50th Grander caught in the world out of Oregon Inlet

For those that know fishing - you know a grander is the cream of the crop.  For everyone else - a grander is a blue marlin over 1,000  pounds. 

From the Mold Craft Bragging Board: 

On Thursday, August 30, 2007, the custom carolina sportfishing boat Swordfish set out of Oregon Inlet, NC, on what was to be a casual day of white marlin fishing amongst friends of the crew. The crew included Austin Robins, first mate and Jimmy Hillsman, second mate, along with Clay Estes of Elizabeth City. "The white marlin bite has been real strong" says boat owner Brant Wise. We released nine fish during the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, and some of the other Oregon Inlet boats have been releasing up to six and seven fish a day." After a slow day of trolling their patience paid off. Captain Justin Ringer stated that he saw a huge shadow under the right teaser, "it was too big to be a fish and (I) thought its too small to be a whale". "The fish faded off the teaser and went straight for one of our dink baits". The crew had set out their spread for white marlin and sailfish using smaller baits and 20 pound tackle, but as always, mate Austin Robins had the elephant gun, a large 80 Shimano reel with 600 pound wire leader at his side. Captain Ringer said "elephants eat peanuts too."

               

As the party cranked in the smaller baits, mate, Robins, grabbed his pitch bait and dropped back to the fish. Robins was able to switch the fish off the teaser and hooked-up. Robins said the fish came up to the bait all lit-up and quivering, she was hungry. They had no idea at the time how big the fish was, "we knew she was big, but not having seen anything so big before we had no idea" Robins said.

               

Two of Robins friends, Billy Landes and Steve Daniels, were visiting the Outer Banks from Gloucester, Virginia. They stopped by the boat the night before just to see about getting t-shirts, little did they know they would be invited to go fishing. Landes, who had never been off-shore fishing before, jumped in the fighting chair and Robins passed off the Rod. The fight went on for just over 3 hours. "The fish grey-hounded several times where she came completely out of the water" Captain Ringer said. "She came up to the boat and rolled up, unfortunately large fish like this do not live after such a fight, they spend so much of their energy that they rarely live."

               

"The fish was so long that the bill was sticking into the salon of the boat and the tail was hanging out the tuna door." stated Robins. The fish measured 186 inches overall and was 143 inches from fork to bottom jaw. The girth was 74 inches and the fish weighed in at 1,077 pounds.

               

This is the first grander in over 16 years brought in to Oregon Inlet.

               

Although Wise was not on the boat this particular day he stated "no one deserves this catch more than my crew. I have the utmost respect for Justin and Austin they take marlin fishing seriously, everyday is a tournament day to them." "We have put in the time as a team and it paid off for them." Wise said "this is every off-shore angler's dream, to catch a grander and I am proud of my boys and happy for Steve."

If you are interested in chartering the Swordfish for a deep sea excursion while on the Outer Banks - you can contact them at 252-441-0216.  These guys obviously know what they are doing.

Comments

[Paula The Surf Mom]

Nice fish

[Ronnie Roach]

I want to know

1. How do you pull something that big in your boat?

2. Would you pull something that big in your boat?

[BOBXNC]

Very cool. I remember when Oregon Inlet was the center of the Outer Banks Universe. Before Pirates Cove OI drew huge crowds every night. In the 70's and 80's the Oregon Inlet Billfish tournament was one of the top billfish tournaments in the world. Boats from OI regularly caught and released over 100 white marlin in a day. Some boats would come in with 7 or 8 release flags flying. Big fish, 300+ lb. blue marlin were not uncommon and were featured in the Coastland Times and were the talk of the town.
For a host of reasons off shore fishing has been overshadowed by the rest of the recreational opportunities and Pirates Cove has drawn the limelight from Oregon Inlet. Its still a special place and its still catches a lot of fish but its not like it used to be.
"What is?" said the tired old man.
Thanks for the memories.