Outdoors column: Paradise Reef keeps on growing

Paradise Reef, known locally as the Three-Mile Reef for the distance it’s located east of the Murrells Inlet jetties, just keeps on growing.

This time, the Grand Strand Saltwater Anglers Association (GSSWAA) teamed with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, with an assist from Concrete Designs, Inc., of Surfside Beach, to place a substantial amount of concrete structure on the reef site.

On Monday, 14 concrete boxes provided by Concrete Designs, Inc., were nudged off a barge on the GSSWAA’S portion of the reef site. The club presented a check for $3,500 to Bob Martore, Artificial Reef Coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, to help with the project.

The drop continues a trend over the past 12 years of building up the artificial reef, which Martore notes is one of the most-used among the 45 reefs in South Carolina’s Marine Artificial Reef Program.

A number of “patch” reefs have been established on the permitted area of the reef site, which is one-quarter by one-half mile in size.

For starters, 100 reef cones were dropped on the site in 2003 in recognition of a deceased long-time Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet resident, establishing the H.P. Springs Jr. Artificial Reef.

In addition to Monday’s material, the Grand Strand Saltwater Anglers Reef features a variety of items from numerous drops including reef cones, a 65-foot deck barge loaded with concrete pipe and, the biggest structure of all on the entire reef, armored personnel carriers.

The Winston Perry Memorial Reef consists of 92 pieces of concrete culvert pipe ranging from 18 to 36 inches in diameter and weighing between 400 and 800 pounds each dropped in 2010. The late Perry was founder of Perry’s Bait & Tackle in Murrells Inlet.

More concrete culvert pipe structure was added to make up the Bob Hampton Reef in October, 2012. The late Hampton, who personally made a significant contribution to the S.C. DNR Artificial Reef Program before his death, was a long-time Surfside Beach resident and member of the Grand Strand Saltwater Anglers Association.

Less than a year ago, in June, 2014, the Murrells Inlet Rotary Club Reef was established when 20 reef cones and 50 large pieces of concrete culvert pipe were dropped on the site.

Far Out Shootout

A 72.7-pound wahoo paved the way to victory for the Free Spool/Hooked Soul entry last weekend in the Far Out Shootout staged out of Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.

The tournament featured a format where boats weighed in their largest tuna, dolphin and wahoo for an aggregate weight.

Free Spool/Hooked Soul, headed by Capt. Doug Montgomery, added a 27.5-pound dolphin to the wahoo for a winning aggregate of 100.2 pounds. The team’s wahoo and dolphin were the largest of those species caught in the tournament.

Capt. Brant McMullan reports the winning teams in the field of 39 boats fished the McMarlen Ledge area and Free Spool/Hooked Soul caught the 72.7-pound wahoo while high-speed trolling a temperature break in 120-feet of water. The team won over $10,000.

“They caught a 72-pound wahoo which is a great fish,” said McMullan. “If you’ve got a big fish to anchor your weight, that’s the key. They got the biggest wahoo we’ve ever weighed in (the approximate 20-year history of the tournament).”

McAttack finished second and won over $4,000 with an aggregate weight of 88.4 pounds which included a 59.7-pound wahoo , 18.8-pound dolphin and 9.9-pound tuna.

Rounding out the top five were OIFC Carolina Cat (56.8 pound aggregate), Say Ah (52.65) and Aqua Loco (50.65). Catch 22 weighed in the largest tuna, a 12.65-pound blackfin.

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Outdoors column: Paradise Reef keeps on growing."