Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament

Beautiful Day

The fishing wasn’t exactly on fire for the 28th annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament. The record 97 boats competing had to search hard in their efforts to find fish. Some ventured as far as 70 miles south while others ran due east from Oregon Inlet about 30 miles. In the end though, all five places were filled and a couple nice game fish were hoisted aloft at the scales. As one team declared when checking out the leaderboard, “We caught a beautiful day.”

Capt. Rom Whitaker led his team aboard Release, a 52 Bobby Sullivan, to the first-place trophy on the basis of four billfish released. The all-friends team has been competing in the Alice Kelly for seven years.

“This is awesome,” says Allyson Hoggard. “We’ve had the same team for seven years, all friends, so we’ve earned this, for sure. Capt. Rom is the best ever. This tournament is really a fun setting and a chance for all of us to get together. We have a good time and raise money for a cause we all believe in.”

The other four top teams all scored 300 points for three billfish and the final outcome was determined by time of release. True Grit, a 54 Paul Mann run by Capt. Hank Beasley was second, followed by Uno Mas, a 68 Bayliss with Capt. Tommy Lynskey at the helm. Capt. Jordan Croswait on Legacy (57 Bobby Sullivan) skippered the fourth-place team. Gratitude, a 60 Paul Spencer run by Capt. Carson Forrester, came in fifth place.

Susan Wolf took the top dolphin honors as well as the jackpot of $19,550 for her 20.5-pound gaffer. Wolf was fishing aboard Sniper (58 Paul Mann) with Capt. Jimmy Bayne.

The largest yellowfin, a 61.8-pounder, was wound in by Suzan Quesenberry, fishing on Trophy Hunter. Kenneth Brown is the skipper of the 55 Buddy Cannady.

Michelle Desrosiers was on the winning end of a 45.1-pound wahoo. She was fishing on Sea Rounds, a 52 Viking run by Capt. Doc Hoefer. The boat was about 31 miles out on the 700 line in 45 fathoms when the striped speedster hit a purple/black lure. That catch turned out to be her biggest fish ever. Derosiers and her team mates all work at the same medical facility with Dr. Hoefer.

“It wasn’t bad,” Hoefer said after the weight of the wahoo was announced. “We thought we were going to get rained on this morning, but we never felt a drop. It turned out to be nice.”

Emily Bracher, fishing on Pelican with Capt. Arch Bracher, was named the top junior angler and the Paula Stanski Award winner for Angling Excellence for her billfish catch. A total of 64 billfish were released by this year’s tournament fleet.

“Thank you Alice, for bringing us all together once again,” said Director Heather Maxwell. “We couldn’t do this without our wonderful sponsors and all our dedicated volunteers. We raised some serious money for a very worthy cause and we all had fun. So it really was a beautiful day.”

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Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament

Cause and Effect

Most big game tournaments would be absolutely thrilled to have nearly 100 boats competing in their event. So when 97 sign up to fish a one-day, ladies contest, it’s big news indeed. But the Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament is not just any tournament. It’s to honor the late champion for Outer Banks women as well as to raise money for a very important cause—fighting cancer.

Nearly three decades in the making, the Alice Kelly has become a major event on the competitive East Coast sport-fishing circuit. In addition to raising funds to combat a debilitating disease, it’s also the opportunity for women to showcase their Gulf Stream talents while having a fun time amid a defiant splash of pink in the form of bows, ribbons, t-shirts and lures.

“We have a team of four anglers and we’re all co-workers,” says Susan Cox, a first-time Alice Kelly participant and a member of Team Classea. “We work for the doctor who owns the boat and we’ve been fishing the past two days doing prep and our homework. It’s been a little slow, so we’re going to come up with an official game plan tonight and go from there.” Capt. Mark Beamer of Wanchese is the skipper of the 34 Blackwell.

“We’re targeting billfish and dolphin, but we’ll take whatever we can get,” Cox adds.

Melanie Lee of Mann’s Harbor, is another first-timer who is joining a veteran AK crew aboard Top Hooker, a 61 Blackwell run by Capt. Will Atkinson.

“I like the competition and I like what this tournament is all about,” Lee says. “It’s going to be fun.”

“We’re expecting to catch all the fish and have a blast doing it,” adds team-mate Sarah Davis of Manteo. “We’ll put the lines out and see what bites.”

In keeping with its charitable intent, the base entry money of all 97 boats will be donated to non-profit organizations. The Outer Banks Cancer Support Group is the biggest benefactor. The top five teams will win trophies instead. Nearly half of the fleet entered the optional winner-take-all jackpot division, though. An unofficial $19,500 is at stake for the team bringing the largest dolphin to the scales at the Pirate’s Cove Marina.

Fishing begins at 8:30 Sunday morning and concludes at 3 p.m., with the scales open until 7. But even before a single bait ever goes into the water, this much is certain—there are already 97 winners and all will be having fun for a great cause.

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