‘We knew it was a big fish’: Crew hauls in massive dolphin to win Far Out Shootout

With a quality wahoo and tuna already on the board, the crew of Hail Yeah had one specific fish in mind on their second and final day of fishing in the Far Out Shootout out of Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.

The event ran April 18 through May 16, with competing boats able to fish two out of the 29 eligible days. The fishing team with the largest combined weight of one wahoo, tuna and dolphin was declared the winner.

On April 28, the father-son duo of Brian and Austin Aycock weighed in a 56.55-pound wahoo and a 29.4-pound yellowfin tuna, plus a 9.1-pound slinger dolphin aboard their 25-foot Contender to take the early lead in the shootout.

On Hail Yeah’s second declared fishing day, May 11, they had fallen into third place and were totally focused on a big dolphin, also known as mahi mahi or dolphinfish.

Brian Aycock was unable to fish on that day, so Wade Fehlig joined Austin Aycock on the trip.

“We knew we needed a 25-pounder to take the lead but we wanted to catch a 35-pounder to be sure,” said Austin Aycock. “We were just targeting a big dolphin.”

Distance, and a big gas bill, was not a deterrent with hefty prize money on the line, and Aycock and Fehlig wound up running about 100 miles offshore due south of Shallotte Inlet, well into the Gulf Stream.

“We typically run about 50 miles, but we looked at a water shot and we ran out to where the edge (of the Gulf Stream) was,” said Austin Aycock. “Sure enough that was where we needed to be. We were directly off the Black Jack (Hole).”

After hooking up with a blue marlin, the one dolphin they were looking for showed up.

“We had been seeing a lot of blues so we were pulling teasers,” said Austin Aycock. “The fish came up on the teaser, so we saw him before we hooked him. We put (a ballyhoo) right in front of his face, and pulled the teaser from in front of him.”

With the fish hooked up, Austin Aycock was the angler, with Fehlig waiting with the gaff.

“We knew it was a big fish,” said Austin Aycock. “I told Wade, ‘This might be the one we need right here.’ The fish jumped about 100 yards beside the boat. I fought him for about 10 minutes, we got him in the boat in quick fashion and that was about it.”

After the long run back to the OIFC, the bull dolphin was indeed a huge one, a 43.1-pounder and the largest one weighed in the tournament.

The dolphin bumped Hail Yeah’s aggregate up to 129.05 pounds, good enough to not only win the 2020 version of the Far Out Shootout and $9,225, but the heaviest aggregate in the 20-year history of the event according to tournament director Capt. Brant McMullan.

“To my memory that’s the most points accumulated throughout the event, and I’ve been around since it started,” said McMullan.

Matt Ward’s crew aboard Cotton Top finished second and won $5,535 with a 108.85-pound aggregate including a 51.45-pound wahoo, 29.7-pound dolphin and 27.7-pound tuna.

Jeff Martini’s Little River crew aboard Dirty Martini was third and won $3,690 with a 105.1-pound aggregate including a 66.3-pound wahoo, 18.1-pound dolphin and 20.7-pound tuna.

Hail Yeah’s dolphin won the largest dolphin category, Dirty Martini’s wahoo won the largest wahoo category and Contagious won the largest tuna category with a 32.6-pounder.

For more results, visit www.oifc.com.