Daymaker wins Bohicket; Cerveza overall champion

JOHNS ISLAND — The Bohicket Marina Invitational Billfish Tournament turned into a festive occasion for Daymaker, a 52-foot Viking owned by Mark Daniels of Greenville. On Thursday the crew, captained by Jay Weaver, released three sailfish and boated a state-record 77.5-pound dolphin.

Then after a day off, Daymaker released four sailfish Saturday to squeak past Heavy Iron and win its first Governor's Cup tournament. And as a bonus, Daymaker also tied Roulette for second in the final Governor's Cup standings with 3,875 points.

Heavy Iron, owned by Gregg Malphrus and captained by Trey McMillan, had two sailfish Saturday and six for the tournament to finish with 1,200 points.

The biggest day was enjoyed by Skipper Jellison's Lock 'n Load, which released five sailfish to finish third.

There were 19 sailfish releases Saturday.

Cerveza, a 62-foot Paul Spencer custom sportfisherman — owned by Tom Russell of Reston, Va., and captained by Butch Davis — had already used its two allotted fishing days and was unable to fish Saturday. Cerveza finished the tournament with 800 points for four sailfish releases on Thursday, but finished first in the Governor's Cup with 4,275 points. Cerveza won the Charleston Harbor Marina and MegaDock titles.

Daymaker won a total of $27,950 for its first-place finish, including $19,950 from the tournament within a tournament. In addition to Daniels and Weaver, the Daymaker crew included mate Ryan Riggs and crew members Cameron Carpinelli, Perry Peace and Ty McGinty.

"Everybody gave (Cerveza) a run for the money," Weaver said. "I don't see how Butch does it every tournament. That really got on my nerves."

Daymaker won the tournament with the last sailfish of the tournament, recorded at 2:06 p.m., seconds after Lock 'n Load released its fifth sailfish.

Richard Pingree, owner of Roulette — a 61-foot Gary Davis/ Jarrett Bay boat captained by Mike Glaesner — also was pleased with his crew's runner-up finish in the Governor's Cup.

In addition to Cerveza, Daymaker and Roulette, Rascal, Houdini and Petrel finished in the top six of the Governor's Cup standings and qualified to compete against North Carolina in next year's Governor's Cup Shootout.

Daymaker's 77.5-pound dolphin caught by Ryan Riggs and a 45.4-pound wahoo, also caught by Riggs aboard Daymaker, took two of the three non-billfish categories. The top tuna was a 28.7-pound blackfin caught by Fred Bergen Jr. aboard Legal Holiday. The non-billfish categories were worth $1,500 each.