2017 AIRMAR East Coast Captain of the Year

Captain Chucky Moore
Gryphon, 60’ Hatteras
Homeport: Isle of Palms, SC

1,050 points– Bohicket Invitational, 1st pl.; Megadock, 2nd pl.; South Carolina Governor’s Cup Series Champion.

When talking even casually to Captain Charles “Chucky” Moore, his experience shines through. Chucky is salty– you can hear his fishiness even through the phone. Given his wide ranging experience and tournament resume, it is no surprise that the Gryphon, a finely appointed 60’ Hatteras,  is a consistent name on the leaderboard. Moore has caught a lot of fish in a lot of places, but 2017 was special.

By any measure, Moore led the Gryphon to an incredible year. His 1,050 points earned him Captain of the Year Honors. Moore and the Gryphon took first place in the Bohicket Invitational, placed second in the Megadock and were named the champions of the South Carolina Governor’s Cup series. Not only did the team win take top honors in the series, but they smashed the Governor’s Cup Series Record with 7,475-points—exceeding the previous record by nearly 25%.  Were that not enough, the Gryphon was also the setting for Luke Combs’ “When it Rains it Pours” music video. The video has more than 60 million views on YouTube.

When describing his year, Moore had one request. “Please use the words ‘humbled’ and ‘grateful,’ because that’s what I am,” Chucky asked. “I couldn’t do it without the mates. We couldn’t do it without the boss. Colby provided us with a generous budget. He gave us the green light to fish what we wanted. I was very blessed this year, because we caught most of what we saw. I am very humbled by the whole thing—to win the InTheBite award. I am very thankful to be able to do what we love.”

The Gryphon is a tight-knit team. Owner Colby Griffin and his 15-year old son Chandler are the primary anglers. Chandler’s exploits broke junior angler records in the Governor’s Cup this year. They are joined in the cockpit by first mate Bryce Bell from Charleston. Veteran freelance mate Mark Mcdevitt (also known as the Silver Fox) from Cape May, New Jersey, joined the Gryphon after the Big Rock and fished with the group for the final tournaments of the season. Moore gave Mcdevitt  full control of the spread, crediting him with teaching them all quite a bit and creating the ninja spread. Rounding out team Gryphon was a rotating group of anglers/mates/cameramen, including Jeffrie Mitchell, Ted McNair, Brad Kicklighter, Brian O’Quinn, Michael Krivohlavek, and Ross Miller.

Chucky’s sportfishing roots began early. He began working on a 100’ headboat at age 15. After a stint in the Army and college, Moore got his captain’s license at 21. His first sportfish job was on a 55’ Ocean, the Last Flight Out. Fishing on the likes of the Mama Who and the Chicora, Moore made the tournament rounds in Bermuda and the Bahamas in the early 2000s. Moore has been with Griffin at the helm of the Gryphon for two years.

2017 was another tightly-contested race in the East Coast Division. “It was tough to follow Harvey (Shiflet) and Captain Gary Richardson,” says Moore of the previous two winners of the award. Harvey Shiflet led the Anticipation to a second place finish in the captain of the year. Shiflet’s 900-points were one white marlin in the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament away from being 1,100 and first place. Captain Newt Cagle aboard the Toast finished in striking distance of the lead, with 800-points. With the bunching at the top of the leaderboard, captains far and wide were glued to the results of the last tournaments of the year. Exciting stuff… congratulations to Moore, Shiflet and Cagle for putting on a show in 2017.