On Saturday, “Reel Lucky,” the sport fishing vessel at the 25th annual Dolphin Tournament on St. Croix, was nothing short of legendary — mostly because of Carl Holley’s fishing prowess. This guy catches fish!
A lot of sportsmen have special superstitions or a lucky charm, shirt, hat, or whatever, and I will tell you, Holley has plenty of interesting fishing wardrobe choices like speedos and monokinis, wigs and accessories. All of which are top secret until fishing day! Most of the guys have some type of special thing they do for good luck and he is no different.
Tournament morning began under a laden sky that threatened to dump buckets of rain at any moment and the sea looked more like a soup of chopped-up sargassum grass than open water. As the boats left the harbor, the competitors huddled under canopy tops and muttered prayers for clear skies and lots of fish to catch.
The fishing group is more religious than most any other sporting groups. I have interviewed many captains about this subject and the prayer is unusually similar. It starts out with “please God bless everyone in this tournament, keep everyone safe, keep all the vessels safe, thank you for our health, and the ability to be able to enjoy/afford this fishing trip today.” It concludes, “Bless everyone involved in this tournament, bless our families, and oh yeah, can you please make sure we catch fish today! Thank you God.”
The prayer is almost word-for-word the same anywhere in the world, and Holley cashed in on it Saturday, catching 81 pounds of dolphin fish for the big win of the 25th annual Dolphin Tournament on St. Croix.
At the end of the day, Holley on “Reel Lucky” and his hotshot crew won the tournament. Ryan Higby caught the largest fish. Second place went to Captain Sanchez on the vessel “Edith” and third place to the vessel “Off Shore Account” and Captain Christoph Hilty. Congratulations to all the winners!
The next tournament is the Guy/Gal tournament on Oct. 4 and 5. The last will be the Wahoo tournament Nov. 22 and 23.
Tournament sponsors were JAE “Jimmy Adams Electric” and “Poolworks.” Series sponsors were Leatherback Brewery and Mutiny Vodka. To become a member of the Golden Hook Fishing Club and follow events, go to www.fishstx.com and find the Golden Hook Fishing Club on Facebook. The club is a 501(c)3 that supports many marine organizations locally.
