Wine and women fish for charity

The 19th annual Wine, Women and Fishing Ladies-Only Charity Billfish Tournament concluded Sunday at Southside Marina just inside the mouth of Rudee Inlet.

The event is sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation.

All the fish caught, trophies and cash awards aside, it’s the weigh-in that signals just what a fun time this tournament is.

Organizers have a division called “Crazy Crew” and almost all the entries participate by dressing up the crew, anglers and boat in some sort of theme – usually something in pink, since the tournament raises funds for breast cancer research and awarement.

The team on Zealous took this year’s honor.

Team Eight Up was named the Hard Luck Crew.

On the serious side, Team Mercenaria took first place overall with 6 white marlin and 1 blue. Seven was second with 4 whites and a blue, followed by Katherine Anne with 6 whites.

Gabriella Palacios, fishing on Seven, was named the top angler with 3 white marlin. Grace Sawyer was the top junior angler.

Kristi Sinclair on Zealous had the top tuna, Savannah Lee (pictured) on March Hare had the top dolphin.

This evening (Aug. 18) captains for the 18th annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, also held out of Southside, will meet to go over the rules for their event that features fishing from Thursday through Saturday.

Last year’s tournament, won by Sea Toy and Capt. Bull Tolson, featured outstanding fishing – with 429 billfish caught and released.

Fishing could be a little snotty this time around because of ground swells pumped towards the coast by what is forecast to be Hurricane Henri. The good news is that the biggest seas aren’t expected to hit our waters until sometime Saturday.