Seconds 2 Spare Wins Ft. Myers Event and the Division!

By Captain Will Geraghty

Ft. Myers, Florida—Just in time for the 2nd Annual Ft. Myers Beach Kingfish Shootout the southwest Florida wind machine finally turned off! Victory At Sea conditions, which have plagued the region throughout the last several weeks, were abruptly replaced overnight with great kingfish weather as light southeast winds and smooth seas reigned supreme.

A fleet of 38 boats would depart both Matanzas Pass and the event’s Gordon Pass southerly checkout in search of catching success. With large schools of migrating king mackerel scattered throughout the entire region, teams would ply their angling prowess both near and far. For several teams mathematically alive in the points race much was on the line. After all, having your name etched into the SKA records books, as Division 11 Champions is quite an accomplishment!

At the Salty Sam’s scales shortly before four o’clock things were clipping along as several good fish were being weighed. However, things were about to get interesting as tournament director Alberto Abad relayed credible intelligence that a boat was headed in with a ‘fish bag full of monsters!'  The spectator crowd estimated at nearly 200 was abuzz and eager with anticipation! Which team could it be?

Grinning ear-to-ear would best describe Captain Scott Rush as he eased his teal colored Yamaha powered 31’ Contender up to the Salty Sam’s docks. Rush and his Seconds 2 Spare teammates consisting of Gifford Kline, Mike Gavala and Rick Dean indeed had a good one, a true monster!

“53.80 pounds!”  Exclaimed event emcee John Zalud. Truly a spectacular fish for Seconds 2 Spare in an event literally held in their own backyard!

“Today we experienced the most incredible kingfish bite we have ever witnessed here on the west coast!” stated an exuberant Rush shortly before Saturday evening’s awards ceremony. “We were on some great fish all day but had to rebound after a heart breaking start to our fishing day!”

Prospecting a small chunk of structure in 80 feet of water due west of Ft. Myers Beach saw Rush and his crew with a serious fish chomping close to the transom. At 9:30 everyone on board the Seconds 2 Spare got a good visual on a big fish as it crushed a blue runner and zipped through the prop wash. Estimated at nearly 60 pounds, the fish sliced the bait in two but somehow missed the hooks! Gone but not forgotten, the Seconds 2 Spare crew refused to allow their early morning experience set the tone for the remainder of the tournament day.

With another good bite never materializing, the veteran team who calls Ft. Myers Florida home port decided to push north toward the fertile waters off Boca Grande Pass and set up shop over a hard bottom area in 90 feet of water. A great strategic move as the king bite would be off the hook. More than 20 fish in the 30 to mid-40 pound class would come over the rail during the epic late morning feeding frenzy.

Not taking this event, the third and final leg of the 2009 Mercury Tournament Trail Division 11 Trilogy, lightly Rush and his teammates kept digging despite already having a potential winning fish in the bag. Remember, they were fishing for the win as well as the Division Title!

Late in the day found the Seconds 2 Spare team returning to where they began what would truly be a magical day on the water, looking for the “one” they lost earlier. As luck would have it, the first blue runner deployed in the prop wash was hit and she was off to the races!

“Gifford quickly grabbed the rod as she smoked off nearly 300 yards of line from our Accurate reel!” reported Rush. “We had to get the boat on plane to catch up, once we had some line back on the reel in it was pretty much a straight up and down fight for about 25 minutes.”

With Mike Gavala at the helm, Gifford angled the big girl to within reach of Rush’s gaff to seal the deal as 2009 Ft. Myers Beach Kingfish Shootout Champions. Great job, Division 11 Champs!

ProMarineUSA.com/Invincible with Captain Jim Naset at the helm had a great Ft. Myers Shootout event capturing second place scaling an impressive 41.93-pound mossy back. Fishing way, way down south the Redington Shores based team consisting of Naset, Rick Cook, Shannon Armstrong, Kevin Hannon and Chris Blackwell were in the fish all day.

“Compared to yesterday’s seas it was beautiful out there,” reported ProMarineUSA’s designated gaff man Kevin Hannon. “The conditions allowed us to quickly run to our spot and get on the fish. The bite was good for us today, we caught a lot of good fish with several over 30 pounds before we got our shot at a money fish,” added Hannon.

Shortly after 11 o’clock, ProMarineUSA.com missed a big one that got tail-wrapped however, the seasoned veterans hooked up again on a big blue runner down at 50 feet. Chris quickly grabbed the rod and made short work of the fish in ten minutes flat. With their catch in the bag and iced down the group decided to call it a day and make the long run back to the FMB scales. Solid work ProMarineUSA.com!

Team Marlago.com was up next scaling a great 41.45 pounder to solidify third place. Treasure Island, Florida’s John Smith Sr., Mike, Mikey, Leeanne and Landon Howes teamed on the Yamaha powered Marlago.

Truly a genuine SKA fishing family, the bite was slow for Team Marlago.com as they plied an area of natural bottom roughly 80 miles from the Matanzas Pass checkout. However, at 2:40 a freshly caught mondo four-pound blue runner deployed long in the spread was crushed and then all chaos broke loose!

“We sent our largest bait out long on a rod which we knew had a bad clicker,” reported Mike. “We put it up in the t-top and just kind of forgot about it for a short while. By the time we realized we were hooked up, half the reel was spooled!”

With Mikey on the rod rapidly retrieving more than 250 yards of line and Smith Sr. manning the helm, the Treasure Island Marine and Screens Now sponsored team was able to get on top of their smoker within minutes. Eased boat side, Mike wielded the gaff putting an exclamation point on a great one-day family effort which included Top Junior angler honors for young Landon and Top Lady angler for Leeanne! Congratulations, Team Marlago.com!

The Never E Nuff, Captain Mike Renaldo’s Yamaha powered 31’ Contender ran more than 70 miles south of checkout but couldn’t find a decent fish. They decided to move back north 50 miles off Ft. Myers and fish some familiar ledges and hard bottom areas.

Fishing with Renaldo were his longtime teammates Devin Sanderson and Kent Allen. After a few promising knocks and short strikes, the Inglewood, Florida based team’s one and only fish of the event was hooked up at the high noon hour.

Smashing a three-pound blue runner fished short in the spread, Devin put pressure on the big fish as she raced across the smooth Gulf surface. While Kent kept pace at the helm with the big king mackerel, Renaldo waited patiently for an opportunity to bring her over the rail. Once in the bag, the trio decided to peg the throttles and head to the scales.

Hot off a recent sixth place Division 6 Sarasota finish, Never E Nuff’s king would tip the Salty Sam’s scales at 40.42 pounds good enough for the fourth place award.

Smile Maker rounded out the open class top five after catching a stout 37.01-pound king. On board the Yamaha powered Regulator were Dr. Bill Sullivan, Caroline Dunlop, Kyle Yurewitch, Joe Koch and Brant Keller. Caught late in the fishing day at four o’clock and more than 50-miles from the scales, this was Smile Maker’s best tournament effort to date. Nice work, team!

Kings Wild’s Charles Chandler and Dave Faircloth would crash the 2009 Class of 23 divisional points races party between ProMarineUSA.com/Gator Fan and Get Snookerd at the Shootout by weighing an excellent 34.84 pounder aboard their 23’ Yamaha powered Sailfish. Chandler, a Ft. Pierce Florida fireman, opted to utilize the event’s Naples checkout and run to well-known wreck in 60 feet of water. Setting up shop and deploying a full spread of tournament baits it wouldn’t take long for Kings Wild to get bit.

“At 7:45 we got the bite,” reported Charles. “She hit a medium sized blue runner on top on our first full pass over the structure. Dave whipped the fish pretty quick, in 15 minutes before I gaffed her!” added a stoked Captain Chandler.

Veteran competitors, Chandler and Faircloth both know tournament victories do not come easy. They attribute much of the Ft. Myers Beach Shootout success to their sponsors: Star Rods, Shimano Reels and Sea Striker.

Naples based Get Snookerd proved they are the real deal here on Florida’s west coast. Led by Captain Chris Workman, the savvy team made a 110-mile one-way run aboard their Yamaha powered Contender 23T and struck kingfish pay dirt!

“Every fish we caught today was an upgrade!” stated a relieved Workman.  “We had caught ten mid-20s fish during the morning but the bite really went off right around one o’clock! It was crazy; we had a triple-header cluster going when our big fish of the day hit!"

Michele Jackson, Get Snookerd’s accomplished lady angler quickly grabbed the rod and applied her proficient fish fighting skills. As Workman manned the helm, Jim Kurth cleared lines and Kevin Weber waited to wield his gaffing magic, Michele bested the big king in roughly 20 minutes. Once in the boat, the team realized the big girl was barely hooked with only one of the stinger hooks firmly in the fish’s mouth!

Weighing 31.57 pounds, Get Snookerd’s king would hold on for a second place Ft. Myers Beach Shootout Class of 23 showing and just nip ProMarineUSA.com/Gator Fan for their second straight Class of 23 Division 11 Title!

Awesome job, Captain Chris and crew!

Captain Brian Hasson and the Knot Me team out of St. Petersburg, Florida took the last podium spot for the Class boats weighing a 29.35. Hasson fishes a Yamaha powered Contender 23T.

Many thanks go out to Carolina Skiff, Contender Boats, San Carlos Marine, Sign Zoo and ACR Electronics for all their help and support and Salty Sam’s for hosting the 2nd Annual Ft. Myers Beach Shootout. For the second year in a row. Alberto Abad and his staff did a great job ensuring everyone had a great time. Benefiting Hope Hospice and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation over $58,800 in cash and prizes and $6,700 in raffle items were awarded.

Ft. Myers Beach Kingfish Shootout Final Standings

Open Class 53.801. SECONDS 2 SPARE Contender / Yamaha Scott Rush Gifford Kline Mike Gavala Rick Dean 41.932. PROMARINEUSA.COM Invincible / Yamaha, Mercury, Evinrude Jim Naset Kevin Hannon Rick Cook Chris Blackwell Shannon Armstrong 41.453. TEAM MARLAGO.COM Marlago / Yamaha John Smith Sr. Mike Howes Mike Howes Jr. LeeAnne Howes Landon Howes 40.424. NEVER E - NUFF Contender / Yamaha Mike Rinaldo Kent Allen Devin Sanderson 37.015. SMILE MAKER Regulator / Yamaha Bill Sullivan Brant Keller 34.696. THE REEL WON Contender / Yamaha Bob Woithe Susan Woithe Bob Woithe Phd. 34.357. FISHY BIZNESS Hydra Sports / Yamaha Vic Vazquez Chris Turner Milton Shows Scott Jensen 32.878. TRIPLE J Yellowfin / Mercury P.J. Myers Keith Myers Stevie Cooper Jeff Smith Jake Myers 30.839. LAGERHEAD Contender / Yamaha Steve Papen Brian Simmons Brandon Fraley Doug Speeler 28.5510. SPARKY'S MACHINE Yellowfin / Mercury Will Lamneck Rhonda Morris Mike Abbott

Class of 23 34.851. KINGS WILD Sailfish / Yamaha Dave Faircloth C. Chandler 31.572. GET SNOOKERD Contender / Yamaha Chris Workman Michelle Jackson Kevin Weber Jim Kurth 29.353. KNOT ME Contender / Yamaha Brian Hasson Randy Keys Billy Hasson Luis Urbay Top Lady Angler 41.45LeeAnne Howes TEAM MARLAGO.COM SKA Top Junior Anglers sponsored by N.B.O.A. Marine Insurance 41.451. Landon Howes TEAM MARLAGO.COM 32.872. Jake Myers TRIPLE J 23.953. Chelsey Silverthorne PENNY WISE Mercury Marine Junior Angler Scholarship Winner Jake Myers TRIPLE J