Got a phone call from Chuck Arnold, Contender Boats Rep for the US to fish the prestigious Rockfish Challenge out of Virginia Beach, The top Striper Tournament of the Year. Was able to bring my crew, so Capt Max Forlenza, Capt Scott Murdoch, Scott McCall and Jerry Tomasselli took the ride down with me. Left Rudee Inlet and headed south to Oregon Inlet NC and destinations south. We ran Contender's flagship boat the new Contender 39ST Open with triple 350's.Ran the "Big Dog" and had lines in 70 miles south of the inlet in little over an hour, we averaged a 60 knot cruise in calm seas. Had 2 fish on right away but not the size we were looking for. Ran back up North and landed our boat limit in an hour, drop and reel fishing with fish to 30lbs. was the first boat back to weigh, cruising at 65 knots into a 2-3 foot head sea, with helm glass never getting a drop of water. as of last weigh we were in 7th place out of 150 boats. Want to thank Chuck for the invite and my crew for working their butts off.
