Cat Daddy’s 53.50 Tops Field at Golden Isles Kingfish Classic! Sets SKA Georgia Record!

By Jack Holmes

St. Simons Island, Georgia - The Cat Daddy team scaled a 53.50 on day two of the Golden Isles Kingfish Classic and set a new SKA Georgia state record. Danny Mathis, Bobby Schoenfeld, and Harry Thomas were cruising thirty miles south of the checkout on their way to a destination some 175 miles away. Then one of the lower units let go and their plans for a big fish from Florida waters went down the drain.

The team quickly checked their charts and limped to a spot very close to where they broke down. It was here the 53-pound king was looking for a meal.
  “I’d rather be lucky than good,” said Mathis as he signed his weigh slip.

Harry Thomas later explained that he has caught numerous kings in the forties but never a fifty. Welcome to the record books and the Fifty Pound Club Harry.

The team won a 21’ Contender boat, Yamaha Outboard, and a Loadmaster Trailer for their efforts. They also won the $40,000 for the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour the same weekend. All told it was a hundred thousand dollar weekend for them.

Mister Magoo fishes out of St. Simons Island but also fishes the YPKT. This was his weekend to shine, being the hometown team and all. He did it with all the style, earning second place with a 73.41 aggregate. (Second place in this event has always been a two fish aggregate). Pete Harper, Buddy Webb, and Jamie Souter, fishing a Yamaha powered Contender, caught a 35.54 on day one and a 37.87 on day two, both near the J-Reef. Great, consistent fishing! They won $6,000. It also moved them up to fourteenth place in the Pros in overall yearend standings. They are a remarkable team and must be the pride of Brunswick, Georgia.

From South Carolina came the third place team and last year’s tournament winner. Darren Ratley, John Mott, Jay Robertson, Jimmy Stecki, and Eddie Fisher caught a 49.73 on the second day of the event. “Darren, our captain, had to go home for business, and it was left up to us to make it happen,” said an elated Mott.

They fished the Rat Pak, a Mercury powered Yellowfin.

Rounding out the top five was Jacksonville, Florida’s Dave Workman Jr’s Strike Zone. Dave and partner Rick Stinson scaled a 37.03 on day one. Dave is a three time “Angler of the Year” and owns the popular Strike Zone Tackle Center in Jacksonville.

The tournament committee had budgeted for 130 boats fishing this year’s event but was pleasantly surprised when 160 showed up. Because of the extra thirty boats, they elected to change the second place aggregate prize from $5,000 to $6,000 plus they added a sixteenth place to the general tournament and another place to the Class of 23. In the twenty-two money spots paid between the Open and Class of 23, nineteen were SKA members.

Ray and Kent Phillips caught a 43.43 on the Slo-N-Ez on the second say of the event and won the Class of 23 Division. It’s always good to see Ray in the winner’s circle. He’s been a member since ’94 and a fisherman you always have to worry about. He’s probably got more numbers off the Georgia coastline than anyone else fishing today.

Finishing second in the Class was Matthew Bradshaw and Neil Rountree on the Evinrude powered Contender, Ha’Wire. “We had a bad first day, spinning a prop,” said Matthew. “We didn’t get in till seven o’clock.” But on day two, fishing at Gray’s Reef, Matthew caught a 33.47 using a deep dropped Dave Workman ribbonfish at ten o’clock. This is a very good team, getting better with each event they fish!

Steve Holley and Paul Sumner fished the Reel Buzz, a Yamaha powered Onslow Bay, into fourth place with a 32.21 while Cory and Bob Black, Max Parmelee, and Todd Gilmartin, also fishing an Onslow Bay, earned fifth with a 31.87. They fish the Knot Right.

Pot Luck II’s Wendell Wells, David Talbot, Marcia Wells, and Cain Wells took advantage of the extra place paid in Class of 23. Their 31.76 was sixth. Cain was our third place SKA Junior Angler.

Moving back to the overall event, Mark Maus’s 34.74  was good for seventh plus Dillon, Mark’s son, was the event’s Top Junior Angler. Dillon also won SKA’s Top Junior honors plus the $500 Mercury Scholarship. Pretty good weekend for the Mercury powered Yellowfin team!

Andy Hinton borrowed Richard Stone’s Fountain to fish this event due mechanical problems on his Hot Grits. Andy did very well picking up ninth place with a 34.41. “We needed this event for the kids,” said Hinton.  It’s a close race in the Pro Junior Angler Division and my boys are excited.”

Drew Hinton, Zack Whitfield, and Thomas Grady earned second place SKA juniors.

Rounding out the top ten were locals Michael Woolard, Walt Rogers, Michael Lamb, and Richie Deloach fishing the Yamaha powered Regulator, Blue Ribbon. They scaled a 34.27.

Casey Wright won the Top Lady honors fishing the Evie Tyde.  She caught a 32.19 and the team finished fourteenth.

If you listened to all the fishermen and women earlier in the week, you’d think there wasn’t a king in the ocean. Fishing was slow however, but the Divisional fishermen scalped the Pros on day one but day two the tide turned. One of the most important things Divisional fishermen need to remember is to not divulge anything. The Pros have to be masters of getting information; it’s what wins tournaments!

Golden Isles Kingfish Classic Final Standings

Open Class 53.50 1. CAT DADDY Yellowfin / Mercury Danny Mathis Bobby Schoenfeld Harry Thomas 73.41 2. MISTER MAGOO ... aggregate Contender / Yamaha Pete Harper Buddy Webb Jamie Souter 49.73 3. RAT PAK Yellowfin / Mercury Darren Ratley John Mott Jay Robertson Jimmy Stecki James Eddie Fisher 41.08 4. Blue Steel 37.03 5. STRIKE ZONE Yellowfin / Mercury Dave Workman Rick Stinson 36.50 6. Yank-Em 34.74 7. TEAM SIMRAD Yellowfin / Mercury Mark Maus Dowling Granberry Jeff Worn Dillon Maus 34.45 8. Hold-N-On 34.41 9. HOT GRITS Donzi / Mercury Andrew Hinton III David Stallings Ward Whitfield Ned Grady Drew Hinton Zack Whitfield Thomas Grady 34.27 10. BLUE RIBBON Regulator / Yamaha Michael Woolard Walt Rogers Michael Lamb Richie Deloach 32.81 11. SURREEL Fountain / Mercury Steve Hays Perry Warner 32.54 12. PAPOTANIC Contender / Yamaha Bill Platt Randy Griffin Rick Vallone Craig Hughes 32.28 13. FISH MEISTER Yellowfin / Yamaha Dean Spatholt David Haynes John Hunt 32.19 14. EVIE TYDE Grady White / Yamaha Larry Wright Spence Wright Jeff Dekle Casey Wright Larry Wiley J. Franklin 32.10 15. WOUND TIGHT / FISHBOATLOANS.COM Donzi / Yamaha Thomas Mulligan Jim Scharfschwerdt Louis Cici Bart Hinson 31.21 16. BANDIT Contender / Suzuki Ronald Mitchell Will Geraghty Carl Carder David Butler

Class of 23 43.43 1. SLO-N-EZ Pursuit / Yamaha Ray Phillips Kurt Phillips 33.47 2. HA'WIRE Contender / Evinrude Matthew Bradshaw Neil Rountree 32.82 3. Cuttin Board 32.21 4. REEL BUZZ Onslow Bay / Mercury Steve Holley Paul Sumner 31.87 5. KNOT RIGHT Onslow Bay / Mercury Cory Black Max Parmelee Bob Black Todd Gilmartin 31.76 6. POT LUCK II Wendell Wells David Talbot Marcia Wells Cain Wells Top Lady Angler 32.19 Casey Wright EVIE TYDE Top Junior Angler 34.74 Dillon Maus TEAM SIMRAD SKA Top Junior Anglers sponsored by Hickory Bluff Marine 34.74 1. Dillon Maus TEAM SIMRAD 34.41 2. Drew Hinton, Zack Whitfield & Thomas Grady HOT GRITS 31.76 3. Cain Wells POT LUCK II Mercury Marine Junior Angler Scholarship Winner Dillon Maus TEAM SIMRAD