{"id":6217,"date":"2015-12-15T09:42:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T14:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=6217"},"modified":"2024-09-20T10:55:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T14:55:07","slug":"people-and-places-dogfish-days-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/people-and-places-dogfish-days-of-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"PEOPLE AND PLACES: Dog(fish) Days of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
What fishing tournament on the North Carolina coast targets an oddly named shark, gives the winner a bobblehead and frequently suffers through miserable weather?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the annual Johnnie Mercer\u2019s Pier Dogfish Tournament at Wrightsville Beach, a North Carolina saltwater fishing tournament scheduled in January.<\/p>\nTournament organizer Al Baird, right, weighs a dogfish caught by Brian Yeatts in the 2015 Johnnie Mercer\u2019s Pier Dogfish Tournament. Photo Jack Horan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The 2015 tournament started at full speed. Dogfish tend to bite after dark. But many of the 117 anglers began catching the small coastal sharks in early afternoon, almost as soon as the first baited rigs hit the bottom. By 4:30 p.m., three-and-a-half hours after kickoff, they had weighed in 31 fish.<\/p>\n
In seven hours, anglers caught 65 fish. The 2015 total was one less than the event\u2019s biggest bounty, set in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is as good as I\u2019ve seen it,\u201d said William Price of Benson, after pulling in his fourth fish.<\/p>\n
The winner, Aaron Collier of Wilmington, took home a dogfish bobblehead and a $565 pot for his 10-pound, 9-ounce fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s meant to be fun,\u201d explains tournament organizer Al Baird, a Charlotte business executive. \u201cSometimes we don\u2019t catch a fish. That\u2019s part of it. They\u2019re a bunch of people who are just looking to get out over the ocean. Catching fish sometimes seems to be secondary. I couldn\u2019t do it if it was a serious tournament. We just keep it light and friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018EVERYBODY\u2019S A FRIEND\u2019<\/h2>\n
Now approaching its 11th year, the event has become known for its extremes. Take the 2011 tournament. A total of 136 anglers fished from the pier for seven hours and caught no fish.<\/p>\n
A fluke? Nope. That was the fourth skunking in 10 years of the catch, weigh and release tournament.<\/p>\n
The weather often is brutal. The tournament is held on the last Saturday in January, among the coldest times of the year.<\/p>\nRick Britt of Wilmington is one of the founders of the dogfish tournament at Wrightsville Beach. Photo Jack Horan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In 2010, a winter storm coated the pier with sleet. In 2014, knife-like, 20- to 25-mph winds swept the pier all day as temperatures sunk into the low 40s.<\/p>\n
Fellowship. Frequent skunkings. Forbearing anglers. Sleet. Wind. Cold. Absent fish. Fickle fish. Abundant fish. That sums up the dogfish tournament, without doubt the most laid-back of 45 or so annual saltwater tourneys listed by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries<\/a>.<\/p>\n