East Coast Got-Em-On Classic
Brent, Tammy, Linda, and Randy Gainey--the “Miller Time” crew--took first place and $24,738 in the 2011 East Coast Got-Em-On Classic, held July 8-10 out of Carolina Beach. Their 36.75 lb. king mackerel fell for a naked pogy at a ledge in 92’ of water 10 miles offshore of the 30/30.
Soaring past the second place fish by over 6 lbs., Brent Gainey and the local “Miller Time” fishing team weighed in a 36.75 lb. king mackerel to take home the top spot and the $24,738 winners’ check in the 2011 East Coast Got-Em-On Classic. This is the second first place finish in the event for Gainey, his father Randy, mother Tammy, and sister Linda, the family crew that’s fished the tournament for each of its 32 years.
Fishing aboard a Yamaha-powered 27’ Fountain, the Gaineys had a game plan for Sunday, July 10, their chosen fishing day, but the plan came apart early.
“The game plan was to catch bait at Wrightsville,” Brent Gainey explained, “and then start to the north and fish our way south. We ended up having to catch bait off Bald Head, so we started south and worked north.”
After loading the Fountain with menhaden, the anglers crossed Frying Pan Shoals and began fishing a series of spots that brought them closer to Carolina Beach and the scales, only finding sharks during their morning.
“I guess that fish was on our third spot,” Gainey said.
Trolling a ledge 10 miles offshore of the 30/30 in 92’ of water, the anglers finally hooked a decent king shortly after 1:00.
“It wasn’t long after we got there,” Gainey continued. “We got a pretty good fish on. It made a good run and we got on top of it, but then the fish tail-whipped me and broke off.”
The anglers had left lines in the water while fighting the fish, though, and something struck another of their baits just after they lost their first fish.
“She grabbed a naked bait on our long side line,” Gainey reported.
Passing off the helm duties to his father, Brent Gainey grabbed the live-bait rod as the second fish took off with their menhaden bait.
“She burned it down,” the winning captain said, “made a real good run to start with.”
After allowing the “Miller Time” anglers to put a little of their lost line back on the reel, the fish made a shorter second run.
“After that other run,” Gainey explained, “she came right to the boat.”
With the fish underneath the boat and circling, the Gaineys still hadn’t gotten a decent look at it.
“We knew it was a king,” continued Gainey, “but we never did get a good look at the fish. When it came up, it popped up headfirst and Dad stuck her and put her in the boat.”
After getting the king aboard, the anglers re-deployed their spread and began taking stock of their fish.
“I measured it between 50-51 inches,” Gainey said, “so we knew it was a mid-thirties fish. That’s when we got excited.”
After trolling for approximately 45 more minutes with no more action, the “Miller Time” crew decided to head for Carolina Beach and the scales.
“There wasn’t a whole lot going on after we put the fish in the boat,” explained Gainey. “And we didn’t know what had been caught down south because we couldn’t talk to anybody down that way on the radio. We knew there wasn’t much caught on this side of the cape, so we figured we’d head on in.”
Arriving at the weigh-in around 3:30, the “Miller Time” fish assumed control of the leader board and held it until the scales closed.
With a king mackerel weighing 30 lbs. on the nose, Wilmington’s Michael Davis and the “Silverspoon” took home second place and over $10,000 in the event. Chad Morris and “The Sea Horse” crew earned third place with a 29.05 lb. fish worth over $8,000.
A 25.60 lb. king secured fourth for Jeremy Harrelson and the “Reel Action” team, and James Demyan’s 25.10 lb. king brought the “Final Approach” team fifth place.
More information on the event and a full rundown of the leader board are available at www.gotemonliveclassic.com.
