Seconds 2 Spare Wins Naples Fishing in Paradise Event!

By Captain Will Geraghty

The 1st Annual Fishin’ In Paradise Saltwater Classic, the second event of the 2009 Mercury Tournament Trail Division 11 trilogy featured several wholesale changes as east coast promoter Jim Scharfschwerdt took over the reins of an event rich in traditional elements of fun, camaraderie, fierce competition and big kingfish. 

Choosing a new venue in the Naples Bay Resort and implementing a multi-species format to “mix things up” and “boost” local boat participation proved to stoke competing anglers from as far away as North Carolina and excite the nearly 400-plus spectators who gathered at Saturday’s weigh-in festivities.

Two weeks earlier at the Division 11 opener in Marco Island, ideal conditions reigned supreme with some nice fish scaled creating a tight top–five leader board. However, the overall Marco Island bite proved a little tricky leaving many teams re-evaluating their Naples game plan.

Would the bite break loose for the 1st Annual Fishin’ In Paradise Saltwater Classic? Also, could we see a locally based team successfully defend their title? As we all know in tournament fishing, expect the unexpected as anything is bound to happen!

Fanning out beyond the Gulf of Mexico horizon at 7 o’clock, saw a fifty team fleet in search of kingfish “pay dirt”. Different compass headings revealing varied strategies as transitional springtime conditions coupled with deteriorating sea conditions would do their best to trip up a stacked field of savvy tournament anglers.

Proving that doing your homework, employing game day intuition and persistence pays big tournament dividends, the Ft. Myers based Seconds 2 Spare team with Captain Scott Rush at the helm would sweep the field again this year and repeat as 2009 Naples Victors!

While Seconds 2 Spare’s 49.08-pound mossy back falls short of last year’s impressive 64.74-pound beast, their fishing day aboard the Yamaha powered Contender 31 proved somewhat similar. Last year, the veteran team took advantage of one big bite early in the fishing day, and this year, they again had just one bite coming late after hours of scratching.

“We went to several promising areas and there was not much going on so we decided to get on the hook, deploy a kite and hopefully fool a money fish!” exclaimed an excited Rush shortly before Saturday evening’s awards ceremony. Together with longtime teammates, Gifford Kline and Mike Gavala, the trio put out a big blue runner spread over a live bottom area in roughly 90 feet of water when she hit.

“Gifford quickly grabbed the rod while the fish ripped off about 100 yards of line and then got real lazy. We thought she might have been another species but after about 25 minutes we saw color and she popped up next to the boat,” added Rush. As Gavala manned the helm, Rush handled the gaffing duties to seal the deal as back-to-back Naples winners!

Sponsored by San Carlos Marine, Contender, Yamaha Outboards and Accurate Reels you can bet the Seconds 2 Spare team will be bringing their A-game to the Ft. Myer’s Division 11 finale, as they are now the team to beat. Congratulations guys on a great fish, great event and a job well done!

Fresh off an excellent Marco Island third place showing, Captain P.J. Myers and his Triple J crew consisting of junior angler Jake Myers, Stevie Cooper, Jeff Smith and Keith Mangus had an excellent day fishing an area of “kingfish green” water more than 60 miles southwest of the Gordon Pass checkout.

“The bite was pretty steady and we had caught about eight good fish before we hooked up on the one we were looking for around mid-morning. We had a 3-pound blue runner down at 15 feet when the big king just crushed the bait and proceeded to rip off more than 300 yards of line at lightning speed!” explained Myers who calls Isle of Capri, Florida homeport.

The battle turned epic as Jeff, a Marco Island, Florida light tackle guide, was on the rod for more than 30 minutes cautiously angling through several touch and go moments, complete with too many heart stopping surges beneath the team’s beautifully wrapped, Mercury powered 36ft. Yellowfin.

More than a quarter mile from the initial hook up, Smith was able to ease the king to within Myer’s gaff range. Over the rail and straight into the fish bag the king would tip the Naples Bay Resort scales at 45.45 pounds garnering the Triple J team second place honors and solidifying young Jake as Top Junior angler and Mercury Scholarship winner for the event!

Captain Myers and the Triple J crew would like to thank their sponsors: BASF, Cedar Bay Yacht Club, Sign Zoo and Applied Aquatic for all their support. Look for this well seasoned team to make a solid run for top divisional honors at Ft. Myers Beach!

ProMarineUSA.com/Gator Fan, Captain Dave Albritton’s Yamaha powered Contender 23T team enjoyed an incredible day on the water catching more than 30 fish including six low 30 fish before landing a pair of cookie cutter forties. Their largest, tipping the scales at 44.41-pounds, earned the Port Saint Lucie, FL based team a third place overall finish and top Class of 23 honors.

Dave and his teammates James Addison and Anthony Oakes decided to make a long run nearly 70 miles due south of the scales and prospect a familiar area of limestone hard bottom.

“It was not an easy run to our spot given the sea conditions, but we knew if we got there, we would we could catch a good one,” reported Albritton. We were in the fish nearly all day catching at least 30, picking through the smaller fish looking for the right one.”

A medium blue runner deployed down at 30 feet fooled their money fish shortly after 12:30. Anthony, Gator Fan’s designated rod man made short work of the king bringing her boatside as James handled the gaffing duties.

“Our big fish did not run at all!” explained Albritton. “When Anthony grabbed the rod, the fish just laid down and sounded to the bottom for a moment. James was penning up some fresh baits when Anthony said the fish was at the boat. The entire battle lasted maybe three minutes!”

In their fourth full season, the successful ProMarineUSA.com/Gator Fan trio attributes much of their success to hard work, networking and the generous support of their sponsors ProMarine, Contender/Yamaha, Raymarine, Bottom’s Up and the Fishing Center. Solid work, guys!

ProMarineUSA.com was next in fourth place overall with Captain Jim Naset at the helm. Fishing aboard their Yamaha, Mercury and Evinrude powered 36’ Invincible, Naset and his Redington Shores crew of Kevin Hannon, Rick Cook and Chris Blackwell scaled a stout 39.16-pound king.

Fishing “down south” within close proximity to the Triple J team, ProMarineUSA.com caught several nice fish through out the morning. However, they would have to wait until the early afternoon for the bite to really heat up!

“We caught two fish that were close in size,” reported Naset, a longtime competition member and SKA Corporate Sponsor. “Both of our big fish came on blue runners fished deep in the water column and were brought boatside with very little drama.”  Rick Cook and Chris Blackwell shared rod duties for the Fishin’ In Paradise Saltwater Classic event while Kevin Hannon wielded the gaff.

Despite the rough sea conditions, Sarasota’s Captain Will Lamneck led his Sparky’s Machine crew to an active bite and a fifth place overall finish aboard their Mercury powered 36’ Yellowfin. Catching a bunch of fish roughly 30 miles southwest of the Naples Bay Resort saw Lamneck, the event’s Top Senior Angler, along with Rhonda Morris Top Lady Angler and Mike Abbott working overtime managing several multiple hook ups over an area of scattered debris in roughly 60 to 70 feet of water.

“At 9:30 we were fighting what we thought was a good fish when I decided to pitch a palm-sized pinfish out the back to see if there were any takers!” stated an exuberant Lamneck. “The pinfish was instantly crushed and the reel began to sizzle!”

Rhonda quickly grabbed the rod for the 15-minute fight highlighted by several good surface runs and a short stalemate down deep before bringing the 39-pounder boatside. Lamneck and Abbott teamed up to sealing the deal putting an exclamation point on a great fishing day!

Lamneck, an SKA competition member since 1994, and crew are sponsored by Abbott’s Backhoe and Lamneck Electric while Cindy provides incredible land based support handling provisions and logistics while fishing the Trail.

Dan Greenling’s Roll-On team proved they are dialed in to the southwest Florida fishery by capturing sixth place overall scaling a nice 37.23-pound king. Greenling along with Dan Greenling Jr., Tiffany Greenling, Jay Berger and Jason J. opted to stay close and prospect several local wrecks but found the bite to be nearly non- existent. However, the Naples, Florida based team kept digging and found their big one at 5 o’clock on a surface blue runner just off the beach in 25 feet of water. Jay Berger made short work of the big girl while Dan Jr. handled the gaffing duties. Great job Roll On!

Second place honors in the Class of 23 and eighth overall with a 35.23 fell to Get Snookerd, who also calls Naples, Florida homeport. This red-hot team led by Captain Chris Workman and teammates Michelle Jackson, Jim Kurth and Kevin Weber, are now poised to make things interesting up the road in Ft. Myers Beach. It will truly be a “Shootout” between Get Snookerd and Gator Fan for the Division 11 Class of 23 Title!

An area of hard bottom to the west in 70 feet of water was the spot to be for the Get Snookerd a Yamaha powered Contender 23T sponsored by Sureflow Irrigation. Experiencing a wide open bite nearly all day their big fish crushed a big blue fish on top shortly before the 12 o’clock hour.

“The action was pretty much non-stop for us today,” Chris Workman explained. “ Kevin our rod man did an excellent job angling our big fish to the boat in about ten minutes before I sank the gaff and brought her over the rail. We were busy out there today; my team did an awesome job!” added an exhausted Workman. Good luck the rest of the way Chris and crew!

The D Slab, all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina with Lewis Hayes at the helm, had a great Naples event. Fishing with his son-in-law, Larry Ennis from Ft. Myers, the duo popped a 31.86 pounder to capture third in the Class of 23 and ninth overall.

An SKA Competition member since 1994, Hayes, selected an area of hard bottom 12 miles southwest of check-out with the help of another North Carolina based team, the Dig It. Catching ten fish all day, the D Slab hooked up to their big one employing a medium blue runner on top at around mid-morning fishing aboard a Mercury powered 23 Donzi.

In the added Bottom Fish Aggregate, SKA members Fishy Bizness with Captain Vic Vazquez and Chris Turner, John Guitard’s Midnight Madness and Jim Naset’s ProMarine swept the top three available spots.

Awarding more than $37,000 in cash and prizes, the 1st Annual Fishin’ In Paradise Saltwater Classic benefitting the Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund was a rousing success. A big tip of the SKA hat goes out to the Naples Daily News, Set Anchor.com, Kidds Quality Cleaning, ProMarineUSA.com, Hamilton Harbor Yacht Club, Rums of Puerto Rico, Economy Tackle, Captain Pete’s, Naples Bay Resort, Sea Tow Naples and The Grill Sgt. for their generous support. These sponsors along with several additional associate sponsors, provided Jim S. and his staff with the ability and necessary tools to successfully deliver a fun, first-class event. 

Congratulations to all who competed and scaled a fish for a great charity, The Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund!

Naples Fishing in Paradise Final Standings

Open Class 49.081. SECONDS 2 SPARE Contender / Yamaha Scott Rush Gifford Kline Capt. Mike Gavalla 45.452. TRIPLE J Yellowfin / Mercury P.J. Myers Keith Mangus Stevie Cooper Jeff Smith Jake Myers 44.413. PROMARINEUSA.COM / GATORFAN Contender / Yamaha David Albritton Anthony Oakes James Addison 39.164. PROMARINEUSA.COM Everglades / Suzuki Jim Naset Kevin Hannon Chris Blackwell Rick Cook 39.005. SPARKY'S MACHINE Yellowfin / Mercury Will Lamneck Mike Abbott Rhonda Morris 37.236. ROLL-ON Concept / Yamaha Dan Greenling 35.297. DIG IT Contender / Mercury Tony Carroll Greg Carroll Rick Tudor 35.238. GET SNOOKERD Contender / Yamaha Chris Workman Michelle Jackson Kevin Weber Jim Kurth 31.869. D SLAB Donzi / Mercury Lewis Hayes Larry Ennis 31.7010. PENNY WISE Contender / Yamaha Jeff Silverthorne Mike Penny Chelsey Silverthorne Rick Henley

Class of 23 44.411. PROMARINEUSA.COM / GATORFAN Contender / Yamaha David Albritton Anthony Oakes James Addison 35.232. GET SNOOKERD Contender / Yamaha Chris Workman Michelle Jackson Kevin Weber Jim Kurth 31.863. D SLAB Donzi / Mercury Lewis Hayes Larry Ennis Top Lady Angler 39.00Rhonda Morris SPARKY'S MACHINE Top Junior Angler 45.45Jake Myers TRIPLE J SKA Top Junior Anglers sponsored by 45.451. Jake Myers TRIPLE J 31.702. Chelsey Silverthorne PENNY WISE  3. Cameron Heavenridge COURTSIDE GRILLE / TOP GUN Mercury Marine Junior Angler Scholarship Winner Jake Myers TRIPLE J