A week or so ago, we drove up to Oregon Inlet, North Carolina to hand out some hardware. Any time you show up with giant cardboard checks and custom trophies, you’re likely to be greeted with a smile and some conversation.
Talking to captains and boat owners about the experience of catching big fish and winning tournaments is quite a bit of fun. When speaking with captains and crews who consistently catch big fish, these conversations are full of context and perspective.
This was certainly the case with Captain Jay Watson of the Wide Spread and Captain Willie Zimmerman of the RoShamBo. These guys are fishy dudes. Their approach, skill and dedication have resulted in tournament wins, state records and well-deserved, widely held reputations for being great captains and great people.
Both Jay and Willie have fished MONGO’s East Coast division for the past two years. Each also plans to fish it in 2024. They were gracious enough to share their perspectives about how the MONGO benefits their operations. In many cases, these experiences and perspectives are shared by other boats and captains who are gearing up to make a run at the 2024 MONGO this summer.
Register for the MONGO here.
Captain Jay Watson, WideSpread- Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.
Captain Jay Watson is a hell of a fisherman. He wouldn’t tell you this, but many others would. Watson won the Big Rock in 2021 and was the North Carolina Billfish Series Top Non-Sonar Boat in 2023.
Watson is also a three-time East Coast MONGO champion—in 2023 he won the yellowfin and wahoo divisions, in 2022 the dolphin division. All in all, Jay Watson has won a total of $52,695 in the MONGO. Jay provides some context about how the tournament’s structure and format works for his operation.
“It was really neat having the MONGO be part of our tournament success. The MONGO checks put our boat over the 2-million-dollar mark in overall winnings,” Watson explains. “We’ve been able to implement the MONGO platform into our charter program, giving our clients another exciting option.”
“The MONGO also coincides with all of our East Coast tournaments. This gives us another angle for success with a lower buy-in. For fish that qualify for the MONGO and another tournament, the MONGO is often pays more than the other event. That’s very appealing to my tournament clientele and my ownership as well.”
Capt. Jay Watson, WideSpread
The MONGO is a 153-day event that, on the East Coast, stretches from Florida to Massachusetts. Watson explains how the expanse of time and geography opens an additional dimension to participating boats. “The fact that we can geographically target fish in a way that best suits the time of year, our location and that fits our fishing style really makes the MONGO great.”
If there’s a run of big blue marlin around, you can target them. When the big wahoo are thick, you can make a trip out of it. When the bigeye and yellowfin are around, you can gear up for tuna fishing. No matter what you target, where you’re fishing or who your anglers are (charters, owners, tournament regulars or a day of fun fishing), the MONGO makes every day a tournament. Watson has three giant cardboard checks to prove it.
Captain Willie Zimmerman, RoShamBo- Ocean City, Maryland
Captain Willie Zimmerman and the RoShambo are perfectly situated for the diversity of great fishing options in Ocean City. In each of the past two seasons the Zimmerman and the RoShambo have cashed a MONGO check.
The RoShamBo won the 2022 East Coast Swordfish division by catching the Maryland state record. In 2023, they greased a 246-pound bigeye that cashed a tournament check.
While accepting his hardware, Zimmerman was gracious enough to share his experience and perspective. In a wide-ranging three-minute conversation, Zimmerman explains how well the MONGO format integrates into the tournament/charter/private sportfishing program.
The RoShamBo fishes eight or nine East Coast tournaments each year. In every tournament, they are also fishing the MONGO. The owner fishes quite a bit, in tournaments and for fun. Everyday they are fishing, it’s a MONGO day.
The boat also hosts a variety of charter clients throughout the year. All summer long, every day they fish, each and every charter angler is a MONGO angler.
The great part about this is the ease. The MONGO is a boat-based tournament. Everyone who fishes on the boat can take part. There are no additional fees or registrations. Every morning upon leaving the dock, the captain just registers the trip and the day’s anglers in the MONGO app.
Here’s Willie’s interview.
Register Once: Fish All Summer
Boats up and down the East Coast are registering to fish this year’s MONGO. Part of the reason lies in the $62,000 in rollover cash that’s up for grabs in this year’s blue marlin division. There are lots of other reasons—it’s easy, it’s cheap (by comparison to most everything else in fishing), and it’s made for how people fish.
You can enter one division or enter all of them. You can fish it with the confidence that its run by good, honest people who have been part of the Gulf of Mexico’s sportfishing scene for decades. Most fundamentally boats are signing up to fish the MONGO because everyone likes to catch big fish and everyone likes to win money and prizes for having done so.
The MONGO is also really fun. It will be even more fun if you fish with us this year.
When Fishing Means More Than Fishing
