Bruce's 9.44-Pounder Is
Tournament's Top Flounder
BY DOUG HITTER
ii figures that a man nicknamed
"Deuce" would have Lady Luck on
his side more often than your aver
age Joe.
Eric "Deuce" Bruce admitted
Saturday night that luck played a
pan in his winning the llth Annual
Shallottc Point Volunteer Fire
Department Flounder Tournament.
'You can fish all year and not
catch one that big. It was a lucky
day," Brace said of his 9.44-pound
fish as he waited to collect the tour
nament's top prize of $1,500.
The 28-year-old Lumbcrton resi
dent hooked the flounder in the
opening hours of the tournament ?
around 9 o'clock Friday morning ?
in the waterway near Shallotte Point.
Fishing with his girl friend. Tracy
Martin, Brace said he used mullet
for bait. The fish was the largest
landed on 119 boats that entered the
two-day tournament.
Despite leading comfortably after
the first day, Bruce did no! take i!
easy Saturda>
"I fished just as hard todav as I
did yesterday. I"here was a lot of big
flounder this year." he said. "I didn't
think it would win. I thought it
would be bigger. There were a lot of
flounder this year."
A first-limp nartirinanf in ih/>
? * ** * ? f ? ? ?
loumamem. Bruce said he plans to
return next June.
"1 got enough money to enter the
next V) tournamrnls, ! reckon
They're paid for now." he laughed.
Jimmy Jackson of Fayetteville
placed a close second after landing a
flounder Saturday afternoon that
tipped the scales at 9.26 pounds.
Jackson and fishing partner Jim
Heine won S 1 .000.
Taking the third-place prize of
$600 were Donald Matthews and
Wilson Sellers of Fayetteville. They
landed five fish over the two days
with the greatest aggregate weight,
19.64 pounds. Their catch included
an 8.56-pounder.
Finishing fourth with the third
biggest fish was Fred Davis of
Wilmington. Wis 7.25-pounuer was
worth $500 in prize money.
Tim Parnell of Lumberton placed
fifth and won $400 for a flounder
weighing 7.00 pounds
Ricky Lefler of Albemarle caught
a 5.95-pounder, good enough for
sixth place and $200.
Snaiione Point VFD Secretary
Treasurer Vernon Ward said fisher
men brought 211 flounder to the
scales over the two days. The fish
weighed 416 pounds, or an average
of 1 .97 pounds apiece.
"We had a lot of big fish," Ward
said. "We had two over 9 pounds.
We had two over 8. We had three
between 7 and 8 pounds, one be
tween 6 and 7 pounds and three be
tween 5 and 6."
On Friday, Jimmy Jackson won
$200 for weighing in the most floun
der. 10. Tommy Johnson and Ken
Bray received $75 apiece for weigh
ing in eight fish.
_ Three fishermen tied for the most
fish on Saturday with six each. Cecil
Logan. Alan Hawes and Tommy
Johnson won $117 each.
Two children won $50 daily
prizes for landing the largest floun
der each day. Trinity Lefler of
JIMMY JACKSON (left) and Jim Heine of Fayetteville caught several whoppers during the tourna
ment. They placed second with a flounder weighing 926 pounds.
-vuiw;
WILSON SELLERS (left) and Donald Matthews of Fay etteville flash their $600
fish with a total weight of 19.64 pounds.
cash. They landed five
Albemarle hooked a 2.00-pound fish
on Friday, and Jeremy Dickinson of
Asheboro caught a 2.85-pounder
Saturday.
Tournament Chairman Mike Potts
presented a special award to Daught
Tripp, owner of Tripp's Fishing
Center, which has hosted the floun
der tournament every year.
"I think they deserve a big hand
becausc they've put up with this
crowd for 1 1 years," Potts said. "He
taught a lot of people in here a lot
about fishing I'm sure."
Despite threatening skies all
weekend. Ward said the weather was
not a major factor in the tournament.
"It rained at different places at
different times a little bit," he said.
"I think the biggest thing was not
Great Rates Are
A -r
AstasyAsUCb.
24 to 35 month CD
Annual Percentage
Yield (APY)
The minimum balance to obtain this APY is $ 1 ,000
Text telephone number for thr hearing impaired I -800- 876-6545.
N
I hi* AO i> ? < iiratr 4* .4 M* I I ***-? \ih iv nl t<? kfV.rri-il tkpit*?>
A prruln m? hr imposed kw rith Miihdtjwjl
ERIC "DEUCE" BRUCE of Lumberton and girl friend, Tracy
Martin, won the $1?00 top prize with a 9.44-pound flounder.
WED DAVIS of Wilmington placed fourth with this 7J5-pound
flounder.
the rain but the wind was coming
from the cast. That usually makes
the fishing not like you want it."
The fishing tournament is one of
the fire department's biggest fund
raisers of the year. All proceeds go
into the department's equipment re
serve fund.
"We try to put as much as we can
every year into it because in the next
few years we're going to need a new
pumper," Ward explained.
The department also mails letters
each fall seeking donations from the
fire district's 650 residents and 600
non-resident property owners.
The 119 tournament entries this
year was five more than last year.
With the $5,000 prize money of
fered, Ward said at least 100 boats
arc needed to break even. -
More than 250 flounder dinners
were sold at Saturday night's fish fry
at the fire station.
Brunswick County gives the de
partment $14,000 each year, which
Ward said is just enough to cover the
mortgage and insurance. The annual
department budget is around
$29,000.
Explorer 1500 EX
M
Set The Water On Fire. Vj P* 8
SEA COAST^S* MARINE
Hwy. 17 South, Little River, S.C. ? (803)249-3114 ^
^
THE
KEYWEST
Our KEY WEST BOATS
are powered by
Dual Console 1900
1720