The thrill of the fight greets Collins and friends at the Edisto Billfish Tournament
Having grown up here when gas was less than a buck per gallon, my dad and I were always participating in billfish tournaments from North Carolina on south to the Florida line.
Fishing with Capt. Buddy Hester, the pioneer of offshore fishing on Hilton Head, it was a dream come true for a skinny kid like myself.
If my memory serves me correctly, I was seven years old when I caught my first billfish, a sailfish. Watching that brilliantly colored sailfish twisting through the air and effortlessly skittering across the ocean’s surface, I was hooked on any fish with a sword on its nose.
Starting aboard Capt. Buddy’s first wooden boat, the Buddy I, on to his next boat, the Buddy II, then the Cloud Nine and finally to monstrous Elizabeth, built by Robert Graves right here on Hilton Head, we landed a lot of fish with bills, especially blue marlin.
I was around 16 when I was finally put into the fighting chair attached to a 435 lb. blue marlin. Its power blew me away but even more so its graceful beauty. Back then we would spend hours rigging baits, primarily large mullet and Spanish mackerel.
We would remove their backbones and, using waxed thread, meticulously sew the hooks into the offerings so they would mimic a live fish exactly.
Back then we usually killed these fish in tournaments. It was great for waiting crowds at the dock but not so good for billfish populations.
When my good friend Dan Cornell told me he had entered his brand new 45’ Hatteras sport fishing boat the “Reel Deal” in the Edisto Billfish Tournament held last weekend, I knew he was taking his fishing knowledge to a level way above any fishing we had done together in our six years fishing together.
So many things had changed since my years chasing billfish. No longer can regular hooks be used in these tournaments because they tend to be swallowed, hurting the fish. They have been replaced by circle hooks which almost always catch the corner of the fish’s mouth allowing for a safe release. Also, other than a monster marlin maybe, all billfish must be released unharmed or else you are penalized.
Every billfish fight has to be filmed and when the mate is shown grabbing the leader, the fish is considered caught. It was a new world for Dan and quite frankly myself, too.
Our crew consisted of Dan, his 13 year-old daughter Carlyle, Capt. Stefan Patrick, Will Thompson, Warren Holland and myself.
In a two-day tournament we joined around 40 other totally tricked out sport fishing boats at the Edisto Marina that ranged from 26’ on up to 70’. Just watching crews rigging baits, fine tuning reels and hustling about couldn’t help but get your adrenaline pumping. Having been there many times in the past, it had to have been an eye opener for Dan and his daughter.
Day one started at 5 a.m. as all 40 boats fired up their diesels. It was quite the sight watching that many big boats streaming offshore, some edging south, some north and some straight out. Using circle hooks that are slid under waxed floss in front of the bait’s nose is so different than trolling baits with regular hooks actually in the bait.
When a fish hits, you have to instantly free spool line so the fish can eat the bait. Then at a count of five or so engage the reel and hope the hook slides forward hooking the corner of the mouth.
Not quite fast enough, I would say we missed a lot of sailfish that day.
Getting in we discussed our next day and like any new boat and new crew, we realized we had to all get on the same page. Day two was way better. Everyone was more tuned in and the first fish to hit was a large bull dolphin or mahi.
Carlyle was given the honors and she worked that fish like a pro. Having fished with me since she was six, she is an awesome girl and even with a not so calm sea, she never once bailed. The next fish, a sailfish, was fed the bait and we were hooked up. Having never caught a billfish, Dan took the rod while Stefan backed down hard, water coming over the stern and in three short minutes I had the leader in hand.
A caught fish!
The sailfish bite was on fire out there and as for blue marlin, six or seven were caught and released with only one brought to the dock that weighed 483 pounds.
We didn’t win but being the Reel Deal’s first billfish tournament, we did O.K.
Carlyle’s mahi missed first place in the $10,000 mahi category by 3 silly ounces. But hey, second place in such an experienced field of captains and anglers is pretty darn good.
I know one thing and that is Dan Cornell and the “Reel Deal” is going to participate in many more billfish tournaments. As for billfishing and me, I guess this is round two.
Burned out for years, It feels good to get back in the saddle again, Now I just have to get Dan on a big marlin so I suggest he had better finish that bowl of Wheaties, because the freight train’s a-coming!