Capt. Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament
Capt. Robbie Wolfe and the crew of the "Whipsaw" won the 10th Annual Capt. Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament, releasing three sailfish less than three hours after the tournament began to take an early lead and never look back.
Posting the tournament’s first release, Wrightsville Beach’s longest-running charter boat, the “Whipsaw,” jumped to an early lead in the 10th annual Capt. Eddy Haneman Sailfish Tournament, held August 23-26 out of Bridge Tender Marina at Wrightsville Beach. The crew, under Capt. Robbie Wolfe, never looked back, releasing another pair of sailfish a few hours later to cement their spot on top of the event’s leader board.
Wolfe had Adam Thompson, Rob Shand, Bobby Brown, Bobby Clark, and Chris Wolfe aboard the “Whipsaw,” a 42’ Harkers Island sportfisher for the tournament, and the anglers found action shortly after the official lines-in time of 8:00 a.m. on Friday, August 24.
“We fished an area called the Trailer Park,” Wolfe explained. “It’s a traditional spot for this tournament that holds a lot of bait. Pretty much everybody fishes there.”
Arriving at the ledge and live bottom area in 80-90’ of water, the “Whipsaw” anglers deployed baits at lines-in and raised a sailfish almost immediately.
“We were trolling a natural ballyhoo dredge on one side and a rubber menhaden dredge on the other,” the winning captain continued. “The rubber one does just as good in my book.”
After checking out the dredges, the sailfish ate one of the “Whipsaw” crew’s flat line baits, a naked, circle-hooked ballyhoo and Shand was first up on the rod.
The angler battled the sail to the boat in short order, and the “Whipsaw” was on the board, calling in the release at 8:15.
The crew continued trolling the Trailer Park for the next few hours, finding some more hungry sailfish around two hours after their first release.
“I’m pretty sure they came up on the dredges,” Wolfe reported, “but when we saw them they were after the flat lines. We actually had three in the spread, so it was three fish after two baits. Two of them ate.”
Thompson and Clark grabbed the rods after the pair of sails inhaled the ballyhoo swimming in the wake of the “Whipsaw.” Thompson was first to get his sail to the boat, and the crew called in their second release at 10:48.
Clark’s fish was a little more stubborn, but he coaxed the leader to hand ten minutes later, and with three releases less than three hours after the tournament began, the “Whipsaw” was looking strong.
The rest of the crew’s fishing day was uneventful for the team, with a few small dolphin taking an interest in their baits, but no more sailfish sightings. Nine other boats released sails on Friday, but the “Whipsaw” was the only crew to put more than one fish on the board.
Saturday found slower fishing for the 61 boats in the tournament, with only five releases for the fleet. And though the “Whipsaw” only found action with small dolphin on the second day, their three early fish were more than enough to earn them the victory.
The win gave Capt. Robbie Wolfe the distinction of being the only captain to win the event twice in its decade-long history.
“I love this tournament,” Wolfe said at the awards ceremony. “I’ve fished it every year but one. I think the key to finding the fish is finding an area that holds a lot of bait on the bottom. Those bait balls that you see in the mid-water are just moving through, but if you can find that bait on the bottom, that’s what anchors the fish there.”
The “Eye Catcher,” with Capt. Burrows Smith, caught the event’s largest dolphin at 17.75 lbs. After releasing the event’s 10th sail on Saturday to earn a check (as this is the Eddy Haneman Tournament’s 10th year), the anglers hooked their dolphin on a naked, circle-hooked ballyhoo on Saturday to add to their winnings.
Right on the “Eye Catcher” crew’s heels, Capt. Bill Whaley on the “Change Order” weighed in a 17.5 lb. dolphin to earn second.
In addition to prizes for the first and most sails released, the event gives a prize for the last sailfish release, which went to Capt. John McDow on the “Midnight Wind” for a fish they let go at 12:46 on Saturday.
McKenzie Barker, on the “Lane Choice,” took first place in the youth angler competition for a sail she caught and released at 10:14 on Friday. Cameron Bailey, also fishing aboard the “Lane Choice,” was the youth runner-up, releasing a sailfish at 8:15 on Saturday.
In addition to being the only sailfish tournament in North Carolina and shining a spotlight on the excellent nearshore sailfish bite off of Cape Fear in the summer, the Eddy Haneman tournament has a strong tradition of giving back to the community.
The event splits the money generated through sponsorships and entries between Hospice and a young member of the local community in need. This year, in addition to Hospice, the tournament found two deserving recipients fighting serious illnesses.
In keeping with what has become a tradition at the Eddy Haneman, many of the winners donated some or all of their winnings back to the event’s worthy beneficiaries.
