Angler's spirit lives on at tuna tourney

Instigator dominates cumulative catch category at OC event
By Patrick Gavin
Staff Writer


OCEAN CITY -- The Ocean City Tuna Tournament's official rule book clearly states "no more than six anglers per boat."

But the crew of the Instigator believes they had a little extra outside help in this, the 20th annual tournament, which wrapped up Sunday evening.


The Instigator, captained by father-son duo David and Josh Wentling, unofficially took home at least $225,000 of the $688,620 tournament purse by dominating the cumulative catch category -- or five-fish stringer as it is known to anglers.

Fishing Friday and Saturday, the Instigator's crew each day wrangled the five-fish limit -- three blue fin tuna and two yellow fin tuna. The 10 total fish tipped the scales at 790 combined pounds, over 200 pounds more than their closest rival.

But despite that impressive margin, the Instigator still won by a hair, so to speak. In accordance with the dying wish of a former fishing comrade, Rick Geoghegan, Josh Wentling fastened strands of Geoghegan's hair to his hand-tied Sea Witch-type lures.

"Rick called me in early December, his voice was failing," David Wentling said. "He said 'Dave, I have one request and I have it in my will. I've let my hair grow long. ... I want to ride a few more trips with you.' And here we are in first place."

In March 2006, Geoghegan, a 59-year-old Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I've been dealt some bad cards," David Wentling recalled his fishing buddy of about six years telling him in March. "I've got six to nine months left."

In his final months, Geoghegan's body began to fail him, and he was confined to a motorized wheelchair, which he cheerily decorated with fishing lures and Vietnam and Coast Guard stickers. But when fishing season rolled around, Geoghegan still managed to fish every major tournament, including the Tuna Tournament, the White Marlin Open and several North Carolina and New Jersey events.

"We were a well-oiled machine, weren't we, getting him on and off (the boat)," said one member of the Instigator's tight-knit crew.

Geoghegan, a Chesapeake City, Md., resident, died in mid-December at his Palm Beach, Fla., vacation home. He passed away peacefully, eating a light supper, sipping his favorite drink, a Bombay Sapphire, and watching a family of dolphins which came uncharacteristically close to the lagoon shore that day, David Wentling said.

But days before his death, Geoghegan let David Wentling know he planned on cutting his signature pony tail so he could "ride the next tournament."

On Friday, the crew of the instigator quickly snagged three blue fin tuna then zipped over to a different spot and bagged two yellow fins, the five fish totaling 387 pounds. On Saturday, they repeated the impressive feat, this time hauling in 403 pounds of tuna.

"Not that I'm a very superstitious guy, but hey, Rick was with us," David Wentling said.

Other stories of the tournament
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