Seapath Spanish Mackerel Tournament 2007
For the second time, Rick Stafford took home the title in the Seapath Yacht Club Clarkspoon Invitational Spanish Mackerel Tournament, held Saturday, June 16, out of Wrightsville Beach.
Stafford’s 2.72 lb. spanish mackerel earned him a plaque and a Penn Slammer rod and reel combo. He fished the event with Marianne Davis aboard a 24’ Mako 241 center console.
The 2.72 lb. mackerel hit a #1 Clarkspoon that Stafford was pulling behind a planer around 9:00 Saturday morning.
“We were right outside Masonboro Inlet in about 25’ of water when we got that one,” Stafford said.
Davis and Stafford caught five more spanish mackerel and a bluefish over the course of the day, all on the deep spoon. “We caught everything we had today on the planer,” he related.
Second place in the event went to junior angler Christopher Day. Day fished with his father Glen, grandfather Tim, and brother Jack aboard the 28’ Pursuit “Fishin’ Days.”
The Days found the second place, 1.5 lb. spanish mackerel while trolling just north of Mason’s Inlet. A Clarkspoon behind a planer also accounted for Christopher’s fish, and, like Stafford, all their fish hit the planer spoon.
The Days ended up catching 11 spanish Saturday morning. They were back at the docks by noon, when the wind picked up a bit. “The ocean was beautiful this morning. The breeze came on about lunch time, but we were already back inside the inlet,” Glen Day said.
Christopher Day took home a plaque and a new Pflueger spinning reel for his second place finish.
Fellow junior angler Robert Schuett took home the Clarkspoon Invitational’s third place plaque for a 1.44 lb. spanish.
Schuett was fishing with Drew Elkin and Tee Woodbury aboard a 22’ Grady White when the third place fish struck around 10:00 Saturday morning. Like the others, Schuett’s mackerel hit a Clarkspoon behind a planer. The crew was trolling just off Masonboro Inlet when they hooked the 1.44 lb. fish.
The team caught quite a few more spanish Saturday, with four around the same size as the third place fish.
The Clarkspoon Invitational attracted over 100 anglers fishing on 30 boats for 2007, the event’s 14th year. The 30 boats brought in approximately 75 spanish mackerel and some bluefish for the event’s traditional fish fry dinner.
The fish fry following the awards presentation had around 20 Marines from Camp Lejeune as special guests. Seapath invited the Marines to the yacht club Saturday afternoon, where boat owners took them out on the water, showed them around the boats and facility, and fed them dinner to thank them for their service.
“We had great weather,” tournament director Chris Brock said. “This event is always a good time, and I’d like to thank everybody that fished it, as well as our sponsors Azalea Coast Brewery and Fortune Hunter Charters.”
