You know the weather is bad when a captain who has fished all 55 years of the Annual Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament declares that this year’s tropical storm conditions will make it a weekend to remember. He’s seen all kinds of rough seas and fierce winds over his decades on the water, and yet Capt. Jim Johnston, the owner and operator of Big Sky, noted that the weather the fleet dealt with this Memorial Day Weekend was some of the worst he can recall for the annual event.

Weather challenges have a history in Georgetown. In fact, the first year of the tournament was blown out and postponed to July. The team at Georgetown Landing Marina couldn’t bear to push things back quite that much, but did their best to work around the terrible projections. They ultimately extended the tournament through Monday, and all 42 boats had the opportunity to compete for the tournament title in a one-day shootout on Memorial Day.

Shootouts are tough. Like the most dramatic scenes from your favorite Westerns, you get just one shot to best your opponents. Fortunately for the crew aboard Ed Holder’s Miss Wy, Capt. Matt Wilkinson isn’t one to run from a gun fight.

Wilkinson, who has been working for the Holder family for 17 years, has a stellar reputation as an accomplished waterman. “Matt has one of the longest running inshore charter businesses in Georgetown and probably the State,” says Stokely Holder. “He is known as an extremely knowledgeable and reliable mechanic. He was even happily fielding calls from other captains and helping diagnose motor issues they were having back home while we were offshore fishing in the Bahamas. He can be a bit reserved at times if you don’t know him, but he is an extremely talented waterman who never looks for accolades and is always willing to help anyone on the water or on the hill.”

Matt can indeed be quiet, going about his business on the docks without distraction. He’s friendly, but to the point, wasting no time on the fluff of superfluous conversation. And yet, he still carries a warmth with him, and a slick sense of humor. Wilkinson’s got a good grin, and it’s most sweeping after a tournament win, and even more so when his daughter and grandson are around.

The pragmatic captain has won the Georgetown tournament several times before, once with Miss Wy as recently as 2015. The 53-ft Scarborough is a hometown favorite, splitting time between fishing at home in Georgetown, South Carolina and other world-class destinations like the Bahamas. And without Wilkinson’s influence, the Holders may have passed up on the stunning build. “Matt was the one who convinced my Dad to buy the boat,” says Holder. “ He pitched the whole idea to let him rebuild it and then to captain it, which is all that much sweeter given the experiences we’ve shared on that boat. Our passion for blue marlin fishing is what has cultivated a very deep bond between us. We’ve caught some really nice fish over the years together. Matt means an awful lot to me and my dad and our family!”

Miss Wy is a family operation, where the Holders and their friends pack the cockpit full of youngsters eager to fish alongside their dads. While no junior anglers were on the boat during the tournament, the crew likely had plenty of playful personalities to keep the seriousness of competitive sport fishing still fun.

Going into what was both the first and last fishing day of the tournament, David “Bunny” Snipes, Robert Rodelsperger, Blair Hendricks, Charles Stuart, Jacob Smith, Chatham Rowe, Stokely Holder, and mate Bates Crammer didn’t quite know what to expect. The fishing in the weeks before had been outstanding off the coast of South Carolina, but the recent weather left the entire fleet with little to no intel on whether the fish were still around and if they’d be hungry.

The seas were 4-6-ft on the way to the Gulf Stream, eventually laying down for a beautiful day on the water. Wilkinson pulled her back without another boat in sight. As lines hit the water, the Miss Wy crew was utterly alone, waiting for a bite. By the time their first sailfish came into the spread, Rodelsperger was ready.

“Robert is a real good angler,” says Wilkinson. “He’s steady, steady, steady and fishes with us every tournament.”  Not only is Rodelsperger a reliable angler, he’s also a member of the Gov Cup’s Advisory Board of Directors. His friend and teammate, Stokely Holder, has recently taken on the chairmanship of the board.

By all accounts, fishing was slow. Several boats saw fish and capitalized on the slim opportunities. Some others saw sailfish and blues, but missed them altogether. The majority of the fleet didn’t see any billfish at all.

As clocks struck noon, only three sailfish had been released. Shortly afterward, Miss Wy missed a blue marlin, a fish that would have easily launched them to the top of the fleet. Fortunately, they would get another chance.

A blue marlin suddenly charged up on the teaser. Rodelsperger came tight and fought the fish for a quick release. An additional 600 points hit the board. Voodoo Child and Black Jack each caught blues in the afternoon as well, but weren’t able to follow up with another fish.

After lines came out of the water, Wilkinson remained hesitant. “The guys were saying how it looks like we’re in the lead,” he recalls, “so I said to ‘em, ‘now don’t count your chickens just yet boys!’”

Standing alone at the mouth of Winyah Bay, the Georgetown Light House awaited the arrival of the tournament’s hometown victors and one of its dearest sons. “South Island is directly across from the lighthouse,” explains Holder. “Matt was raised right there as one of the few residents on the island, so that lighthouse and South Island mean a lot to him. He literally grew up along the waters’ edge in Georgetown. He knows those waters like no one else, and that is the absolute truth.”

As the black cap of the lighthouse came into view from the bridge, a sight that has reliably welcomed him home throughout his entire life, Wilkinson heard the call over the radio to pull her back for the Gov Cup’s traditional winner’s photo. The captain’s initial hesitation to celebrate evaporated. Despite the trying weather and slow bite, Wilkinson and Miss Wy had won it all.

Congratulations to Miss Wy for winning the 55th Annual Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, the second leg of the 2023 South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series.

Congratulations also go to all the other winners, including Voodoo Child and Black Jack for taking second and third place, respectively.

Next, we’ll head to Leg III, the Carolina Billfish Classic at Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina!

The Teaser is a series dedicated to showcasing the stories of the Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series and its lively community. The Gov Cup was created several decades ago to encourage the conservation of ocean resources through the tagging and release of billfish. Learn more here.