Amelia Island WINNER !! Bluewater Fishing Tournament

'Heavy Hitter' Bluewater Shootout champ

"We left the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 3 a.m. Saturday morning and enjoyed a smooth boat ride until we navigated within 15 miles of the Big Ledge," Capt. Benny Hendrix remembered. "Here, we found the seas to be pretty confused and running from 3-5 feet. After reaching the Big Ledge and putting out our spread of bluewater lures, the seas began to lay down.

"Right away we began to enjoy a hot dolphin bite and, by 8 a.m., we had a pretty big dolphin trying to eat one of our plastic lures rigged with a large ballyhoo."

The "Heavy Hitter" fishing team was competing in the Bo Stevenson Memorial Amelia Island Bluewater Tournament over the weekend. By then, 19 bluewater boats had made the 70-mile run to deep water and were trolling for a variety of bluewater game fish species.

"Jimmy Pickett had the 50-pound trolling tackle in hand and was dropping back the C&H stubby lure and ballyhoo when that big dolphin took the lure for a second time," Hendrix said. "This time the large saltwater hook made a good hook-set and it was big game on."

Following several big jumps and long, powerful runs, Hendrix gaffed the large bull dolphin and heaved Pickett's big catch onto the deck of the "Heavy Hitter." This was just the beginning of their fantastic fishing day at Northeast Florida's Big Ledge.
The fishing team aboard Capt. Benny Hendrix's "Heavy Hitter" was the overall winner in the annual Bluewater Shootout over the weekend after landing the only billfish and the largest dolphin weighing 56.92 pounds. Pictured, from left, are Steve Pickett, Derek Thornton, Hendrix, Jeff Hung, Jimmy Pickett and Joseph Pearce. Terry Lacoss/special

"We actually landed some 14 dolphin, but none larger than Jimmy's 'bull dolphin,'" Hendrix said. "Our fishing luck continued at 10:30 that morning when a big 'sail' struck a pink and white Mold Craft lure."

Jeff Hung grabbed the deeply bent 50-pound trolling rod and, for the next 30 minutes, enjoyed the high leaping fight of a six-foot Atlantic sailfish.

Once the sail was brought close enough to the boat, Hendrix grabbed the bill of the sail and hoisted the big sailfish into the boat for a quick photo. All billfish had to be released after a photo was taken to record the catch.

The entire fleet of bluewater tournament boats was also enjoying a hot dolphin bite, while a few wahoo and tuna were also being caught. The billfish bite was slow though.

"We had a nice blue marlin on for a few minutes," said Al Nelson, captain of the "Long Haul." "But after a very strong run, the marlin pulled the hook."

Capt. George Lannon, Jime Wilson, Jack Watson and Robert Lannon were trolling aboard the "Gray Beard" in 1,000 feet of water when a very large game fish found their bluewater lure.

"That fish hit so hard it jerked a 50-pound Penn International rod and reel right out of the rod holder," Capt. Lannon said. "I could actually see the rod and reel in mid air as it headed for the water. It was either a big wahoo or blue marlin."

Weather conditions were near-perfect Saturday with temperatures in the high 80s and sea running from 2-3 feet for most of the fishing day. However, weed lines that were prevalent only a few days before the tournament day had moved offshore of the 30-fathom curve due to southwest winds.

"We did not find any weed lines where we were trolling in water depths from 400-600 feet," Hendrix said. "However, there were a lot of flying fish and bait in the water that was attracting the game fish to the Big Ledge."

"I was extremely happy for the big turnout for this year's event," tournament organizer Mills said. "We held the event this year in memory of Bo Stevenson, who was a very avid bluewater fisherman."

Dawn Stevenson competed in the event with her boat, "Sotally Tober." Bo and Dawn Stevenson competed in many of the local king mackerel and bluewater fishing tournaments along with their daughters, Logan Stevenson and Lindsay Sills. Bo Stevenson was involved in a motorcycle accident last summer.

The popular bluewater tournament was followed by a delicious seafood dinner and awards ceremony. Ten Acres was the host, where Davis and Pam Turner supplied party music.

Winners in the overall points category included "Heavy Hitter," first place, 255; "Crawfish, second, 120; "Awesome," third, 75; "TNT," fourth, 65; and "Seas the Day," fifth, 45.

Junior angler dolphin winners included Justin Owens, first, 39.48 pounds; Travis Mills, second, 22.52 pounds; Logan Stevenson, third, 17.9 pounds; and Zack Skipper, fourth, 15.98 pounds.

Jannike Syse topped all ladies in the dolphin category with a 25.02-pound dolphin. Second place went to Cindy Griffis, 24.86 pounds; Alex Mills was third with 24.24 pounds; Cindy Farlow was fourth with 24.04 pounds; Soozie Woods was fifth with 23.56 pounds; Mindy Black was sixth with 19.16 pounds; and Pam Skipper was seventh with 17.46 pounds.

Tommy Anderson caught the largest wahoo at 36.8 pounds while Don Baker brought to the tournament scales the largest blackfin tuna, weighing 17.20 pounds.

A large crowd gathered at the Fernandina Harbor Marina to watch the exciting weigh-in Saturday.

THE WINNERS!

The fishing team aboard Capt. Benny Hendrix's "Heavy Hitter" was the overall winner in the annual Bluewater Shootout over the weekend after landing the only billfish and the largest dolphin weighing 56.92 pounds. Pictured, from left, are Steve Pickett, Derek Thornton, Hendrix, Jeff Hung, Jimmy Pickett and Joseph Pearce.

[Photo by: Terry Lacoss]