Southern Bale is Top SKA Team at the 2012 Spring Jolly Mon

By Jack Holmes
Managing Partner

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina—The Ocean Isle Fishing Center’s Jolly Mon King Classic spring event is an either/or tournament, meaning you can choose either Saturday or Sunday to fish, but not both. In the Division 9 opener, the top SKA team, Southern Bale, had the largest king on Sunday, a 37.50, but could not overcome the Snap One team who weighed a 41.60 on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Snap team missed out for this story because they were not SKA members. However, one of the team members, Preston Nowell, came back after the event and joined. Good job, Preston!

Ayden Griffin | WILD RIDE
Mercury Marine Junior Angler Scholarship Winner

Matt Gay, Vernon Jones, and Travis Rouse, who fish a Yamaha powered Contender, went to the Navy wreck after one throw of the cast net. "We pulled right in, threw the net, and came up with enough bait for the day," said Matt. "It was about eleven o'clock when our 37.50 ate a menhaden and Vernon grabbed the rod." They got her in the boat without much fanfare.

"We had a tough year last year, but this fish should get us back to the big show in Biloxi," Matt added. They finished fifth overall last year in the Championship, which more than proves their ability to get the job done! They won nearly $11,000.

Jackson David and Hunter Croom are our two high school students who have caught the attention of us at SKA central and the entire fishing fraternity. They are extremely mature and knowledgeable for their age and once again they shined in an event. They chose Sunday to fish and scaled a 33.95 for their efforts. That was second place for Sunday and third overall in the event.

Fourth place overall and second place against all the teams who fished on Saturday fell to the team of Corey Bellamy, Chris Burrows, and Eddy Jones on the Choice of Two, a beautiful Yamaha powered Donzi Corey just acquired. The team scaled a nice 33.70. "We pre-fished on Thursday at the Navy wreck and caught some good fish so we went back on Saturday," Corey told me. "We were fighting an Amberjack about one-o'clock and had only one small pogy out when our 34 hit. Eddy got the rod and did a super job of bringing her to gaff. We already had a couple of twenties in the box so we picked up and headed for the scales." This team also fished the Championship last year and finished 17th overall.

Tristin Catalanotto & Caroline McMullan
2nd and 3rd Place SKA Junior Anglers

Then SKA leaderboard teams move to seventh as non-members captured fifth and sixth. But don't feel bad for the SKA teams. Jolly Mon Director and two-time National Champion Brant McMullan gave away cash to twenty SKA members out of the thirty boat field.

Fred Coyne filled in for Joe Winslow on his Hooligan, a Yamaha powered Yellowfin, as Joe had a previous engagement. Together with Alan Ambrose they scaled a 32.20 seventh place overall king on Sunday. "We always seem to do what the others don't," explained Fred. "When they go north, we go south and it has always paid off. We were between 20 and 30 feet when she ate a plain pogy. Alan grabbed the rod and did the honors. Thank goodness for this fish as we had missed a nice one about an hour and a half earlier. We just wanted to see Joe's boat on the leaderboard."

Austin Eubank and Margaret Pennstrom earned eighth place on their Yamaha powered Contender named Clearly Hooked. They scaled a 31.80 on Sunday. Brant has a Small Boat Class but prizes are secondary. This was the top Small Boat Class team and picked up the bonus money plus eighth place dollars.

"We were in an area twelve miles south of the Tower in 95 feet of water," Austin told me. "We had caught a 36 in this area on Thursday so we went back and it was the right move. Margaret caught the king using a naked pogy."

Margaret also picked up some money for third place in the ladies division.

Blake Holcomb and Brad Dove fished the Mercury powered Triton named Salt & Battery into tenth overall after weighing a 30.25 on Sunday. They were the second place team also in the Small Boat Class.

I would be slighting some members if I didn't make sure they were recognized. Richard Boles led his Yamaha powered Contender team to an eleventh place finish after weighing a nice 29.60. Doug Robson, Richard J. Boles, and Glenn Boles fish the team. Richard J. was our SKA Top Junior Angler and second place in the tournament's junior class.

Same for Corey Durako on the Mercury powered Onslow Bay named Blew By U! He and Barry Bierstedt, Richard Gilligan, and Joel Brown had a 28.40. They rounded out the three places that earned bonus money in the Small Boat Class.

Timothy Milliken won fourteenth place and Tristin Catalanotto on the Yamaha powered McKee Craft named Inlet View Bar & Grill. They scaled a 27.35.

Congratulations to all the teams who showed up for this year's event!

Once again the McMullan family plus the crew at the Ocean Isle Fishing Center put together another great event. I truly must commend their efforts and really look forward to going back in the fall.

Speaking of the fall, we all must remember that their event in the fall will take place on October 26th – 28th. That's just one week prior to Division 9 qualifiers having to pack up and head for Biloxi. So it is my recommendation that all teams should not wait to get reservations and make plans now. We will keep in touch with you. I hope to get Brant to do another preparation seminar a couple of weeks prior to the event. As a two-time champion I can't think of anyone better to advise fisher people. I'm sure he'll agree to do it!

Open Class