How this Charleston crew overcame scattered king mackerel for big win in Garden City

Finding a big king mackerel is a challenge in late summer, when the 30 to 40 pound smokers can literally be found from along the beach on a school of menhaden to 50-plus miles offshore near the break, and anywhere in between.

With water temperatures in the low-to-mid 80s, the fish are simply scattered.

In king mackerel tournaments, making the right call on where to fish is the critical decision each competing crew is tasked with.

Such was the challenge in the 6th annual Marlin Quay King Mackerel Shootout last weekend out of Marlin Quay Marina in Garden City Beach.

Boats competing in the tournament were only required to weigh in their fish at the marina, could depart from the port of their choosing and could fish one of three days, Friday through Sunday.

Brien Bethards and his Charleston crew aboard Reel Nice, a 34-foot Fountain, made the decision to fish deep and left near daybreak out of Charleston Harbor on Friday.

“We went looking for bait and didn’t make bait until 8:30 a.m. and we found it near Folly Beach,” said Bethards, who was fishing with Chris Tierney, Matt Thibeault , Paul Long and Wyatt Long. “We caught some nice, big 8-inch menhaden.”

On a nice ocean, it was a quick ride offshore southward out of Charleston.

“We went 160 feet deep,” said Bethards. “This time of year it’s always difficult to decide where to go. They can be shallow or in deeper water. It’s always a gamble this time of year. We got lucky and made the right choice.”

Once they arrived at the designated spot, the big bite came almost instantly.

“We were setting up for the first time of the day,” said Bethards. “Paul was dropping a line back and it hit before he could even get it in the rod holder. I think he was putting the second line out. It was the short flat line. (The fish) just ate it, none of us saw him. All of a sudden line was peeling off.”

With the rod already in his hands, Long was, obviously, the angler, and the fight was on.

“Paul was the angler, he had no choice, it was determined right away,” said Bethards with a laugh. “She made about six runs and all straight to the bottom. We thought it was an (amberjack) for a moment until that second gear hit. We stayed on top of the fish, and in 10-15 minutes she was in the boat.

“Matt gaffed it and the gaff handle came off. He still had one hand on the gaff, got resituated and pulled it over the rail.”

With what appeared to be a 40-pounder on the deck at 9:45 a.m., they decided to continue fishing. After a few more hours and catching only two amberjack and a shark, it was time to head to the scales.

“After seeing how slow the bite was, we pretty much determined that was going to be the biggest one we’d catch,” said Bethards. “Anytime you get one over 40 pounds in South Carolina it’s a good day, that’s a solid fish.

“We headed back at 12:30 p.m. We had a long way to go. We were 99 miles away from the Murrells Inlet jetties.”

At Marlin Quay, the king took the early lead at 42.5 pounds with two more days of fishing left to wait through. When it was over on Sunday, the Reel Nice crew had won the Southern Kingfish Association-sanctioned tournament plus the tournament-within-a-tournament entries to earn a total of $20,580.

The crew is a regular on the SKA circuit and wound up finishing second in SKA’s Division 3-South Carolina. The Marlin Quay event was the third and final in the division for 2020.

Wyatt Long, 17, won first place in the division’s Nextgen category for 2020.

Bethards and crew have fished each event in the six-year history of the tournament.

“It’s one of our favorites, we love that Murrells Inlet area,” said Bethards. “We’ve fished that one since it started.”

Knot @ Work finished second with a 33.70-pound king followed by Low Country Native (31.70), Prodigy Fishing (30.00), and Whippen Post (28.50) to round out the top five.

Kingfish Elimination Series

Cool Cat, owned by Chris Pence of Hilton Head, and XTRATUF, owned by Bryan Baxter of Charleston, survived the Final Four of the Carolina Division (South Carolina) to advance to the championship round of the first-year event.

The boats will compete head-to-head with the crew catching the biggest king winning the division championship.

The two boats will square off on the one fishing day of their choosing from Sept. 21-Nov. 7 in the South Carolina Fall Classic.

SALTT Event

A record number of youth anglers for a season-opener competed in the Student Angler League Tournament Trail last Saturday at the Carroll Campbell Marine Complex in Georgetown.

SALTT founder and director Rayburn Poston said nearly 50 teams fished in the event. The next tournament is set for Oct. 10 and the finale of the fall semester on Nov. 14. All events are held at the Campbell Complex.

• The winners follow:
• Middle School Redfish Division: 1, Robert and Chandler Peace, Lowcountry Prep, two fish, 6.99 pounds. 2, Fisher and McCoy Gallup, Waccamaw Middle, two fish, 6.70 pounds including Big Fish of 3.83 pounds. 3, Chloe Skipper, Andrews, two fish, 5.24 pounds.
• High School Redfish Division: 1, Oliver Bomar and Connor Strickland, Georgetown, two fish, 8.26 pounds including Big Fish of 4.24 pounds. 2, Brandon Poston, Georgetown, and Thomas Bodiford, Macedonia, two fish, 6.57 pounds. 3, Chappell and Elliott Miller, Georgetown, two fish, 6.25 pounds.
• Elementary School Bass Division: 1, Elijah Norris, Andews, one fish, 2.22 pounds. 2, Cooper Porter, Loris, one fish, .85 pounds. Anglers in this division only weigh in one fish.
• Middle School Bass Division: Tucker Howard, Andrews, and Wilson Hewitt, Georgetown, five fish, 12.07 pounds. 2, Eli Carroll, Conway, five fish, 8.51 pounds plus Big Fish of 3.14 pounds. 3, Cody Wilder and Dalton Williams, Conway, five fish, 8.35 pounds
• High School Bass Division: 1, Allen and Colton Ledford, Socastee, five fish, 12.66 pounds including Big Fish of 4.48 pounds. 2, Gavin Porter, Loris, five fish, 10.57 pounds. 3, Owen Powell, Georgetown, and Neal Martin, Carvers Bay, five fish, 9.41 pounds.

For more information about the trail visit www.salttfishing.com <http://www.salttfishing.com. Students are still eligible to sign up for upcoming events.