InTheBite

Captain of the Year: The Most Prestigious Award in the History of Tournament Sportfishing

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We take a look back at InTheBite’s Captain of the Year winners…

2019 AIRMAR East Coast Division Captain of the Year: Capt. Ryan Knapp, Top Dog, 1000 Total Points

  • Hatteras Village Offshore Open, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
  • The Big Rock, Heaviest Marlin 914-pounds, 500 Pts.

Just a young pup at 29, Capt. Ryan Knapp has packed a lot of experience into his short career. Knapp’s grandfather and uncle had offshore boats while he was growing up and he says that, “I was always the one who wanted to go do it! My grandfather really encouraged me, and I was pretty much attached to him at the ankle. I grew up on the western shore of Maryland so we fished a of Chesapeake Bay and Ocean City stuff.”

Like a lot of aspiring mates, Knapp got his first paying job as mate on Joe Riley’s famous headboat, Muff Diver. “It was a big pink headboat and you couldn’t miss it. It’s not an easy job working on a headboat, but you could make it work if you are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the people happy. You really have to love doing it to be successful. When Riley finally retired at the age of 70, he said to me, Ryan, you are my last protégé, do me proud. I still think about that a lot and try to live up to his expectations.”

Knapp earned his AIRMAR East Coast Captain of the Year designation with two impressive first-place wins in the Big Rock and Hatteras Village open, so you could say that North Carolina has been very good to Knapp and his team. “I definitely got zoned in on where the fish were going to be in North Carolina this year. By the time I left the state, we were 12 for 12 on blue marlin bites and found every one of those fish in 80.5 F water. I got tuned into a few things, but I really just paid attention and did my job,” says Knapp.

Success, however, didn’t come quick or easy for his team. “I’ve fished The Big Rock for six years…and before last year, we’ve had just one bite in six years. It wasn’t that we weren’t in the zone, we just didn’t get the opportunities. You really are hunting unicorns out there sometimes.” “Five years into it and we still hadn’t caught one. At the end of the tournament my boss walks up and thanks us for all our hard work and tells us what a great tournament it’s been. Now that’s the guy you want to work for…a guy who will do what it takes to succeed.”

That perseverance paid off in spades this past year. “The Hatteras Village Open was awesome for us. The last day of fishing we saw five blues, caught three and killed one. We saw all the fish just 27 miles from the slip. It was truly an amazing day. All of the fish were 400-plus pounds and it was just amazing to see that many blue marlin in one day so close to home. It seemed like we would catch one, head up sea for a bit, turn around, catch another one, head up sea and do it again,” says Knapp.

Knapp’s first mate, Phillip “Moonpie” Williams is only a few years older than he is, but the team has been working together for the same set of owners on the same boat for the last four and half years.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have worked together all this time…it makes for a good atmosphere and we are a very family-oriented team,” says Knapp. “The boat is owned by two brothers, Todd and Kyle Dickerson, and since one of them was a police officer, most of our fishing guests consist of fire fighters and police officers. We have a small group of about ten guys that rotate through, so that’s a good thing as well. It keeps things fairly consistent.” Knapp says that keeping an upbeat attitude is important for any boat’s success, whether fishing in a tournament or just for fun. “I never want to come home from a day’s fishing and have someone onboard that’s mad or upset about something; that’s the exact opposite of what a day’s fishing is supposed to bring.”

“I would like to thank everyone along the way who made me into what I am today. It’s very gratifying to win this award at such a young age. It’s really what you do all this for…you want to try to be the best and the one to beat,” says Knapp. “When I get to be an old man, I want the guys to head out the grounds and find me already sitting there when they pull up. Then I want them to say, ‘Shit! We aren’t going to catch anything today… Ryan’s going to catch them all!’ Bull Tolsen was that guy for me.”

Past Winners

  • 2014 Capt. Mike King, 1100 Pts.
  • 2015 Capt. Gary Richardson, 2250 Pts.
  • 2016 Capt. Harvey Shiflet, 1000 Pts.
  • 2017 Capt. Chucky Moore, 1050 Pts.
  • 2018 Capt. Alan Neiford, 1750 Pts.
  • 2019 Capt. Ryan Knapp, 1000 Pts.

The InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup, presented by Hatteras, is the championship of sportfishing. The Cup is the world’s only quantifiable way to recognize the tournament success of professional sportfishermen. Comprised of 90-sanctioned events that span the world, there is nothing else like it. Winning an InTheBite Captain of the Year Award is a major achievement. From the winners to the Cup’s origin, it is an interesting tale. Read more…

Do you have any comments or questions for us? We’d love to hear from you.

Transducer Breakdown and Awards From AIRMAR

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AIRMAR Technology Corporation, the leader in the manufacture of transducers, is a proud sponsor of the Captain of the Year East Coast Division. 

When it comes to transducers, there is much more to it than meets the eye. In this edition of InTheBite Dock Talk, Airmar’s Marketing Director Craig Cushman provides an overview of how to determine the best package of transducers for your sportfishing program.

InTheBite presented the AIRMAR East Coast Division Captain of the Year award at the Bohicket Billfish Tournament captains meeting. Congratulations to Captain Alan Neiford and crew aboard Mister Pete, they had an awesome year! In addition to the recognition he receives from InTheBite, AIRMAR rewarded an additional prize of $2,000 because the boat was equipped with an AIRMAR transducer.

2018 InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup: Winners Update

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Here are the winning results for 3 of the 5 Divisions in the 2018 InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup presented by Hatteras:

Congratulations to the following Captains!

Release Ruler Hawaii Division
Capt. Rob Ellyn, Lightspeed, 1250 Points
Costa Gulf Coast Division
Capt. Jason Buck, Done Deal, 2150 Points

Airmar East Coast Division

Capt. Alan Neiford, Mister Pete, 1750 Points

60th Annual Labor Day White Marlin Tournament Results

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Winner of the Billfish Release division with 23 white marlin releases & 1 blue marlin release is Buckshot.

Winner of the tuna category with a 150.2 lb. big eye tuna is Pumpin Hard.

“Waste Knot” Catches 683-Pound Blue Marlin to Win Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament

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Waste Knot Wins the 15th Annual VBBT with a 683-Pound Blue Marlin, Five White Marlin Releases

The 15th annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament wrapped up Saturday night and closed the chapter on a historic event. A record 80 boats competed this year for a new benchmark $620,000 in prize money. For the first time, two blue marlin were weighed and one of them made a huge difference for the Manteo, North Carolina team, Waste Knot. Angler Ed Groce boated a 683-pound blue and combined with five white marlin releases, gave the team the top score (1,033 points) and the top payout, $282,000.

[Read more…]

2018 MidAtlantic Tournament: Final Results

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2018 MidAtlantic Comes to a Close in Record Setting Fashion!

The 2018 MidAtlantic, the 27th edition of sportfishing’s “Main Event,” came to an exciting close last night for the 157 participating boats and crews with award ceremonies featuring lavish buffet dinners and record cash payouts for numerous winners celebrated at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. The week saw numerous records set once again including a cash purse of well over $3.36 million up for grabs, record single payouts for the top winners in the white marlin and tuna categories and a record number of blue marlin (55) caught and well over 750 white marlin released!

The final day of the 2018 MidAtlantic dawned sunny and clear with a light breeze and full moon in the sky. Once again, a bit of tournament history was set as for the first time in the event’s 27-year history the entire fleet of 157 boats was eligible to fish on the final day. Day Five saw several changes on the leaderboard on what has traditionally been called Moving Day at the MidAtlantic. This event was the first billfish tournament to use the phrase in reference to the major shake-ups which occur on the leaderboard and this year would be no different. Sea conditions improved dramatically from the previous day and the billfish bite continued its scorching pace.

The most significant changes occurred in the white marlin category when Captain Doug Ortlip backed Sean O’Donnell’s Cape May-based Got Game to the scales at Canyon Club in Cape May and weighed a 78-pounder for angler O’Donnell to jump to the top of the leaderboard. O’Donnell and crew later in the evening accepted the winner’s check of $905,408 in Cape May, a record payout for white marlin! Got Game’s 78-pounder pushed Thomas Colquhoun’s Special Situation from Ocean City, Maryland and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey, leaders from Day One of the tournament, into a tie for second place as each had weighed white marlin of 73-pounds. 3’s Enough received $293,712 while Special Situation netted $134,006. Worthy of note is the difference in payouts reflects the level of side bets, known as Calcuttas, each participant enters. Another significant change to the leaderboard on Day Five occurred when Captain Paul Robertson weighed a 69-pound white marlin for angler Joey Hurley from their Dayton, Maryland-based FFMD and moved into a tie for third place with Leonard Tallo’s Gusto from Islamorada, Florida. For their efforts Gusto received $169,466 while FFMD netted $141,376.

[Read more…]

2017 East Coast Captain of the Year Award Presented to Captain Chucky Moore

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Photo courtesy of Cameron Rhodes

InTheBite joined forces with Hatteras Yachts’ Captain Jeff Donahue and Rob Everton to present the 2017 East Coast Captain of the Year Award to Capt. Chucky Moore. The presentation took place at the awards ceremony of the 2018 Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament at the Georgetown Landing Marina in South Carolina. Part of the South Carolina Governor’s Cup, the tournament was a great event full of history.

Captain Chucky Moore won the 2017 Captain of the Year Award at the helm of the Gryphon, a 60’ Hatteras, based out of Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Joining Moore in taking home hardware were Mates of the Year Bryce Bell and Mark McDevitt. A full write up of Moore’s award-winning 2017 season may be found here.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Rhodes

The Captain of the Year Cup Presented by Hatteras is the Championship of Sportfishing. Consisting of five divisions and more than 90-sanctioned events around the world, the Cup awards captains for placing first, second or third in tournaments. The East Coast Division consists of 17 events ranging from South Carolina through New Jersey. Captain Chucky Moore and the Gryphon finished with 1,050 points to edge out 2016 winner Captain Harvey Shiflet aboard the Anticipation.

Congratulations to Moore, Bell and McDevitt. For more on the Captain of the Year Cup presented by Hatteras or for up to date standings, please visit inthebite.com.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Rhodes

AIRMAR Sponsors East Coast Division: Sweetens the Pot

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InTheBite is proud to announce that AIRMAR Technology Corporation as the sponsor of the East Coast Division of the Captain of the Year Cup. The leader in Chirp-ready transducer technology, AIRMAR products make it possible for captains to view what goes on underwater with unparalleled clarity. Given the direct link between installation of AIRMAR products and tournament performance, the sponsorship is a natural fit. To take the relationship a step further, AIRMAR is sweetening the pot with a $2,000 bonus for the East Coast Captain of the Year if his boat is equipped with an AIRMAR produced CHIRP-ready transducer.

“Top captains are always looking for an edge and AIRMAR Chirp-ready transducers can make that happen,” states AIRMAR director of marketing, Craig Cushman. “We’re excited to reward the winning captain with $2000 if his boat is properly equipped.”

The rules are simple. To be eligible to win, the AIRMAR produced CHIRP transducer must be in place on the boat by June 1. 2018. If you’ve been considering a transducer upgrade, there has never been a better time. In order to collect the prize, captains and crew agree to allow AIRMAR to use their photo in marketing and promotion. See more fish, perform better in tournament season and win some extra cash. How can you go wrong?

NOTE:  AIRMAR makes transducers for every top electronics brand. Check either the cable label or the top of the transducer for the AIRMAR name.