Outdoors roundup: Ramsey, Roach roll in with big ones in tournament

Saturday, December 20, 2008 3:10 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

Thomas Roach and Rusty Ramsey won the Children's Miracle Network Bass Team Tournament on High Rock Lake with a catch of 16.01 pounds on June 7.

Second place went to John Drew and Rodney Cozart, who caught 14.5 pounds.

Bobby Lovings and Dwight Morgan caught 13.4 pounds for third.

The tournament raised $3,037 for Children's Miracle Network, according to organizer Jack Scott. Total prize money paid out was $1,890 and 27 boats went out.

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Nancy Spadley of Kannapolis caught a 27 1/2 inch flounder that weighed 10 pounds in the Intercoastal Waterway at Holden Beach. Her husband, Ted, helped get it in the boat, along with Tom Jones.

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Jeff Burrell, Gerald Wood and Steve Stirewalt pulled in 20 mahi mahi and other varieties during a recent fishing trip off the coast from Shallotte.

Stirewalt said the biggest bull dolphin weighed 33 pounds. He said they try to go fishing a couple of times a month if they can.

"When it hits, he jumps 10 feet in the air," Stirewalt said. "I've been fishing a lot of years, but this was best luck I've had in at least five years."

Wood, who lives at High Rock Lake, was captain of the boat.

They were trolling with ballyhoo and teaser rigs about 75 miles offshore in the Gulfstream, where temperatures in the 80s were much cooler than the high 90s closer to home.

They ended up grilling filets from the dolphin.

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Anglers who submit photos to BoatU.S. Angler of someone fishing while wearing a lifejacket could win a Mustang inflatable life vest valued at $150.

For details on the "Get Hooked on Safety" contest that runs through Sept. 30, visit www.BoatUSAngler.com. A winner will be selected from four categories each month:

- fishing photos

- holding a catch

- family photos

- best fishing story that accompanies a photo.

Everyone in a photo must be wearing a life jacket.

Mike Pellerin, director of BoatU.S. Angler, said more than two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drown, and of those, 87 percent were not wearing a life jacket.