Stand back, boys. The ladies are on the water in their own offshore tournament.
The gals are out in the Atlantic this morning, and they plan on showing the boys a thing or two.
And beware, boys, with nearly half of new anglers being women, this group isn’t to be taken lightly.
Fishing off the Virginia Beach coast having been pretty good lately, they plan on making lots of noise.
They’ll do it today in the 2nd annual Rudee Inlet Ladies Open out of Fisherman’s Wharf Marina.
Lines in is at 8:30 this morning. Lines out is set for 3 p.m.
Weigh-ins and an awards celebration set for later this afternoon and evening.
This year’s event features 18 teams vying for a total payout of $13,515.
More importantly, the tournament - billed as the only lady angler offshore fishing tournament in Virginia - has donated $3,060 to the McLeskey Comprehensive Breast Center to support breast cancer research and treatment.
“We’re getting twice the number of boats over the first year,” tournament media contact Meghan van Joosten said. “We’re getting attention from all over the place and calls from people wanting to come and compete.
“We’re definitely getting a lot of attention.”
The good fishing helps.
A recent tournament up north saw fantastic white marlin fishing, while last week’s Pirate’s Cove event was dominated by lots of sailfish.
The Rudee Inlet ladies could also see good numbers of blue marlin, with some tuna, wahoo and dolphin in the mix.
Last year’s winner was Sea Trader, which banked $1,785. They’re back to defend their title.
This is a release-only event, with blue marlin earning 400 points, and whites, sails, hatchet marlin and bluefish worth 150 points each.
Good luck on the water ladies.
And as always, there’s more to come.
