THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 16, 1994 TAG: 9408170611
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
In faint, pre-dawn moonlight, the plastic sign glowed across the wooden docks at Pirates Cove Yacht Club in Manteo. ``Welcome Fishermen,'' the banner boldly proclaimed in black stenciled letters.
The bikini-clad anglers didn't mind.
The fisherwomen were too intent on their day's mission at sea to worry about gender disparities.
``Good luck catching the big one - but not too much luck,'' one woman called to her neighbor as they readied for the annual female fishing face off. ``Just listen for our names at the trophy ceremony tonight!''
Toting coolers, suntan oil and high hopes, more than 175 lady anglers boarded boats at Pirates Cove and Oregon Inlet marinas early Sunday morning.
Veteran captains said the hard-blowing southwest wind and six-foot waves would have kept many men off the sea.
But the ladies, mostly over 30 and many in revealing swim wear including string bikinis, didn't falter. Some had waited all year to fish in the fifth-annual Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament. Some might not get the chance to go out again until next year.
``I'll be honest with you. I just want to come home with a freezer full of tuna,'' Virginia Beach mortgage banker Donna Underhill, 34, confided in mate Jeff Ross just before the tournament began.
``I know we get more points for the marlin,'' said Underhill, who has fished in three previous Kelly tournaments. ``But it sure would be nice to bring back some fresh fish.''
Organized in memory of Outer Banks angler Alice Kelly - an off-shore fisherwoman who died of cancer five years ago - the tournament drew nine boats the first year.
Sunday, the women chartered 35 boats, paying the $375 entry fee plus the $800 charter fee for each vessel. Most of the ladies were from the Outer Banks or Virginia's Hampton Roads. Some had fished with Kelly.
Captains and mates said it was the biggest Outer Banks billfish tournament so far this year.
Today, about 300 men and other women will board many of the same boats for Roanoke Island's largest competition: The 11th Annual Pirate's Cove Billfish Tournament. This four-day event carries $150,000 in cash prizes.
Sunday's event offered only trophies. But about $5,430 in proceeds from the ladies' tournament went to the Outer Banks Cancer Support Group. The first four years' donations totaled $29,870.
``We look forward to this every year. It's great to get away with just the girls for the day,'' said Susan Wolf, whose gold marlin earrings hung just above her well-tanned shoulders. A 34-year-old Newport News fundraiser, Wolf and Underhill fished together for three years on Wolf's sports fishing boat. Last year, Wolf and her husband sold that boat just before their first child was born. But the women were not about to miss their annual outing.
They and four female fishing friends chartered the 50-foot Obsession - and hit the waves.
``Women are much better sports about these tournaments. And much better anglers,'' said Ross, the mate on the Obsession. ``They seem to just enjoy the adventure of fishing. And they're much more patient about it. Even if they don't catch a lot or very big ones, they - unlike most of the men - still have a great time.''
Obsession Capt. Joe Monds agreed. ``You can teach women better. They listen to you,'' he said. ``Men want to know everything when it comes to fishing. Women are willing to learn. And they work with the fish, don't try to overpower it.
``If I could, I'd fill my boats with female anglers every day.''
On the three-hour trip to fishing grounds 45 miles northeast of Oregon Inlet, the women talked about their jobs, children and the stomach-wrenching waves which kept many anglers hanging over the rail throughout the day.
Three of the group are married and mothers. Three are single. They all share a common interest in angling.
``Remember that 10-foot hammerhead shark?'' Sea Ranch motel owner Margo Blakely of Kill Devil Hills asked as the Obsession skipped across the seas.
``How about Susan hooking that white marlin?'' real estate agent Patty Wood of Avon asked about Wolf, who won 1992's Lady Angler award for that catch. ``And ending up trout fishing in the sound that one year when bad weather blew us back?''
At 6 a.m., the friends drank a toast for success out of Bloody Mary-filled yellow plastic cups. By 10 a.m. Underhill had hooked a 55-pound white marlin. An hour later, everyone had taken a turn in the angling chair.
Bob Marley's reggae music was blaring. Perfect suntanning rays enveloped the boat. The waves were rough.
But daily cares were far behind.
``You get to really get away out here,'' said Kill Devil Hills homemaker Sheriee Alker, who left her husband and year-old daughter back on land. ``You can act wild and do things you don't normally do when the guys are all around. It's just more fun with all women.''
Besides crediting them with being better anglers, captains said most of the women bring better food than male fishing parties. Barbecued spare ribs, home-fried chicken and sausage balls filled many Tupperware containers. Cocktails replaced beer cans.
And the ladies even had their own methods of attracting fish.
``Last year, the `Billfish Strut' we performed to the B-52s' `Love Shack' worked great. Should we all try that again?'' Underhill asked as the 3 p.m. stop time approached and hers was still the only billfish caught and released by the Obsession's crew.
``Last time, stringing our bikini tops on the line was supposed to bring us extra points too, remember?'' Wolf reminded her friend, laughing. ``Should we all try that again, too?'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Margaret Suppler of Nags Head and Audrey Britton of Kill Devil Hills
admire a bull dolphin being carried off the boat Phideaux during the
Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Fishing Tournament in
Manteo. More than 175 female anglers participated in this year's
event.
Graphic
ALICE KELLY MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Three boats caught three billfish each during Sunday's fifth annual
Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Only Billfish Tournament, held at
Pirate's Cove and Oregon Inlet marinas on the Outer Banks:
Pelican, of Oregon Inlet, first place, three white marlin, some
tagged.
Blue Magic, of Oregon Inlet, second place, three white marlin, some
tagged.
Capt. BC, of Oregon Inlet, third place, one blue and two white
marlin, none tagged.
Southern Shores angler Robin Stewart won the Lady Angler award for
hooking a white marlin. Other female fishers had help from the
mates hooking billfish.
Overall, 24 billfish - 6 blue marlin and 18 white - were caught and
released during the tournament.
by CNB