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Quality Time
Last week Tim, my dad and I decided to head out for a late afternoon surf fishing trip. Dad was heading into the hospital a few days later for some surgery and we really just wanted to have a chance to spend some time together prior to. We took the boat out to Morris Island and pulled up in an area right behind the bar we intended to fish and netted all of the bait we needed right there next to the boat. During the trip we caught several nice size sharks that gave good fights and even got a few jumps out of a couple of them. We did not catch one redfish (our intended target), but we has non-stop action with the sharks. The best part of the trip was that is was a truly relaxing trip and we were able to spend some quality time just standing in the surf telling stories, picking on each other and laughing. After we were done fishing we took a slow ride back to the dock, ate some sandwiches and watched a truly beautiful sunset. When we got back to the house my dad said that the trip was one of the best trips he’d had in a long time. The more years I get under my belt the more I realize how much more fishing is about for me and my family. While catching fish is a really nice bonus, the trip and the time spent together are really what it is all about. I know some of you young guys out there reading this probably think I’m crazy, but if you have the type of bond we’ve developed over the years with fishing being an integral part of that, you will understand it a little better when you get older.

"Major Motion" Wins Fourth Round In Governor's Cup Series
     "Major Motion" took top honors in the fourth round of the 19th South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series at the Charleston City Marina's HMY/Viking MegaDock Billfish Tournament. The Series features five tournaments along the coast and began May 10th at Edisto Island Marina tournament and ends July 25th at the Bohicket Marina Invitational.
     Tom DuPré, Series coordinator for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR), noted that 73 participating boats collectively caught and released 64 sailfish, 9 blue marlin and 4 white marlin over the course of the MegaDock tournament weekend. DuPré said that, "It was a great event that was thoughtfully planned and well-run from top to bottom. Robbie Freeman, KC Rennie, and all of the marina staff get kudos for a wonderful tournament. The air conditioned tent and high-rent port-o-lets were definitely a plus. The weather was questionable Saturday and made the large crowd of spectators nervous but was not much of a factor."
     Points for Governor's Cup tournaments are awarded as follows: 600 points for a tagged or released blue marlin, 200 points for a tagged or released white marlin, and 100 points for a tagged or released sailfish. In addition, boats are awarded 25 participation points for each Series tournament entered up to a maximum of three events.
     The crew of "Major Motion" won top honors and earned 1200 points for the Outstanding Billfish Boat award. Buck Morris, of Charleston, owns "Major Motion," and Wesley Morris, Jr. is captain. The crew caught and released 2 blue marlin and were also recognized as winners of the Outstanding Billfish Conservationist award.
     Second place honors for Outstanding Billfish Boat went to "Bentley's Best," owned by Steve Deese, of Lexington, and captained by Jim Moore. They earned 900 points for the catch and release of one blue marlin and 3 sailfish.
     "Evans B" won the third place award for Outstanding Billfish Boat, which is owned and captained by Thomas McCook of Macon, GA. The crew garnered 800 points with one white marlin and 6 sailfish caught and released during the tournament.
     "Sea Baby," owned by Dixon Pearce of Mt.Pleasant, won the Outstanding Dolphin award. Angler Susie Pearce caught a 62.3-pound dolphin for the award.
     Outstanding Tuna was awarded to "Daymaker," owned by Mark Daniels of Greenville for a 16.2-pound tuna catch.
     Angler Jerry Broome won the Outstanding Wahoo award for a 56.6-pound catch onboard "Overspray," owned by Foster McKissick of Greenville, and captained by Mike McClamrock.
     The Outstanding Youth Angler award went to Cole Malphrus, 13, of Hilton Head Island, for the catch and release of 2 sailfish. Malphus fished on "Heavy Iron," owned by Malphrus Marine of Hilton Head Island and captained by Robert McMillan.
     The second place Outstanding Youth Angler was Jon-Michael Kubu, 10, of Anderson. Kubu caught and released one sailfish onboard "High Maintenance," owned by Jeff Kubu, of Anderson and captained by Dennis Brookshire.
     Matthew Nettles, 10, of Charleston, won the third place Outstanding Youth Angler award. Nettles caught and released one sailfish on "Short People," owned and captained by Aaron Nettles, also of Charleston.
Hope Hanckel, of Johns Island, won the Outstanding Female Angler award. Hanckel caught and released a blue marlin on the Outstanding Billfish Boat winner, "Major Motion."
     Michelle Elsey, of Mt. Pleasant took home second place honors for Outstanding Female Angler. Elsey caught and released a sailfish on "Due Course," owned by Richard Gaton, of Irmo and captained by Jamie Brown.
     Ellen K. Cordle, of Dublin, Ohio won the third place Outstanding Female Angler award. Cordle also released a sailfish on "Special Lady," owned by Ed Kosnik of Columbus, Ohio and captained by Ben Polk.
DuPré tallied the overall points standings for the 19th Annual South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series after the fourth tournament and with one remaining tournament as: "Game On" 1425.6 points, "Dough Boy" 1375 points, "Big Game" 1225 points, "Major Motion" 1225 points, "Bentley's Best" 1075 points, "Juncanewt" 1050 points, "Cerveza" 1025 points, "Northstar" 975 points, "Artemis" 975 points, and "Evans B" 875 points.
    For more information on the South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series contact Tom DuPré by e-mail at dupret@dnr.sc.gov or check the Website at http://govcup.dnr.sc.gov/.
    The remaining tournament date and point of contact for the final Series tournament in the 2007 19th Annual South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series is as follows:
   * July 25-28 - Bohicket Marina Invitational Billfish Tournament (contact Deidre Menefee, 19 Forde Row, Charleston, SC 29412, (843) 345-0369, Fax 406-4775, dpmenefee@aol.com);

The sailfish bite is turning on offshore and the tarpon are beginning to show up inshore. Yes we are in the thick of summer. Along with the sailfish offshore are the dreaded barracuda in huge numbers. Better pack plenty of ballyhoo. There are still some dolphin around and the wahoo will be around the rest of the year for those who know how to find them. The number of sailfish is picking up and hopefully this year will be as good as the last 2 years have been. The king mackerel bite is really good from 45’ out to 90’ with bigger fish being taken closer to shore. The spadefish are on the reefs. Inshore the flounder fishing is very good and the trout and redfish are thick with a really good early morning top-water bite still going on. The weather for this weekend is looking a little iffy with a cold front due on Friday night. Still a couple of days away so we will see what happens. Have a great and safe weekend.

Tight lines…
Andy Pickett
CharlestonFishing.Com