Keep chumming: Last-minute catch wins Spanish Derby out of Murrells Inlet
Stick with the same spot and keep live chumming. That was the key to winning the Spanish Mackerel Derby last Saturday out of Crazy Sister Marina in Murrells Inlet said Englis “Capt. E” Glover.
Glover and crew did just that, and at the last minute boated the winning 5.81-pound Spanish in the 11th annual tournament.
Glover, part of the team that airs the local Southern Anglers Radio Show on Gator 107.9 FM each Saturday, chose to fish the Myrtle Beach Rocks area about 12 miles northeast of Murrells Inlet, upon the advice of Capt. Jason Burton of Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters and Capt. Jay Baisch of Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle.
As the day wound down, Glover and crew were preparing to run to the weigh-in and were tossing overboard the considerable number of finger mullet they had in the live well.
Fellow Southern Anglers Radio Show personality Tony “The Bassmaster” Carter left one rod deployed while the rest of the mullet – estimated by Glover at 3,000 strong to start the day – were released from the live wells to the ocean.
“We had decided we needed to leave at 1:45 p.m. to give us an hour to get back,” recalled Glover. “At 1:45 we started dumping the live wells and we reeled in all the lines except one. The rod went off right when I was about to pick the trolling motor up.
“Tony said ‘Woah, woah, woah, wait, we’ve got a fish on.’”
Glover, along with the other two crew members – Jimmy Feuger, regional manager for I-Heart Media, and Adam Dellinger, of Gator 107.9 FM – went to the back of the boat to watch Carter fight the last fish of the day.
“So we all go to the back and we’re noticing (the line is) down to the bottom of the spool,” recalled Glover. “I said ‘Tony is it a king?’ He said ‘No it’s a Spanish, I already saw it.’
“About 10 minutes later, the fish came up to beside the boat. I could look over and see how wide the back was, and I said “that is a monster.”
Glover said the net aboard was broken, so they had to use a combination of the broken net and a gaff to get the fish in the boat.
“You really don’t want to gaff it, it’s a game of ounces (at the weigh-in) anyway,” said Glover.
With support of the net, handled by Dellinger, Glover managed to gaff the fish in the gill plate and pull it into the boat.
I said “Boys, that right there is a winner, there’s no doubt about it,’ “ Glover recalled.
A little over an hour later, the crew aboard the new Key West 230 Bay Reef was indeed the winner of the top prize in the tournament with the largest Spanish mackerel, a 5.81-pounder.
Noah McKenzie finished second with a 5.40-pounder, Jimmy Kidd was third with a 5.37-pounder and Michael Hull and Michael Gasper tied for fourth both with Spanish weighing 5.33 pounds.
Will Sanchelli weighed in the heaviest Three-Spanish Aggregate with 15.17 pounds followed by McKenzie with 14.83 pounds.
Keepin It Reel weighed in the largest king mackerel, a 39.18-pounder followed by Double Diamond with a 32.26-pound king.
While Glover and crew were tempted to make a move earlier in the day when the bite slowed a bit, they decided to stay put at Myrtle Beach Rocks, a hard-bottom area roughly five miles offshore of the south end of Myrtle Beach. Sticking with the spot resulted in catching the winning fish at the last possible minute.
“The old me five years ago would have cranked up that Yamaha and taken off but I saw two fish bust that I knew weren’t kings and I knew they were big,” Glover said. “I said “Boys, we’ve got (the spot) to ourselves now. Let’s just keep chumming.”
Glover doesn’t take winning the tournament lightly after topping a field of 64 boats including plenty of professional guides.
“Anytime you beat all these guys that fish every day, that means more to me than anything,” said Glover. “Anytime you’re lucky enough to beat them it’s just great and to have people on the boat who’ve never experienced anything like that, it makes it that much better.”