TARBORO —
Congrats are in order for Tarboro’s Patrick Overstreet, Ray Whitehurst, and Beth Skipper for a strong 2nd place showing in the recent Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club’s 28th King Mackerel Tournament in Morehead City. Howard Patton of Littleton, NC rounded out the winning crew of four.
The team and boat name is “Service Call,” which is very appropriate because Patrick works for the family owned business, Overstreet Heating and Air Conditioning. Service Call is a sleek 32-foot Yellowfin, with twin 350 Yamaha 4-stroke engines.
Sixty-eight boats competed for over $100,000 in cash and prizes. Service Call caught 3 fish, and the largest qualifying fish measured 49-inches, and weighed-in at 42.54-pounds for Second Place Open Division prize money of $5,389. First Place fish was 43-pounds even, so Service Call was less than a half-pound off from the tournament winner. Beth Skipper added to Service Call’s winnings with her $300 First Place Lady Angler Prize.
The wind was blowing 15-20 knots out of the southwest with 4-6 foot seas. Service
Call’s prize fish hit a single naked menhaden about 4:20 pm. They were fishing the George Summerlin Reef on the east side of Cape Lookout Shoals. Knowing they had a good fish to weigh-in, they immediately high-tailed it back to the dock to make sure they got to the scales before the 6 p.m. cutoff. Mission accomplished!
These folks are serious King Mackerel tournament trail fishermen. In last year’s US Open at Southport, NC, the largest King Mackerel tournament on the east coast, with participating boats from Virginia to Florida, Service Call placed 4th out of 318 boats.
That is quite a distinct honor and achievement. Again, that little half-pound difference was all that separated them from another notch up on the leader board. Tournament fishing competition is sometimes a sport of ounces.
Nice job Service Call crew. Tarboro and Edgecombe County has more than their fair share of excellent, skilled anglers, freshwater and saltwater. It’s nice to learn of their dedication and well-earned success.
Patrick Overstreet summed it up nicely when he said, “This is a sport that we really enjoy and keep trying to get better all the time, so it really is nice to see the hard work pay off. It's never been about the money, but more about the camaraderie.”
Hotspot of the Week - Always a pleasure to hear from my Tar River shad buddies about their fishing success. Tripp Owens and son, Simon, found some fish schooled-up in Swan’s Bay in the southwestern corner of Albemarle Sound. Tripp says he and Simon caught a bunch of White Perch and Rockfish. They kept a few of the larger White Perch, but of course gently released all the Rockfish. Small half-ounce rattle traps did the job, but the fish were so stacked-up in there that Tripp said they probably would have hit anything you tossed at ‘em.
Rick’s Soapbox – Bored? Summer blues? Take a plastic bag and go “trash fishing” at one of your favorite fishing destinations. What if everybody did that? Wow!
Care to share? Fish stories and snaps are welcome and encouraged at
CarolinaAngler@Gmail.com.
See you on the water, my friend!
Tight Lines
Related Photos
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Pictured are members of the Service Call who finished second in Raleigh’s SaltwaterSportfishing Clubs 28th annual King Mackerel tournament.
Tarboro anglers fare well in King Mackerel tournament
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Banner Day at Battle Park
Sunday was Mother’s Day. I am not a mother, but I played one in a school play years ago, so I figured that entitled me to go fishing on Mother’s Day. Need an excuse or rationalization to go fishing? Check with me, I’ve got plenty!
After suffering through 2-3 days of a rain induced swollen, unfishable Tar River at Battle Park in Rocky Mount, it was jackpot time on Sunday. Without a doubt, I had my best white shad fishing day ever, fishing from sunrise to early evening. Action was good all day, with a little lull for about 2-hours in the heat of the afternoon.
I am proud to report to you that I enjoyed a 50-fish day. I caught a personal best 46 white shad, 3 hickory shad, and foul-hooked a very angry, upset 3-foot gar. I thought I had two large white shad, or maybe a big rockfish, so I was a little surprised to see Mr. Gar. It was like reeling in an uncooperative 2x4 piece of lumber. -
NCWRC enforcement officers doing a great job
North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission has two enforcement officers assigned to each county. That’s 200 dedicated, educated, and highly trained individuals protecting our North Carolina environment and natural resources. To become an enforcement officer applicant, one must participate in a highly competitive selection process. A typical candidate is required to pass extensive background and psychological screening. Also included is a vigorous 19-week training academy that is patterned after a military boot camp, with an emphasis on physical fitness.
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Tight Lines declares Ginger Perry of Nashville the shad queen
One of my favorite places to bank fish is the boat ramp at Battle Park in Rocky Mount. I have met a lot of interesting people there. Three or four times this season, I have watched this amazing lady, Ginger Perry, fishing with her friend, Big Kelly, for white shad. Simply put, she is one good angler! She casts and retrieves like a pro, and always catches her fair share of fish. Maybe a few more than her fair share! This lady can flat-out fish!
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Time for the John Cherry Rockfish Rodeo on the Tar river
Tarboro Association of Saltwater Sportsman (TASS) presents the annual John Cherry Rockfish Rodeo on the Tar on Saturday, April 27th. Entry fee is $100 per boat.
Registration and information is available daily at Roberson & Dupree Shoe Store, Main Street, Tarboro. The absolute registration deadline is Friday, April 26, by 8 p.m., at the boat landing on River Road, or when the maximum limit 40 boats have been signed-up. Attendance at the Captain’s meeting Friday night, 7 p.m. at the boat landing on River Road, is highly recommended. Rules will be read, questions answered, and you will receive your Captain’s Bag, tournament t-shirt, and other goodies. Each boat is allowed to weigh-in 2 of their largest rockfish, as chosen by the Captain. -
Sign-up this Saturday for John Cherry Rockfish Rodeo
One of the TASS premier events that local anglers always enjoy is the annual John Cherry Rockfish Rodeo. Registration is limited to the first 40 boats. Full grown men, me included, will be standing in line like giddy teeny-boppers looking concert tickets early Saturday morning waiting for Roberson & Dupree Shoe Store to open at 9 am to plunk down that registration fee.
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Bottoms Up! Greg Bottoms Wins TASS Shad Tournament
To my knowledge, Greg Bottoms does not smoke or drink, but he does have another habit, and an enviable one at that. Greg wins fishing tournaments. He won the Fall Speckled Trout Tournament, and last week claimed top honors in the shad tournament. Obviously, the man knows his way around a rod & reel. Greg is a skilled angler, and a nice guy, deserving of that success.
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Shad Tournament participants weighing-in some good fish
All indications are that this will be a banner year for the 12th Annual TASS Hickory
Shad Tournament. The timing is perfect because the shad “bite” has turned on
considerably everywhere. At the halfway point through the week-long tournament, the leader board is already showing some impressive fish weights. Charles Strickland leads the top tier adult category with a healthy 2.56 Hickory Shad. That will be a hard “Hick” to beat! -
Time to sign-up for the 12th Annual Hickory Shad Tournament
The TASS Twelfth Annual Hickory Shad Tournament week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. This year’s tournament dates are Saturday, March 16th through Noon, Saturday, March 23.
Entry fee is only $10, but you must sign-up before 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, if you wish to be involved. You do not need to be a member of TASS to participate, but you must be a member of TASS to receive TASS bonus-money. Registration is at Roberson & Dupree Shoe Store, 418 Main Street, in downtown historic Tarboro. -
Anglers kindness and generosity never fail to amaze me
The “Shad Hole” on River Road in Tarboro functions not only as a great place to fish, but also a good place to meet and greet like-minded fishing enthusiasts. An informal group usually congregates at the “Shad Hole” nightly during shad season to wet a hook, or simply to exchange pleasantries. These “Shad Hole” friends come in different ages, and walks of life. These are salt-of-the-earth type guys. If it ever comes down to “Us” versus ‘Them,’ I want these guys in my foxhole watching my back.
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Martin Marietta Materials plans to dump into Blounts Creek
Martin Marietta Materials has applied for a discharge permit to dump groundwater and stormwater directly into Blounts Creek. One person close to the situation tells me we are talking about 12 million gallons of discharge a day. I don’t profess to be an expert on the matter, but that doesn’t sound really healthy, or harmless, for the environment, and specifically Blounts Creek. (Filed documents say the average discharge would be about 9 million gallons a day, but could increase to 11 million on some days.)
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