, and hoisted aboard, and during the ride in. In those cases the crew that caught the fish provided video evidence showing that the fish’s mutilation was a result of attempting to load it onto the boat, and of the wear and tear during the boat ride back to Morehead City.

Some folks say the 2019 winning fish even had shark bites on it. The win wasn’t protested, not even by the second-place boat of Rocky Hardison, who had more to lose (and lost it) than anyone when Top Dog brought in its massive fish.

Hardison’s words on the Top Dog’s fish, which video evidence shows was mutilated AFTER being boated, which doesn’t call for a DQ: 

“As for the comparison to Top Dog’s fish a few years ago, yes it was in worse condition but that damage was done after the fight was over. It knocked me to second place and cost me a lot of money. If I thought that it was any different, believe me, I would have protested it! Rules are rules and it’s pretty much black and white.” — Rocky Hardison

No sharks in the heart

It’s important to note that in the history of the Big Rock, more than once, captains have come in to hear the cheering of the crowds and the excitement of the emcee, only to calm that excitement quickly by stating, on their own, with no prompting from tournament officials, that no, we’re personally DQing our own fish, because if you look right here, you’ll see a fresh bite mark. Others have radioed from offshore, letting all know not to keep the scales open just for them, because their marlin was bitten during the fight. That’s integrity. That’s sportsmanship.

So what did the SENSATION’s boat owner have to say about the two obvious bite marks (that were confirmed as bite marks by multiple fisheries biologists)?

Something like “In our hearts, we never saw a shark.”

What? You never saw a shark? In your hearts? What does that even mean?

Okay, first, it doesn’t matter if you saw a shark, not with your eyes, not in your heart, not in your kidneys. Not seeing a shark (especially in your heart) doesn’t mean your fish wasn’t bitten by one.

And the odd statement sounds more like a cheating partner, trying to reconcile with the loved one they cheated on: “Baby, I mean, I did what I did. But in my heart, I wasn’t cheating.”

So, they didn’t see any sharks in their heart. Did they see the bite marks (in their heart or otherwise) once they got the fish onboard?

Ahhh, they thought it was just marks caused by them winching it onto the boat. Hmmm. Okay, wishful thinking. Let’s give ‘em the benefit of the doubt there. Otherwise, it would have been shameful for them to bring it in without alerting tournament officials to those marks.

6-hour fight wasn’t a 6-hour fight

Many Big Rock fans are stating the fish should count anyway, even if it was bitten by sharks, because the crew “fought it for 6 hours! And a fish can’t fight for 6 hours if those bites hurt it!”

Couple of problems here. First, who is to say a fish that fought for 6 hours couldn’t have fought for 8, or even broken free, had it not been bitten by a shark? But most importantly, those fans’ visions of the marlin running, jumping, diving deep, going from one side of the boat to the next, leaping high above the waves within sight of the boat, colors vibrant, muscles bulging, tail thrashing, the crew running about on the deck shouting words of encouragement, the angler on the rod allowing the fish to run, then making up line, letting it run again, gaining line back…well, this epic 6-hour battle never took place.

Nope.

Turns out, according to interviews with the captain and crew members, the fish died and sank to the bottom in the first 45 minutes of the fight. The next 5+ hours, they cranked the fish straight up, trying to get help from the current when they could, carefully cranking while not straining their line too much, lest it break. 

And finally, after turning the reel handle for 5+ hours, the 600 pounds of dead weight was there at hand, ready to load.

In the face of these words, offered by the captain and crew themselves, the fair weather Big Rock fans say rubbish.

Emotional argument

“If the fish was dead, they could back right up to it and load it!” said one social media commenter. Oh boy, what a gem. Others said similar things “Dead on the seafloor? If so, it wouldn’t have taken more than 10 minutes to reel it right in.”

Well, some folks just don’t understand the dynamics of fishing for big gamefish, using line that is rated at much lower poundage than many of the fish you’ll catch, and how using the drag and the bend of the rod comes into play to tire the fish. And that tightening the drag means you can reel it right in quick, well, unless whatever is on your line weighs more than your line is rated for, in which case your line will simply pop.

Well, those folks just don’t know any better. And don’t know any better than to make comments on things they have no clue about. Plenty of folks like that in this world. Oh well, let ‘em speak. Just don’t take it too seriously or try too hard to argue with them. They just don’t get it and never will. Their whole argument is built on emotion anyway.

“Fish get bit by sharks all the time!” some argue. I don’t know how often big marlin get bit by sharks. Honestly, I don’t believe ones that grow to 600 pounds get bit by sharks on the regular, but I’m no expert at that. But it doesn’t matter. The rule book says plain and simply, if a marlin is bitten by a shark during the fight, it’s DQ’ed.

“But they were small bite marks, probably didn’t impact the marlin,” some are saying. That’s a crock, but even if it’s not, the rule book makes no allowances for how big a shark bite is. It states that if it’s bitten during the fight, DQ. Period.

“But this isn’t an IGFA tournament!” others say. It doesn’t matter. They reference the IGFA rule on shark bites in the tournament rules. Big Rock doesn’t have to follow every IGFA rule if they don’t want to. They can adopt certain rules from other organizations all they want, as long as they spell it out in their rule book. And they do. 

Shame on boat owner

Now, here’s the thing. For all those fair weather Big Rock fans, oh well, most just don’t understand the rules. Plenty of others see the rules but just don’t like that particular rule. Or they misunderstand the “mutilation” rule and refuse to acknowledge the part of the rule about WHEN the mutilation happens. Others want to argue the definition of the word. Doesn’t matter. The rules say if it happens DURING the fight, it’s a DQ.

But what is shameful, is a boat owner that knows the rules, and one who agreed to participate in the 2023 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, signing off on the rule book that all other boats signed off on, then turning around and preparing to sue the tournament after their fish was DQ’ed based on those very rules he signed off on. This freezes all prize money for the other competitors. Puts everything in limbo.

Chances are, he doesn’t believe all that stuff the fair weather fans believe. Chances are, he’s just playing on their emotions, hoping to garner enough support that the Big Rock will see fit to overturn a longstanding rule that his team signed off on before the tournament even began, or at least offer a settlement.

And that is shameful. Shameful to him. Shameful to his boat. Shameful to his team. Shameful to his sponsors.

___________

UPDATE: After all this, the protest has been dropped as of July 11, with SENSATION’s owner admitting that the tournament got it right all along.

NC angler catches pending world record bigscale pomfret

The folks at Chasin Tails Outdoors Bait & Tackle in Atlantic Beach, NC weighed in a bigscale pomfret that could become the new world record. It is about 6 pounds heavier than the current world record, a 20-pound, 10-ounce bigscale pomfret caught in 2004 out of St. Augustine, FL.

North Carolina anglers Jeremiah Elliot, Trever Burns, Chandler Butler and Zack Elliot were fishing outside of Beaufort Inlet when they called Chasin Tails on the evening of Friday, April 21, 2023. The men wanted to make sure the store’s weigh scales were open and in order.

With cell phone reception cutting in and out, the folks at Chasin Tails couldn’t hear the call well enough to know what kind of fish they were bringing in. 

“We really had no idea what they had, as it was hard to hear them over the phone,” they said.

The fish tipped the scales at 26.71 pounds. The species has a closely-related cousin, the Atlantic pomfret, and a fisheries biologist positively identified this catch as a bigscale on Monday, April 24. 

Because it’s not a fish commonly caught in North Carolina waters, the state does not currently list the bigscale pomfret in its record books. Chasin Tails is assisting the anglers in having this fish certified as North Carolina’s first state record for the species, and having it certified as the new world record.

New Orleans’ Big Bass Rodeo and Fishtival is March 25

The 74th Big Bass Rodeo and Fishtival is slated for March 25, 2023 in New Orleans.

The 74th Annual Big Bass Rodeo and Fishtival is scheduled for March 25, 2023 at New Orleans City Park.

The Big Bass Rodeo is the oldest freshwater rodeo in the United States, and features numerous divisions, including Adult, Junior, Kayak, Student, and Team. A Fishtival will take place the day of the event, featuring activities and entertainment throughout the morning, along with a visit from Robbie the Redfish and Parker the Raccoon.

If you’d like to get ready for the rodeo, the LDWF is offering two free bass fishing courses at the park on Feb. 25 and March 24. Courses will include bass behavior, proper handling of bass, and lure preparation and use. Click here for more info and to sign up.

North Carolina stocking F1 bass

The NCWRC is set to stock F1 bass into three North Carolina lakes, and the private sector is invited to help.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is gearing up to stock F1 bass into three of the state’s lakes. And for the first time ever, they will accept private funds to help finance the project.

The state is going full steam ahead, stocking even if no money is donated by the private sector. But for every dollar private citizens give, the federal government will triple it. F1 bass fingerlings currently cost about 50 cents apiece to stock. So one dollar from private funds would normally result in two fish being stocked.

But thanks to the government matching these funds at a 3-to-1 ratio, one dollar raised will result in eight fish being stocked. That’s a big deal!

It’s the perfect storm, in all the right ways, for the stocking program, said Marty Stone, a former professional bass angler who teamed up with two other bass fishing gurus to form the NC F1 Bass organization, which will help educate the public and funnel private funds to the NCWRC for the stocking program.

Stone and his partners have set the organization up as a 501(c)3, so all money donated will be tax deductible. And they’ve vowed that every dollar donated will go directly to NCWRC for the F1 stocking program.

So what is an F1 bass? It is the offspring of a Florida-strain bass and a norther-strain bass. This results in a fish with the exponential growth characteristics of a Florida-strain bass, coupled with the aggressive nature and extreme weather tolerance of a northern-strain bass. It’s the perfect fish to combat the influx of Alabama spotted bass that have been illegally introduced into many of North Carolina’s waters over the years.

The three lakes that will receive the first stockings of the F1 bass are Gaston, Jordan and Norman. These three lakes have three different water-quality ratings, which will help fisheries biologists gauge how well the F1 bass perform in varying conditions.

If you’d like more information on the program, click here to visit NCF1Bass.org.

NC angler breaks white grunt state record

New NC state white grunt caught on Jan. 2, 2023.

Logan Ennis of Red Oak, NC was fishing near the 14 Buoy off of Morehead City on Jan. 2, 2023 when he caught the new North Carolina state record white grunt.

Ennis’ fish weighed 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces. He caught the fish on a Daiwa Saltist 35HG reel mounted to a Star Rod jigging rod. He was using squid as bait. The fish was 17.5 inches long (fork length), with a girth of 16 inches.

Chasin’ Tails Outdoors weighed the fish and helped Ennis contact the Marine Fisheries headquarters to confirm the measurements.

The NC Division of Marine Fisheries certified the fish as the new record, besting the previous record of 4 pounds, 8 ounces, which was caught off Cape Lookoot in 1969.

Arkansas lakes see new bass regulations

Some new bass fishing regulations are in order for two Arkansas lakes beginning Jan. 1, 2023.

Anglers in Arkansas should note some new bass regulations which began on Jan. 1, 2023. The changes are for two lakes in the Natural State.

On Norfork Lake, regulations for all three species of black bass have been changed. The new law states that largemouth and smallmouth bass must be at least 13 inches long to keep. The length limit on spotted bass (sometimes called Kentucky bass) has been dropped. Anglers can keep spotted bass of any length.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission encourages anglers on Norfork Lake to keep smaller, legal-sized bass of all three species. While this may seem counterproductive and a shift from a long-standing, nationwide push to release bass to fight another day, this lake is currently overpopulated with small bass, which stunts the growth rates of all fish.

The same problem has led to a change in Sugarloaf Lake’s largemouth bass slot limit, which has been removed. Anglers can now keep any size bass from Sugarloaf Lake. AGFC has stated that the slot limit has left this lake, like Norfork, full of stunted bass.

A third lake that anglers should take note of is Lake Monticello. This lake has been renovated and is currently slowly refilling to full pool. It is open for anglers, but all gamefish must be released immediately. 

For full information on fish and game regulations in Arkansas, click here.

SC man sets bowfishing world record

Stuart Vandyke of Eutawville, SC set the new bowfishing South Carolina state and world record for catfish on Jan. 6, 2023 when he arrowed an Arkansas blue catfish that tipped the scales at 84 pounds, 12.8 ounces.

Vandyke’s catfish was 54 inches long, with a girth of 37 inches. And this fish tale has some twists and turns that make it a little more interesting than breaking a world record is to begin with.

First of all, 15 days earlier, Vandyke’s friend David Ard set the bowfishing world record for the same species with a fish that weighed a little more than 80 pounds.

Add to that, another of Vandyke’s friends that was in the boat with him on Jan. 6 took the first shot at the record fish, but missed. This gave Vandyke an opportunity, and he took full advantage of it.

Once his arrow pierced the fish, he knew it would be big enough to vie for the record. He and his friends wrestled it aboard, then called a friend with a certified scale. They weighed the fish and got it entered into the Bowfishing Association of America’s record book, ending Ard’s short-lived status as world record holder.

For other state and world bowfishing records, visit www.bowfishingassociation.com.

Santee Cooper catfish report – summer

Catfish in the daytime, catfish at night. They’re biting all hours at Santee right now.

The summertime catfish report on the Santee Cooper lakes shows many blue cats being caught. Capt. Kyle Austin’s anglers are catching plenty of them at night, which helps beat the heat. But the daytime bite hasn’t been bad.

This young lady had a big night of fishing with Capt. Kyle Austin at Santee recently.

Capt. Jason Wolfe of Wolfe’s Guide Service has a two-part strategy for summertime cats on Santee. First thing in the morning, he likes to anchor down in fairly shallow water. He baits up with cut baitfish, casts out a spread of six to eight rods, sets the rods in the rod holders, then waits.

Wolfe suggests anglers leave the rods in the rod holders until the rod is doubled over. Many anglers try to set the hook, which he said is a mistake. The circle hooks he uses will do their job once the fish commits. And the action of his Catch the Fever rods coupled with the reel’s drag will allow the catfish to swim away long enough for the hook to embed itself in the corner of the fish’s mouth.

As the fish continues to swim away, the rod finally doubles over. Sometime the drag begins to sing, letting you know that a true fighter is on the line

As the sun gets up and the day begins to warm, the catfish leave the shallows, so Wolfe does too. He heads for deep water, usually on the main section of the Lower Lake. Here, he replaces his weights with Drifting Stix, then casts all his rods again. And once again they go in rod holder.

Now, Wolfe suggests his anglers kick back and watch the rod tips. As they drift over humps and deep holes, the bait is being presented to catfish of all sizes. When one takes the bait, you’ll know it quickly.

Saltwater ponds are perfect for flounder

Pay attention to saltwater ponds while on vacation — they often hold big flounder.

Whether you live along the Carolina coastline or are just visiting for vacation, don’t overlook the saltwater ponds that are abundant in some areas. Many vacation resorts feature ponds that either visibly connect to the inshore waters or have a series of hidden culverts that bring water (and fish) into and out of the ponds.

Many of these ponds hold flounder. Some of these fish get into the ponds and never leave, gorging on baitfish every time the tide flows in. So even though the waters are relatively small, some hold big flounder.

The typical baits work here — finger mullet and mud minnows on Carolina rigs are great. But bucktail jigs are just as good when worked slowly and methodically. Many anglers stand on the bank and cast toward the middle, but those in the know make long casts that land much closer to the shoreline, then work the bait or lure slowly as it runs parallel to the sea wall or bank. Just like when fishing a freshwater pond for bass, few fish live in the middle of a pond, with most constantly patrolling the shallower water near the banks.

This type of fishing is good because it doesn’t take up a whole day, so if you’re on a family vacation, you can do it while grilling or while other family members take showers for a night out. Or you can do it as a family without having to hire a charter or dedicate a certain amount of time to it.

It’s laid-back fishing that can pay big dividends. Try it next time you head to the coast.