US Open Pier Tournament 2004
In the fourth year of the U.S. Open Pier Fishing Tournament, 143 participants fished on June 5 and 6 from both the Ocean Crest and the Long Beach piers in Oak Island, NC. Water and weather conditions were not ideal for fishing over the weekend, with sandy water around the piers on Saturday and torrential rain and thunder on Sunday morning. However, fish were recorded in two of the three categories and pier anglers enjoyed a nice payout for their efforts.
Category I, which consists of spot, croker, whiting, spade, Atlantic pompano, and pinfish, was won by Houston Bishop, from Gibsonville, NC. She was fishing from the Ocean Crest Pier and weighed in a 1.40 lb. pompano to take home $249 in prize money. Bishop was followed by Alicia Hadden, from Matthews, NC, with a .80 lb. whiting. Robert Turner, from Hope Mills, NC, finished third with a .70 lb. croaker.
Category II represented the heaviest fish of the tournament. Category II includes spanish, blues, trout, red drum, black drum, and flounder. Robert Turner, fishing from Long Beach Pier, took top honors and $374 for his 4.10 lb. black drum. Turner had also finished third in Category I. Lindy Bottoms, from Oak Island, NC, won second place for her 2.70 lb. flounder. She was followed by Delano Sandlin, Sr., from Beaulaville, NC. Sandlin weighed in a 2.50 lb. flounder. Also of note, Sandlin’s son was the overall winner of last year’s U.S. Open Pier Tournament.
Category III, which consisted of King mackerel, cobia, jack crevalle, amberjack, sheepshead, and tarpon, did not see a fish weighed in. A drawing was held to determine who would win the portion of prize money anglers paid extra to enter this category, and the winner of the drawing was Troy Harwell from Kannapolis, NC.
There were several other prizes awarded over the weekend, including the Junior Angler. This year’s Junior Angler award went to Austin Somers for his 1.90 lb. speckled trout.
For more information on the U.S. Open Pier Fishing Tournament, sponsored by the Southport/Oak Island Chamber of Commerce, you can visit www.usopenpiertournament.com.
