Dollagon Wins Best Boat at 6th Annual Golden Hook Dolphin Tournament
St. Croix realtor and recreational sports fisherman, Chris Hanley, offers sage advice for catching fish. “He who finds the birds will find the fish. Fishing is really a bird hunt,” says Hanley, whose 28-foot Cape Dory, Dollagon, earned best boat at the 6th annual Golden Hook Dolphin Tournament, held February 20.
Hanley describes his fish catching day: “We were really unexcited to get out their on the water because it was so rough. So, we left last minute from Green Cay Marina and headed out towards the drop. On the way out, and about 15 minutes before lines in at 7 [am], we saw birds and identified a school of dolphin. We kept following the other boats out, but hoped they wouldn’t turn around and see the birds. Finally, when it was time for lines in, we dropped them right into the school, or it could have been multiple schools because there were so many fish. We followed them west to Ham’s Bluff, riding about a half mile from shore the whole time. We had 11 dolphin by 10 am, mostly singles, but we did get one double.”
When the schools finally dispersed, Hanley and his crew, Kenny Edwards, and mate, Eric Schindler, spotted a 55-gallon drum floating in the water.
“I threw a floater marker over and we kept making passes. We ended up catching 6 or 7 more dolphin and a wahoo,” Hanley describes.
Finally, it was time to head into the weigh-in in Christiansted Harbor.
“We were too tired to haul the lines in and ended up catching yet another dolphin on the way in. That was after lines out, so it didn’t count. But, it does tell you the dolphin were really running.”
The Dollagon team ultimately brought 17 dolphin to the scale weighing a total of 200.4 pounds.
In special awards, Felipe Rivera aboard Yellow Tail, with Capt. Errol Davis at the helm, released the first blue marlin of the 2005 tournament series season.
12 boats and 49 anglers competed in the event which kicks off the Golden Hook Fishing Club’s annual tournament series.
RESULTS
Best Boat: Dollagon, Capt. Chris Hanley, 200.4 pounds
2nd Best Boat: La-Mensagera, Capt. Alberto Sanchez, 144.4 pounds
3rd Best Boat: Miss Becky, Capt. Erik Rasmussen, 113.8 pounds
4th Best Boat: Oh Suzanna, Capt. Mike Fuller, 105.4 pounds
5th Best Boat: Golden Eagle, Capt. Joe Hollins, 101 pounds
Largest Fish: Alberto Sanchez, La-Mensagera, 37.2 pounds
2nd Largest Fish: Richard Belliveau, Golden Eagle, 28.2 pounds
3rd Largest Fish: Errol Davis, Yellowtail, 25.4 pounds
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