Sneads Ferry Lion’s Club Pinfish Tournament
Floyd Hawley with the .54 lb. pinfish that earned him first place in the 2010 Sneads Ferry Lion's Club Pinfish Tournament. The fish fell for a shrimp-baited bottom rig near a channel marker in the ICW.
Hefting a .54 lb. pinfish onto the scale to handily win the 2010 Sneads Ferry Lion’s Club Pinfish Tournament, held July 10 out of the Sneads Ferry Community Building, Raeford, NC’s Floyd Hawley was pleased to say the least.
“This is actually my first time fishing it,” he explained. “It’s a great way to start.”
Hawley, who fished with Surf City resident Cathy Hamersley aboard a 20’ Sailfish, was quick to pass along some credit.
“Cathy turned me onto this thing. I wouldn’t have fished it otherwise,” he continued.
Taking off from Surf City on tournament morning, the pair hit a number of spots along the ICW without much to show for it over the course of the morning.
“We fish a lot,” Hawley said, “and we’ve got certain spots we like to fish, but we hit several of them that morning without catching anything of any size.”
Around 1:00 that afternoon, while they were fishing near Marker 103 on the ICW, the anglers’ luck changed. The winning pinfish struck a two-hook bottom rig baited with shrimp, and Hawley quickly put it in the boat.
“As soon as I pulled him in, I knew it was a good fish for sure,” he reported. “We fished a few more minutes then we got a little nervous because we didn’t want to be late.”
After hauling the Sailfish out at Surf City, the anglers headed up to Sneads Ferry to weigh in. As the scales closed, Hawley’s pin had nearly a quarter-pound on the nearest challenger, and he pocketed the $500 first place prize.
A three-way tie for second, third, and fourth places had to be broken based on time of weigh-in.
Oliver Bain was the first to weigh a .32 lb. pin, at 1:23 PM, and took home the second place honors. Kenneth Krieger was right behind him, scaling an identical fish at 1:38 to finish third. And Jordan Norris’s .32 lb. pinfish hit the scales at 2:53 securing fourth place.
In the Junior Angler competition, Daniel Davis, Jr. earned first place with a .31 lb. pinfish. Curtis Trexler’s .28 lb. fish captured second place, and former tournament winner Rachel Scott took third with her .24 lb. pin.
The Pinfish Tournament’s Top Lady Angler was Rachel’s mother Carol Scott with a .26 lb. pinfish.
The Pinfish Tournament is one of the Sneads Ferry Lion’s Club’s principal fundraisers over the course of the year, and proceeds from the event go to support the locally-focused community enhancement and support projects that are the club’s entire mission.
