As the saying goes, “Close but no cigars.” On the last day of the 23rd annual VBBT, Kimberly Dawn made a strong push only to come up slightly short. The two sailfish and one blue marlin on Saturday did give the team 740 points overall, which moved them into second place in the standings. Capt. George Powell runs the 61 Sportsman for his family team.
“We started in shallow and hooked the blue first thing in 42 fathoms around the 040,” Powell explained. “Then we went up and in and caught a couple sails around lunch time. It was tough fishing, but the boys caught what they saw. We spotted a tremendous amount of bait, from bottom to top, plus some whales. I grew up in Virginia Beach and won this in 2005 and my dad won it the next year. So now I get to bring my family to fish it.”
Outnumbered, a 65 Viking with Capt. James Breen on the throttles, was also on fish Saturday, with one sailfish and four whites on the ledger. Outnumbered was the top boat of the day with 350 points.
“We were in the Norfolk Canyon all day with just three boats,” Breen said. “There was plenty of bait. It was scrappy but we caught everything we saw so that helps. All the fish were on dink baits. We got a sail 15 minutes after we started off the long ‘rigger. All the rest were in close to the teasers. As soon as the sun got up about noon we never had another bite. We did have one of the Navy Blue Angels pilots fishing with us today and he caught his first billfish, a white marlin, so that was very cool.”
Twenty-five billfish were released on Saturday. The numbers included six blue marlin, five whites and 14 sailfish. Sixteen game fish were also boated, although none were heavy enough to change the leaderboard. Twenty-four teams fished the tournament’s final day.
Speaking of close and cigars, the docks and airwaves were still buzzing Saturday about the one that literally got away. Mister Pete had an epic battle with a blue marlin only to lose it Friday night.
“It was getting late in the day and we went in shallow,” says Mister Pete skipper Alan Neiford. “We hooked the fish on a light outfit and thought it was a nice one. Peyton Stilp was on the rod with 25-pound main line and a 60-pound leader. That fish drug us around about 15 miles. The hook-up was at 2:30 and after several hours we had it worn down. Three times we had it close and we could really see it well. We had estimated 400 pounds at first, but when we got eyes on it, it was long and fat, probably 600 pounds. About 9:15, we tried to plane it in for a shot. We needed another eight feet to reach it with the gaff and we just didn’t have the firepower to turn it. Just then, the line parted. It was the right fish, wrong pole. For the finesse fishing we do, we know there are big fish out there and this was the time it got us.”
The 23rd annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament concludes later Saturday with a celebratory party and some big checks handed out. You can bet there will be some cigar smoke outside the big tent and probably some champagne corks flying, too.
Photos courtesy of The Buckskin Billfish and John Wright Photography