Mother Nature can be quite fickle at times. A few days ago, a major hurricane was threatening the Mid-Atlantic coast. A cancellation of the 22nd annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament was a distinct possibility. Fortunately, the storm stayed offshore, caused minimal damage and although delayed, the tournament pressed on. Multiple teams dropped out, yet the 39 that remained were rewarded for their perseverance. Wow, were they ever. The ensuing white marlin bite was, in a word, hot.
Waterman, a 70 Ricky Scarborough owned by VBBT Board Member Mike Standing, started Sunday atop the leaderboard after releasing 12 white marlin on Saturday. Capt. Ben Horning had joined the team recently along a few other crew members. That unfamiliarity didn’t matter as Waterman put on a light tackle showcase on the last day of competition. The team scored 21 whites to cement the lead.
“We were up outside of Washington Canyon,” Horning said. “It was a much more enjoyable day on the ocean. Water temperatures were a little bit above 74 degrees and it was a beautiful clear blue. There wasn’t much bait, just a few knots. We had lots of multiple bites today. The fish were scattered and we tried to find a wad before the other boats got on us. The majority of the fleet was up north, within a 20-mile stretch.” Waterman was pulling the standard spread of four ballyhoo behind two dredges and two teaser chains.
Don’t Panic, a 64 Viking run by Capt. Bryan Peele, was hot on Waterman’s heels all day. The team also tallied 19 white marlin releases on Sunday.
“It was a little frustrating to start,” Peele explained. “It was slow, but then I started marking a few on sonar. We made a few catches and a couple misses, then slowly picked at ‘em the rest of the day. We had some doubles, maybe half multiples and half singles. We were outside Washington Canyon, about two to three miles dead south of the main pack of boats. We were pulling the usual, dredges, squid teasers, four dink baits on 25-pound-class tackle. Later this afternoon, it dried up all of a sudden. But it was great with lots of action all day long.”
Outnumbered was yet another contestant on a scorching bite. Capt. James Breen and his team were also up north near the Washington Canyon. The 65 Viking released 16 whites for the day’s score.
“The water was beautiful with just a little scattered grass,” Breen said. “I marked quite a bit of bait and we started finding packs of fish. We missed a double, then scored a four-banger and kept picking away. Sometimes we’d get one to bite, sometimes more. It was a good comeback from yesterday when we went six for nine. Today we scored 16 out of 20. We needed a few more yesterday. But it was a good ratio to stay in this tournament. There are a lot of good teams and anglers fishing it.”
The fleet was scrambling to turn in score cards for the final outcome early Sunday evening prior to the awards presentation. For the day, 248 billfish had been tallied, including seven blue marlin, one sailfish and spearfish apiece and a whopping 239 whites. It was a definitely a white hot day off Virginia Beach. Epic certainly isn’t boastful hyperbole, either.
Photos courtesy of The Buckskin Billfish/VBBT