‘Run for the Bulls’ mahi tourney pays $20K for top fish, but this is the big winner

For weeks I have talked about the “Run for the Bulls” mahi tournament and, thankfully, this third annual event is in the history books.

Created as a fundraiser for our prized Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton, this year had so many monkey wrenches thrown in, I really didn’t think we could pull it off.

COVID-19, the windiest spring in years and social distancing all combined nearly caused the tournament committee made up of myself and Grant Kaple, manager of the Boathouse, to throw in the towel.

Having already postponed the event twice due to wind, Saturday, May 23, was our last shot for this 30-boat tournament.

A favorable weather forecast made the event a go — that is until around 3 a.m. when 40- to 50 mph winds and heavy lightning woke me. Looking at radar, the storms were moving quickly offshore and after learning some boats had already headed out, we decided to go for it.

Donning foul weather gear for the 60- to 70-mile run to the Gulf Stream, the sound and smell of diesel engines firing up shattered the silence at Palmetto Bay Marina around 3:30 a.m., and we were off.

Sponsored by Palmetto Bay Marina, the Boathouse, Bass Pro’s recently retired president Jim Hagale and Blufftonian Bud Mingledorff, the payout for the largest mahi was a hefty $20,000. With only 30 boats, rarely is there a fishing tournament with better odds.

Just as the sun began to peek on the horizon, a massive double rainbow appeared. A sign of good things to come maybe? I could only hope so. With so much adversity this year we were definitely overdue.

Reaching a promising looking area, out went all eight lines and it didn’t take long before a reel began to scream.

“Fish On!” sounded as our crew scrambled to get other lines out of the way. After a few minutes, a beautiful bull mahi was in the box.

No sooner had the lines gone out than we hooked up again and again and again. From chatter on the radio I could tell most all the other boats were enjoying the same hot bite.

Most of the mahi were above-average size, in the mid-20 to low-30-pound range. We could have easily filled all the fish boxes with these, but after a dozen or so we realized that this size fish probably wouldn’t win.

I hate leaving fish to find fish but that is exactly what we did.

Often large mahi are loners so we headed deeper. After about an hour with no strikes we saw a boiling current line with Sargasso weed in 800 feet of water and I knew our shot of catching the big one would surely go way up.

With fresh baits, we hadn’t trolled on that rip for five minutes before a huge bull charged out and inhaled one of our baits.

The water was a deep, deep blue and seeing that big fish lit up with neon greens and yellows and fluorescent blue pectoral fins, it was mesmerizing.

Known for jumping and head shaking that can easily dislodge a hook we babied that big boy close enough to sink a gaff in it, and in the boat it went with high fives all around and an equal amount of hooting and hollering. We had a shot at the big tamale.

Arriving back at Palmetto Bay Marina for the weigh-in along with all the other contestants, our big fish was in first place with only five minutes left for boats to weigh their catch.

This is where there are no guarantees in fishing because up walks the crew from the boat aptly named “Boat of Lies” with a monster 47-pound mahi that took the whole ball of wax.

But that’s alright because, quite frankly, it would have looked fishy for the tournament organizer to win and, secondly, I was just glad everyone had a good time.

They got there check and best of all we raised over $10,000 for the Waddell Mariculture Center.

Due to safety concerns we nixed an awards party, but thanks to Bluffton Marine Supply, Bass Pro Shops and the Boathouse, we awarded second-place, female and youth anglers with some awesome rod and reel outfits.

All in all, I want to thank all participants and sponsors for understanding this year’s event had to be toned down for safety reasons.

Thanks for social distancing, wearing masks and, especially, for helping us raise so much for the Waddell Mariculture Center.