Outdoors column: Skint back has record day at John Payne Memorial Hooks for Hearts Tournament

Chris Conklin and his two fishing partners aboard Skint Back had not only the trout catch of the tournament in the John Payne Memorial Hooks for Hearts Tournament, for most anglers it would be considered the catch of a lifetime.

Conklin and long-time Murrells Inlet fishing buddies Joey Ray and David Westfall teamed up to catch a pair of huge spotted seatrout weighing 7.61 and 7.3 pounds and finished with a tournament-record three-fish aggregate of 19.83 pounds Saturday in Murrells Inlet.

“It hasn’t really set in,” said Conklin, owner-operator of Seven Seas Seafood and a member of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. “I’ve got bragging rights for a year, and maybe that aggregate will hold up for a while. It’s pretty wild. I’ve never won a tournament before and I’ve fished my share of them.”

In the weeks leading up to the tournament, Conklin could be found spending time on the water as the fall trout bite ramped up in local estuaries.

“I fish hard, try to do my homework and figure out where they are,” Conklin said. “I turn my john boat into my office for a couple hours a day this time of year.”

Team Backwoods, featuring anglers Peter Gerace and Capt. J Baisch of Murrells Inlet, finished second with an aggregate of 13.57 pounds.

Just how significant were the two 7-plus pounders caught by Team Skint Back? Tournament director Capt. Englis Glover had the answer.

“They caught two fish bigger than any fish caught in the tournament before,” said Glover of the 9th annual event.

The Skint Back crew started the day by working the Oaks Creek area, around the time of high tide, and caught a few trout, but nothing earth shattering.

At mid-morning, they moved to the Murrells Inlet jetties where they were faced with a nasty nor’easter. But Conklin had caught a couple of large trout there a few weeks before the tournament and was determined to fish the rocks.

“We caught the two big fish at the jetties,” said Conklin. “They only bit for an hour and a half from noon to 1:30 p.m. We pulled a dozen trout out of there in an hour and a half. It was wild the phenomenal quality of the fish we got.”

The trio used a variety of baits, catching fish on live shrimp and soft plastic grubs, but Conklin said they didn’t get a bite on Mirrolures. Both big fish hit live shrimp.

Tara Leach was the top Lady Angler with a 2.72-pound trout. Tanner Fields was the top Youth Angler with a 2.80-pound trout followed by Myra Leach with a 2.03-pounder.

Bill Blakely won the Flounder Division with a 1.93-pounder

George Davis won the Kayak Division of the tournament for the second time with a 5.26-pound aggregate.

The tournament’s proceeds go to the American Heart Association, and Glover estimates this year’s donation by the tournament will be between $2,200 and $2,500.

“Instead of doing the heart walks, we go fishing,” said Glover. “It’s always a good time.”

Youth coon hunt

A youth coon hunt will be held Dec. 6 in Georgetown, sponsored by the Hell Hole Coon Hunters Association.

The hunt is part of a series of nine youth coon hunts being held around South Carolina through February 2015, sponsored by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the S.C. Coon Hunters Association.

For more information on the Georgetown youth coon hunt, contact Floyd Lambert at (843) 264-8093.

These series will serve as regional qualifying events for the state youth hunt championship and is designed to teach ethics and sportsmanship through low-intensity competitive events.

The top two hunters in each age bracket (ages 6-12 and 13-17) and Sportsmanship winners will qualify for the annual South Carolina Youth Raccoon Hunting Championship at the Webb Wildlife Center in Hampton County in February 2015.

For more information on the youth coon hunting series, call (803) 734-3609.

Triggerfish closing

The recreational harvest of gray triggerfish in the South Atlantic region closed on Wednesday and will reopen on Jan. 1, 2015.

This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Outdoors column: Skint back has record day at John Payne Memorial Hooks for Hearts Tournament."