‘That was spectacular’: Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament finishes with big splash

Fifty-three editions of the Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament have come and gone, dating back to 1968 when the event was founded by the late Wallace F. Pate, but the latest just may be the greatest.

The tournament has traditionally been held in late May to coincide with the best blue marlin action available in the calendar year off the South Carolina coast, and the action was incredibly hot on May 27 and 28.

The field of 65 boats fishing in the 53rd annual event, the oldest billfish tournament in South Carolina and one of the oldest along the East Coast, easily shattered records for the tournament and the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series by releasing 45 blue marlin.

The record-setting action happened in only two fishing days after the final day of fishing was canceled by a Small Craft Advisory last Saturday, meaning seven boats only fished one day and not the allotted two days.

Inappropriate, which splits time between south Florida and Charleston, released the most blue marlin and won first place in the tournament with 2,400 points, 600 for each blue marlin the crew released.

A series regular, Sportin’ Life out of Toler’s Cove Marina in Mt. Pleasant, made a huge splash on the docks at Georgetown Landing Marina on the opening day of fishing, weighing in a 445.3-pounder to earn the biggest payday.

Tournament participants and longtime observers were left amazed at the number of blue marlin released in only two days of fishing. The Governor’s Cup series debuted in 1988, and the 45 blue marlin releases easily topped the series record of 31, set in 2006 in the Charleston Harbor ournament. The previous record for blue marlin releases in the Georgetown tournament was 23 in 2015.

“That was spectacular, huh?” said Capt. Michael Glaesner of Sportin’ Life. “Last year (because of COVID) there weren’t many tournaments but there was tremendous blue marlin fishing too about this same time. We’ve noticed this year an abundance of life out there, more than I’ve seen in many years, more birds, a lot of skipjack tuna. We’ve seen packs of 100 birds, and we’ve been marking a lot of bait.”

Capt. Andy Crews has done plenty of fishing for blue marlin along the East Coast and in the Bahamas as skipper of Inappropriate. The boat, owned by Frank Holtham, spends winters in North Palm Beach, Fla., and summers in Charleston.

Crews, a resident of John’s Island, was impressed with the action he saw including an intense triple-header of blue marlin in the vicinity of the Georgetown Hole on Friday aboard the 59-foot Spencer.

“It definitely was good fishing,” said Crews. “For South Carolina, that’s really phenomenal fishing. It is that time of year when its good here. Late May into June is some of the best blue marlin fishing we have. This year seems to be setting records with outstanding fishing - hopefully it keeps up.”

Tripleheader

Holtham, Crews and team aboard Inappropriate released the first blue marlin of the tournament May 27 at 8:32 a.m. and missed another blue marlin bite about midday when a fish jumped a few times but pulled the hook.

After the first day of fishing Inappropriate was one of a host of boats with one blue marlin release, behind leader Reel Hook Up with three releases for 1,800 points.

That changed in a hurry for Inappropriate starting just before 9 a.m. the next day when the blue marlin bites came fast and furious.

“Friday was our big day,” said Crews. “The left long rigger comes out and we’re hooked up on a fish. As I’m going to pull teasers up, there’s a fish on the right teaser. We have a pitch bait with a circle hook in the cockpit for that reason. That fish ate. I looked up and there’s another one on the left teaser, he falls back and loses interest but the left short line was still in the water and he piles in on it.

“Here we go. There’s three on and they all went their separate ways, which is unheard of.”

No lines were crossed as three anglers all battled a blue marlin. The releases came rapid-fire, at 9 a.m., 9:03 a.m. and 9:11 a.m. Crews estimated the entire flurry lasted about 20 minutes.

“In the Bahamas four years ago we had four on, they crossed each other and we wound up with one,” said Crews. “Usually multiple blue marlin on is a recipe for disaster, but it sure is fun. The excitement level goes up pretty good.

“It’s uncommon to hook multiple blues but it does happen. It’s really tough to catch them all but my crew is awesome. If it wasn’t for my crew and the fish behaving very well it would not have happened. There has to be a lot of cooperation. Everybody had cool heads and everybody did the right stuff.”

Inappropriate won first place as the Outstanding Billfish Boat and earned $135,960. The crew included First Mate Jay Rhode, Second Mate Joe West and Third Mate Ryan McInerney, who was the angler on one of the blue marlin, his first.

Sportin’ Life

Glaesner was trolling Sportin’ Life, a 59-foot Spencer, just inshore of Bubble Rock early afternoon on Thursday, working along a temperature break in a choppy, rough sea.

“I looked at the machine and saw some bait suspended about 150 feet down,” said Glaesner. “Then a fish ate the lure on the left side. Just a few seconds later she jumped and we all said ‘That’s a nice one.’ “

Sportin’ Life owner Graham Eubank was on the rod and settled in for a long battle.

“It was rough, and she jumped a fair amount,” said Glaesner. “I backed the boat up on her and we got the leader. My mate and I said ‘I think she’s going to be a legal fish.’

Eventually the fish sounded and the line got tail-wrapped in depths of 1,000 feet. Eubank slowly worked it to the surface and the fish, already dead, was eventually boated by mates Elliott Curry and Boyce Campsen well over two hours later, at 2:15 p.m.

The marlin measured 108 ½ inches, easily over the Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series minimum of 105 inches, and weighed 445.3 pounds at Georgetown Landing Marina.

“He (Eubank) did a great job, that was a tough fish,” said Glaesner. “That rough ocean really made it difficult.”

Sportin’ Life won $156,750 after claiming the Outstanding Billfish award. Sportin’ Life and Glaesner have a long history with the Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament.

“I started fishing the tournament with my dad back in the 1970s, and the Rookie IV was the first boat I mated on,” recalled Glaesner. “Georgetown has some special memories, there’s been some nice fish caught in that tournament. It’s been a good tournament for us for sure. We love Georgetown.”

*Award Winners: Reel Hook Up finished in second place with 1,800 points for 3 blue marlin releases, Bench Mark was third with 1,200 points after releasing two blue marlin.

Other award winners include:

• Largest Dolphin: Summer Girl, 39.5 pounds
• Largest Tuna: Mingo, 22.0 pounds
• Largest Wahoo: 57.4 pounds
• Youth Angler – First Place: Riley Overstreet, Tighten Up, blue marlin release
• Youth Angler – Second Place: Will Gredick, Kings Blue, sailfish release
• Youth Angler – Third Place: Anne Hatcher White, Summer Girl, 39.5-pound dolphin
• Female Angler- First Place: Holly McAlhany, Syked Out, blue marlin release
• Female Angler- Second Place: Betsy Turk, Aspiration, blue marlin release
• Female Angler- Third Place: Shannon Smoak, Summer Girl, white marlin release