THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 3, 1997 TAG: 9702030040
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTERAS ISLAND LENGTH: 123 lines
They're huge. They're hungry. They're ready to fight.
Thousands of them are thrashing around in the Atlantic just off North Carolina's Outer Banks.
And the giant bluefin tuna are bigger than ever this winter. Charter boat captains say they've caught 7-foot-long fish weighing more than 700 pounds. Anglers on one boat hooked 35 of the ferocious fish in four hours last week.
Hundreds of fishermen from around the world are arriving on Hatteras Island to fulfill fantasies created in the pages of Ernest Hemingway novels like ``The Old Man and the Sea.''
For $1,000, six people can charter a boat and fish in the Gulf Stream for a day.
``I tell you, this is the best that I've seen it. They're everywhere,'' Bob Eakes said of the giant tuna last week. A Buxton tackle shop owner, Eakes was named Captain of the Year for Bluefin by the International Game Fish Association last year. This year, he's already tagged 46. And he's planning an international tuna tagging series to be held in Hatteras later this month.
``The ocean has just been alive with giant bluefin lately,'' said Eakes. ``We sat and fed 'em for an hour, just watching 'em jump. Anglers are coming from all over.''
Hatteras marina operators, motel owners and restaurant managers who closed during past winters are opening their doors to the invading fishermen.
Hatteras merchants are reeling in the profits from what some sports fishermen say is the most exciting big-game fishery in the world.
``We've caught everything everyone wants to catch,'' said Steve Coulter. A Hatteras captain, Coulter is taking charter trips to the Gulf Stream aboard his 50-foot charter boat Sea Creature for the third winter. Last weekend, six anglers aboard his boat hooked and released a total of 20 giant bluefins in less than an hour.
``And that's really helped the economy,'' Coulter said. ``And not just in Hatteras, either. The airport in Norfolk is getting a boost, too,'cause I have customers flying in from London, Australia, New Mexico - you name it.''
One of the biggest, most profitable and most baffling fish swimming the seas, giant bluefin tuna can live up to 37 years. Some weigh more than 1,500 pounds. And although their meat sold for 10 cents a pound just 30 years ago to make canned tuna fish and cat food, a single bluefin now can fetch $50,000 or more at Japanese sushi markets.
The fish also are great fighters - which make them prized by offshore sports fishermen who release most of the tuna they catch. Rules don't allow anglers to keep more than one giant bluefin under 6 feet long per boat per day.
Captains head out on the ocean before dawn, traveling between 15 and 45 miles offshore. Mates rig a half-dozen thick rods with heavy tackle. And anglers throw chunks of menhaden overboard until the enormous fish appear. Usually, bluefin show up within 10 minutes, leaping from the waves to snatch the bait. Fights to bring the fish alongside the boat can last an hour.
``People tell me it's the most exciting day on the water they've ever experienced. It's truly amazing,'' said Capt. Walt Spruill, who runs charter trips aboard The Hunter. ``These bluefin provide a heck of an opportunity for anglers to have the thrill of a lifetime.''
John Tyrrell of Boston and John Wescoat of Richmond, both 28, fished Friday on The Hunter. It was their first day angling for bluefin. And they had a blast.
``It was really wild. We were just tossing hooks in the water and the fish were fighting over them. Every eight seconds or so, bam!'' said Tyrrell. ``I didn't realize how much work it was to bring one of these big boys in. It was a really amazing day.''
Wescoat caught the biggest of his charter party's 21 fish Friday: a 400-pounder. He fought it for an exhausting half-hour, brought it alongside the boat to tag it, then let it go. ``It was a hell of a fight,'' he said.
New Jersey and New York have had a bluefin tuna charter boat fishery since the 1950s. But the giant fish didn't start swimming off North Carolina's shores until the winter of 1994. Since then, between January and early April, thousands of the fish - more than anyone has seen in any part of the world at one time - have been congregating off North Carolina's northern coast.
Fishermen tagged and released 2,700 giant bluefin tuna off Hatteras in 1996.
``Last year, there were 40 or so boats out there fishing for 'em. This year, there are 65 boats already,'' Spruill said. ``One boat came in from Madeira, Spain. Two are here from Texas. They're from up and down the East Coast.
``Usually, marinas are pretty empty in Hatteras this time of year,'' said Spruill. ``But this year, all the dock space is pretty much full. There's a whole lot more life around here in winter now.''
Oden's Dock manager Herb Andersen agreed. ``It's busier than we've been over the past few winters. Each year, more people come. Those bluefin have definitely brought the fishermen around. They don't come like this for the marlin,'' said Andersen. ``The people who do this are well-off. They're high rollers. They're hard-core fishermen who travel around the world fighting big fish.
``The motels are open for them. Restaurants are staying open. Realty companies are leasing cottages for weeks at a time,'' he said.
One 40-room Hatteras hotel brought in $10,000 between January and March of 1994. During the same months last year, its income was $52,000. And with more boats running this season, more anglers are on the island than ever.
Dan Oden is part owner of Breakwater Restaurant in Hatteras. He serves an average of 150 dinners a night during the peak of his summer season. In January, he sold about 100 dinners a night. Three years ago, he laid off all his help for the winter and locked up until spring. This year, he's employing 10 people. MEMO: Biologists are studying the world's most popular and
least-understood fish/ B5 ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
Fishermen are flocking to N.C.
Fishing boats hustle for position over roving schools of bluefin
tuna in the Gulf Stream off Hatteras on Saturday. Boats carrying
anglers from as far as London and Australia head out before dawn,
traveling between 15 and 45 miles offshore.
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Bob Eakes, a Buxton tackle shop owner, tags a bluefin tuna Saturday.
``I tell you, this is the best that I've seen it. They're
everywhere,'' he said of the giant tuna. He's tagged 46 this year.
And he's planning an international tuna-tagging series in Hatteras
this month.
FOR DETAILS
For more information about bluefin tuna charter fishing, call
Hatteras Harbor Marina, (919) 986-2166; Oden's Dock, (919) 986-2555;
Teach's Lair, (919) 986-2460; or any other Outer Banks marina.