Hook A Hoo and Family Day offer fishing enthusiasts entertainment venues

I feel like I’ve been writing about the great things to come forever. The wind hasn’t stopped blowing in two weeks, and my thermostat switch is worn out from changing between heat and AC.

I often look back at my fishing report archives I keep online at www.OIFC.com on the fishing report page to see what was going on this time last year.

April 8, 2007ee “Just got the pictures of Capt. Roger’s trip from last Tueday’s trip to the Gulf Stream on the Carolina Contender. It looks like the yellowfin have finally showed up in numbers, creating the ultimate anglers’ paradox. ee It seems like a diverse spread is the way to go right now—the Sevenstrand Green Machine is catching a lot of fish behind a bird, the old standby ballyhoos are working on the riggers, and swimming plugs are hot on the flats, fished behind a planer or a wahoo bomb trolling weight.”

I have included one of the pictures that goes along with the report as a reminder of what we have been missing.

The obstacle has been Mother Nature, but as I look at the weather report right now, it looks like good offshore fishing weather Wednesday through Friday. That will be good news for us fishermen and bad news for the fish. They’re hungry and they’re over-confident, and it is up to us to put them back in their place.

Ongoing all this week is the first annual Martini’s Hook A Hoo Wahoo Tournament. Registration was last weekend and rules allow for fishermen to pick one out of eight possible days, through this Sunday.

The tournament had 40 boats register, and I’m sure they’ll all be on the water later this week per the weather. The tournament was started by Jeff Martini of Martini’s Fine Dining in North Myrtle Beach for two reasons: 1. because he loves wahoo fishing, and there is no better time than early April, and 2. to benefit the Shriners’ burn centers.

Jeff’s son Chance was seriously burned at age 2. His burns were beyond what local help could offer, and Jeff’s uncle, who was a Shriner, called for help.

As Jeff puts it, from that point on, his son and family were treated like royalty. They were flown multiple times on private planes to one of the Shriners’ 22 worldwide burn centers where Chance underwent many procedures before making a full recovery.

Jeff said he told his son Chance when he turned 18, they would pay back the Shriners for their help—thus, the first annual Hook A Hoo Wahoo Tournament. If you missed signing up this year, you can at least follow tournament results at www.martinisfinedining.com or at www.OIFC.com and get prepared to participate next year. Stay tuned for final results and pictures from the coming week’s fishing.

Lastly, the Ocean Isle Fishing Center will be hosting Family Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, April 12. The day is designed to teach families how to fish together more effectively and is particularly geared toward working with women and children.

How many times have you been at the boat ramp where the husband and wife are trying to work together to back the trailer in the water? The event usually leads to discomfort, unpleasant words and angry fellow boaters. So trailer-backing classes will be offered. And how about when the husband tries to get his wife and kids involved in fishing but only ends up getting impatient and doing everything himself? This leads to fights and takes away from what could be a quality family experience. So there will be knot-tying, rig-tying and cast-net throwing lessons for the women and children.

These are just a few of the venues on tap to help educate the fishing family so that they can enjoy fishing together, not just watching dad fish.

Oh, yes, there will also be a seminar for the men on how to get your family into fishing. For all you men out there, you know that you’ll get to fish twice as much if you can turn fishing into “quality” family time. My wife, Amy, daughter Caroline and I will be hosting the day, so we welcome and encourage your attendance. Of course, it is free.

For more information, you can call the Ocean Isle Fishing Center at (910) 575-3474.

See you there.

Brant McMullan is a charter captain and fishing columnist for the Beacon. Reach him at captbrant@oifishingcenter.com.