Joe Gittinger of Cape Charles, competing in the Special Angler Open Division of the Special Angler Foundation Catch-and-Release Tournament, has secured 1st Place. Up until Friday, August 7th, Gittinger, fishing for the Town Of Cape Charles Pier Team, had been stuck at four species, a puffer, sea robin, pinfish, and black sea bass. Other anglers, seeing his progress fishing the Cape Charles Pier, stormed the town last Friday (Special and Junior Anglers alike) in an attempt to neutralize his advance. The Cape Charles Pier provides deep channel fishing and a fishing license that covers all anglers fishing on the pier.
In the heated fishing duel that developed on the pier, Travis Smith, of White Stone, the 2015 Special Angler National Champion, quickly picked up three species of his own, a black sea bass, a pinfish, and a very rare gag grouper, a species not well known to Virginia waters, but dominant in Florida. With the pressure building, Gittinger hurled a “Hail Mary”, and made a dash to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Pier, with Smith in hot pursuit. Gittinger quickly scored on a sea mullet, bringing his count to five species. Smith then answered with a sea robin catch. Gittinger then fired back with a sliver perch catch, securing his first place standing.
Throughout this week, Gittinger has continued to bring in several other catches, including pigfish, and several tasty bluefish. His catches have caught the eye of the Cape Charles chapter of Fish Dispatch, in which he has become a sponsored angler, providing catch reports to their fish report dispatch system.