North Carolina’s Blue Water Candy Team Wins Class of 23. Are National Champions For 2009!
By Jack HolmesBiloxi, Mississippi - Rick Croson Jr., Jodie Gay, and Russell Weaver, all from North Carolina, ate up this year’s Class of 23 competition and won the title of National Champions. Fishing an Evinrude powered Onslow Bay, the Team Blue Water Candy scaled a 46.75 and a 44.54 on day one. A remarkable pair of kings that beat last year’s aggregate by almost a pound. It was the second year in a row that a team from North Carolina won the title!
The Blue Water candy team utilized the days leading up to the event to pen up a good assortment of Blue Runners and Bluefish to use with ribbonfish brought from home. “We used 2.5 oz. Lil’ Man Roscoe and the new Sparkle Jig Rigs made by Blue Water Candy to secure these baits”, said Jodie Gay. “A flat sided jig made by Shore Lures out of Raleigh also proved effective at catching these one to two pound baits.”
With a well full of kingfish candy and knowledge gleaned from other teams, the trio charged nonstop in choppy seas for three hours to their destination near the Horseshoe Rigs. “There were about twenty boats there when we arrived,” Gay added. “We crossed an area that was holding bait and pulled back to give it a try. Tough luck ensued as we lost the first six fish we hooked up to. The next two, each being about thirty-five pounds, were successfully brought to the boat. However we noticed a pattern, the more we drifted away from our original spot, the smaller the fish became. We also noticed that a certain Blue Water Candy skirt upgraded our catch by five pounds over other colored skirts.”
Rick Croson never fought a fish that day. He only had time to tie on rigs, be ready to gaff, and occasionally chase one down or maneuver to stay out of someone else’s way.
Russell and Jodie caught fish for over three hours. “We were exhausted and felt we had two good fish to scale, plus we were out of bait, so we decided to work our way in,” Jodie added. “We had just witnessed the greatest bite we had ever seen.”
Inside Biloxi Bay the team attached a BocaGrip to their T-Top. They had six kings, all over forty pounds and needed to determine which two were going to the scale.
Arriving at Point Cadet Marina the team held up their catch for waiting photographers to preserve this great moment. Then it was off to the scale. Dragging the stuffed Blue Water Candy fish bag up the stage steps the team sipped open the bag and presented Chris Rose, the official SKA weighmaster, with their smaller king, the 44.54. Next came the 46.75. I then proclaimed a new leader in the Class of 23 at 91.29 pounds.
This was a great aggregate I thought however I also knew there were other good teams still to come. None were bigger.
They would, however, have to wait to see if any other teams would venture out on day two to try to topple their aggregate. Twenty-one teams were still eligible however only three checked out the next morning. As the second day came to an end, I had the distinct honor of proclaiming the Team Blue Water Candy the 2009 Class of 23 National Champions.
Speaking for the team, Jodie added, “I encourage everyone to join the SKA, fish hard to qualify, and come to the Nationals. I hope everyone experiences the fun and excitement that we had. No matter where the Championship is held, any location is a long drive for somebody but we personally hope to get back to Biloxi because where else can the story I’ve just told be repeated?”
The skirts used by the team by the way were Blue Featherweights: Cotton Candy / Blue Pearl, Hot Shots: Blue Orange / Blue White, Ribbonfish Skirts: Blue Pearl / and Light Blue.
The Champions also wanted to thank their sponsors, Accurate Reels, Owner Hooks, Star Rods, and Tex’s Tackle for their generous support throughout the year.
Second place fell to the Jacksonville, Florida team, Fishbuster. Robert Bishop, Richard Bishop, Kristen Bishop, John Peiffer, and Brian Ferrell, fished a Mercury powered Bluewater. The team scaled a 43.53 and a 40.78 on day one. That equals an exceptional 84.31 aggregate. Better yet, look at it this way, twenty-first overall in the whole event, including both classes.
The team has always been recognized as a team to beat in the SKA’s Division Five. They finished third in their Division this year.
“We were right there with the hundred or so teams at the Horseshoe,” Robert told me. “We couldn’t get a second bait out all day. It didn’t matter what we put our either, they were eating anything we thru at them. I do believe, however that those with the freshest baits got bigger fish.”
The team packed it up around fifteen after one to go in. “When we started the motor an alarm went off,” said Bishop. I pulled the cowling and checked it out but everything was ok so in we came.”
The reigning Class of 23 National Champions, East Coast Sports from North Carolina captured third place. Randall and George Edens, Chris Gaddy, and Scott Wasilewski, decided to weigh two fish on day one. After scaling a 44.40 and a 37.59 for an 81.99 aggregate, they found themselves in third overall.
They fished an Onslow Bay with a Yamaha on the transom.
Whether or not it was the right call to weigh the 43, then try for a bigger one on day two to catch Blue Water Candy, will be talked about for many months. Remember, this is a team who does not like to loose. Personally, I think it was the right choice! Day two was fishable but certainly rougher than day one with storms in the area. One team reported going thru a hailstorm early Saturday morning.
Regardless of their decision you still have to put this team in a class by themselves. First last year, third this year plus fished the Pros and did well in a Class boat just makes them possibly the best Class team in the country. That’s just my opinion!
The Reel Buzz / Team Airtran earned fourth place with a two fish aggregate of 81.83. Chip Nifong, Brian Schoenwiesner, and Jack Paczosa, all from Hempstead, North Carolina, scaled a 45.19 and a 36.64. This was a great finish for the very talented team!
“It was so incredible,” said team leader Chip Nifong. “We could never get more than two baits out. You’d throw bait out, count to five and set the hook. We had to have caught fifty kings at least.”
The 45.19 was the biggest king ever caught on the boat. “She skied with the bait in her mouth,” Nifong added. “We had her in the boat by ten-thirty.
The team only experienced one problem, culling. It was hard telling the difference. There were so many fish all the same size.”
The Reel Buzz team wanted to thank Brookelynn Cigars, Crystal Coast line-X, Pelagic Offshore Gear, and of course AirTran Airways who support the team.
Chalk up fifth place to the Florida team of David Albritton and James Addison. The ProMarineUSA.Com / Gatorfan, a Yamaha powered Contender, had a 78.36 two fish aggregate. They scaled a 40.16 and a 38.20.
“Two years ago Robbie Yancy of the Getcha Some, out of Fort Pierce, found the spot we all are now fishing.” said Albritton. “I stumbled onto where he was and went back last year where twenty boats were now on the site. Now this year ninety teams were on the spot, and it still supported all of us. It’s just amazing! The only difference was two years ago they were all in the forty pound range.”
“We sure could have used another pair of hands on the boat but our third partner, Anthony Oakes, got married and was on his honeymoon in Fiji,” Albritton told me. I just couldn’t imagine anyone giving up the Nationals for Fiji.
This has been an incredible year for the Gatorfan. The second place Open Class team, ProMarineUSA.Com’s Jim Naset supports the team.
The Net Profit / Team Sperry with Bryan Baxter at the helm, earned sixth overall with a 78.07 aggregate. Baxter and his South Carolina team of Trey Groves, Chad Sullivan, and Dow Suggs, weighed a 40.55 and a 37.52. They fish a Contender.
Earning seventh was the Ferebee’s, Burt and Margaret from New Bern, North Carolina. One of the top husband and wife teams in the country, they scaled a 41.18 and a 36.77 for a 77.95 aggregate.From Eden, Georgia came the Speedgoat team of Mitchel “Dean” Hinley, Bernard and Brandon Blair, Christy Woodcock, and Mathew Hinley to earn eighth place.
They scaled a 41.68 and 36.25 for 77.93 points. The Suzuki powered Polar team wish they could have a bite like they experienced in Biloxi off the Georgia coast when they start the 2010 season.
Another Georgia team earned ninth, the Reel Buzz. Stephen and Catherine Holley and Josh Tucker scaled a 39.67 and a 33.80 for a 73.47 aggregate. They fish an Onslow Bay.
Rounding out the top ten was the only team from the upper Gulf to make it to the top ten. Cecil Capps Jr., Wesley Burbridge, Gerry Rucker, and Landen Rucker fishing the Yamaha powered Contender, Sea Hagg, scaled a 35.15 and a 33.23 for 68.38 points.
The top ten this year weighed 154.77 pounds better than last year however it was so rough and cold it was not a good comparison. But when you look at the standings there were a lot of good teams who didn’t make the top fifteen. Did they do their homework or did they just not want to make the long run?
One team went back to Dauphin Island on the intercoastal waterway, then ran twenty miles offshore where they put a fifty plus in the boat. However, when they picked up to run in their steering went out. It was late that evening before they got in with the assist of a towing company. Obviously the fish did not count. But class boats should remember that the event has been won before fishing off Dauphin Island and the fish are usually close in.
I want to personally congratulate all the teams who fished with us this year, the year of the big fish. One 74.1-pound king, ten in the 50’s, and sixty-seven kings in the forties. It just doesn’t get any better than this and you were a part of history!
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