Airmar East Coast Division

Captain of the Year Home

 

Capt. Jay Weaver // Blue Sky // 1,450 pts.

• Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.
• Carolina Billfish Classic, 1st Place, 500 pts.
• Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
• South Carolina Governor’s Cup Series Champion, 250 pts.
• Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Mike King // Frequent Flyer, Blue Bell // 1,100 pts.

• Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.
• Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.
• Hatteras Blue Marlin Release Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Jon Duffie // Billfisher // 800 pts.

• White Marlin Open, 2nd Place Release, 300 pts.
• White Marlin Open, Heaviest White 77.5 lbs, 500 pts.

Capt. Dale Britt // Welder’s Ark // 650 pts.

• Swansboro Rotary Memorial Day Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
• North Carolina Billfish Series Champion, 250 pts.
• Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Stuart Lackey // Reel Hook Up // 600 pts.

• Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.
• Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Jimmie Horning // Hog Wild // 500 pts.

• Hatteras Village Offshore Open, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Hunter Blount // Saving Grace // 500 pts. 

• Swansboro Rotary Memorial Day Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Matt Bierley // Hydrosphere // 500 pts.

• Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, Heaviest Marlin 533 lbs, 500 pts.

Capt. Neil Sykes // Mercenaria // 500 pts.

• The Big Rock, 1st Place Heaviest Marlin 572.6 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. Rodney Crossman // Safari // 500 pts.

• The Big Rock, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Hook Leconey // Reelin Feelin // 500 pts.

• Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City Quest for the Ring, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. John Thompson // TLC // 500 pts.

• Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City Quest for the Ring, Heaviest Blue Marlin 437 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. John Dougherty // Outrage // 500 pts.

• Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City Quest for the Ring, Heaviest White Marlin 64.1 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. Mike Glaesner // Sportin’ Life // 500 pts.

• Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Tom Krauss // Sandra D // 500 pts.

• Dare County Boat Builders Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Dan Devine // Sea Flame // 500 pts.

• HUK Big Fish Classic, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. John Griffith // Gret’s Three J’s // 500 pts. 

• HUK Big Fish Classic, Heaviest Marlin 436 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. Jesse Granitzki // Bi-Op-Sea // 500 pts.

• Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Rob Mahoney // Mama C // 500 pts.

• White Marlin Open, 1st Place Release, 500 pts.

Capt. Eddie Wheeler // Cabana // 500 pts.

• White Marlin Open, Heaviest Blue 511 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. Charles Foreman // Country Girl // 500 pts. 

• Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Bobby Dunn // Code Blu // 500 pts.

• Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Joe Trainor // Low Profile // 500 pts.

• MidAtlantic, 1st Place Blue Marlin 657 lbs, 500 pts.

Capt. Steve Castellini // Kaarmaa // 500 pts.

• MidAtlantic, 1st Place White Marlin 75 lbs., 500 pts.

Capt. Austin Robins // Max Bet // 500 pts.

• MidAtlantic, 1st Place Points, 500 pts.

Capt. Nick Jones // Cutting Up // 500 pts.

• Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, 1st Place, 500 pts.

Capt. Lee Smith // Carterican // 2nd Place, 300 pts.

• Hatteras Village Offshore Open, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Tom Peel // Bangarang // 300 pts.

• Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Russell Sinclar // Wave Paver // 300 pts.

• The Big Rock, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Jon Meade // Showtime // 300 pts.

• Carolina Billfish Classic, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Timmy Kidwell // Stream Weaver // 300 pts.

• Hatteras Blue Marlin Release Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. TBA // Bullwinkle // 300 pts.

• Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City Quest for the Ring, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Jason Krahenbill // Sally Girl // 300 pts.

• Dare County Boat Builders Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Steve Moore // Absolut Pleasure // 300 pts.

• HUK Big Fish Classic, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. John Bayliss // Tarheel // 300 pts.

• Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Stephen Draughon // Bill Collector // 300 pts.

• Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Bull Tulson // Sea Toy // 300 pts.

• Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, 2nd Place, 300 pts.

Capt. Harry Smith // Double B // 100 pts.

• Hatteras Village Offshore Open, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Brent Gaskill // Builders Choice // 100 pts.

• Swansboro Rotary Memorial Day Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Jed Galloway // John Boat // 100 pts.

• Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Bobby Garmany // Bench Mark // 100 pts.

• The Big Rock, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Cords Lucas // Buddy Rowe // 100 pts.

• Carolina Billfish Classic, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Rob Warren // Honey Hush // 100 pts.

• Hatteras Blue Marlin Release Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Danny Prettyman // Roll Groove // 100 pts.

• Jimmy Johnson’s Atlantic City Quest for the Ring, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Charles Haywood // Rigged Up // 100 pts.

• Dare County Boat Builders Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Anthony Pino // Blood Money // 100 pts.

• HUK Big Fish Classic, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Britton Shackleford // Doghouse // 100 pts.

• Alice Kelly Memorial Ladies Tournament, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

Capt. Chester Simms // Lights Out // 100 pts.

• White Marlin Open, 3rd Place, 100 pts.

2021 AIRMAR East Coast Division Captain of the Year

Capt. Miles Herring

Glazed // 1,000 pts.

Carolina Billfish Classic, 1st Place – 500 pts.

Edisto Billfish Tournament, Heaviest Marlin – 505 lbs. – 500 pts.

Captain Miles Herring grew up around boats. His father had boats most of his life and Herring has been on boats for 50 years, the same amount of time he’s been alive.

And despite winning the coveted Captain of the Year, AIRMAR East Coast Division for the 2021 season, Herring doesn’t consider himself a professional captain.

“Believe it or not I’ve never had a paying captain’s job, it’s just been recreational. I ran family boats, friends’ boats and just been fishing for fun,” he says. “I’ve got my captain’s license and I’ve been running boats my entire life, but that’s about the closest thing I’ve got to being a professional captain.”

While Herring’s father fished the occasional tournament, Herring deviated from this, consistently dipping his toes into the tournament scene over the last 30-plus years.

Herring received his captain’s license when he was just out of college in 1994. Since then, the Murrells Inlet, North Carolina native has made a comfortable spot on the tournament scene, fishing the East Coast corridor with family and friends on his 58-foot Dean Johnson, Glazed, of which he is the owner/operator. Herring looked long and hard for that boat. His father had Hatteras boats when his son was growing up but Herring decided to start out with a 36-foot Yellowfin that he had for six years before he outgrew it when his family began to grow.

“I started looking for a simple Carolina boat with low-cost operations and maintenance and I found this one by luck in December of 2017 and put it directly in the boatyard at Bayliss Boatworks and did a pretty extensive exterior upfit.”

At the time Herring had nine Krispy Kreme donut businesses and his children decided the new boat should be named Glazed, after the glazed donut of course.

And as involved as his four children—a 13, 15, 18, and 19-year-old—were in naming the boat, they have become just as involved with the fishing and work on it.

“It’s common for me to have all four of my kids plus a few other kids and adults on board,” Herring says. “We’re usually more kids than adults, it’s kind of funny really, we’ll have 10 to 12 people and most of them are under the age of 19. It’s kind of a low-stress operation, we have fun. We’re not the normal captain and two mates with a tower rod and a signal operator; we’re a few guys that grew up together and a bunch of our kids.”

It’s this team that helped Herring take on the Captain of the Year title. Herring discusses their accomplishments with a sense of pride and is quick to talk about the accomplishments of his team of family and friends rather than himself. His 13-year-old son Woods, for example, has been named a junior angler at the Carolina Billfish Classic two years in a row.

It was during the 2021 tournament that Herring and the Glazed team also won first place giving Herring 500 COTY points. For this tournament the crew approached it with what Herring calls “the basics”—four circle hooks and two lures.

“We’re doing what everybody else does, just hard work and paying attention,” Herring says. “We’re very competitive, but we have fun.”

For the Edisto Billfish Tournament, the Glazed team’s Wilson Springs reeled in a 505-pound marlin earning them another 500 COTY points (and cementing Herring’s East Coast COTY title). The fish was hooked at 2:19 p.m. and they didn’t boat it until 8:30 p.m. They didn’t get back to the dock until midnight. During that tournament Herring’s two sons, Woods and Miles, were on board as well as the sons of Herring’s friends.

“There were three people over 50, one around 30, and two 19 year olds, a 16 year old, a 14 and 13 year old,” Herring laughs. “It’s all short people, we were a full boat.”

That night was a memorable one for the group. As they backed into the dock Herring remembers a full crowd watching them. His wife and daughters had also driven three hours into the night to see the team weigh their winning marlin. But this is just how the Glazed team operates—it’s a group effort through and through with enough support to go around, something their captain is obviously proud of.

“I’ve got some really great anglers, we all have daytime jobs and this is what we do on the side and that makes it even more special,” Herring says before adding “For me to watch my son hand the rod to my other son, there’s some pride in that.”

Past Winners