Southern Kingfish Association

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Crikey Wins First Leg of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour in Key West!

By Southern Kingfish Association

Key West, FL— If you were to check Andre Moore’s bank account on Monday, the day after the opening event of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour, you would find an extra $40,000 just deposited.

Andre, his wife Kim Bain Moore, Greg Watts, and Glyn Austin won the event on Sunday with a spectacular 55.35 which was the biggest king scaled this weekend. That king coupled with the 36.68 caught on Saturday gave the Crikey team, fishing an Evinrude powered Invincible, a two fish aggregate of 92.03, nearly ten pounds better than the second place team.

“A week ago I didn’t even have a team put together,” said the popular bass fishing professional. “We made it happen and look at us now.” The team also won the piggyback event, the Key West Harbour Tournament, which awarded them a new 21’ Yamaha powered Contender boat complete with a Continental Trailer, valued at $40,000.

“We fished both days at the Critter,” said Andre referring to a popular spot west of Key West.

On day one the team weighed their smaller fish, a 36.68 they caught on a rainbow runner.

Back they went to the same area on day two. “The blue runners we had were just too big,” Moore went on to explain.  They received a dozen smaller baits from another team. “The tide had just changed and I noticed a good piece of bottom on the depth recorder and told Greg to drop a bait deep,” Moore added. “It worked!”

He saw the fish early in the fight and knew she was a good fish. When she hit the deck everyone was in awe. This was the biggest king the team had ever seen let alone catch. “I’ve heard about the giants in Key West, now I’ve caught one,” Andre added.

Kim Bain Moore was the event's Top Lady Angler.

The Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour is made up of five events. Stops include Key West and Jensen Beach in Florida, Fourchon, Louisiana, St. Simons Island, Georgia, and the final in Little River, South Carolina. It is perceived by the participants that you need big fish in the first three events and replace your drop fish in the remaining two. It’s the toughest test of skill in our sport.

The Weathers, Greg and Jeff, fished at the Tail End Buoy area. Fishing their Yamaha powered Contender, Triple Gobble, they caught a 46.93 on day one. “It was about eleven o’clock, at the tide change when the bite turned on,” said Greg. “She hit a goggle eye on the surface.  Jeff got her to the boat and we knew we were in the race. It certainly made our day.”
Back to the same spot on Sunday, the bite turned on an hour later. “We knew we needed a half way decent fish and we got a 35.83 I caught on a blue runner. We really needed a bigger king to win the event but when you look at the overall picture this one was just fine.”

The 82.76 aggregate was enough for second place and the $11,000 prize. “We’ve been in the chase every year for the “Angler of the Year” title but we have always started out slow in Key West and had to make up ground to catch up,” Greg added. “This is really the best start we’ve ever had. We’re excited!”

The 2006 “Angler of the Year,”Ron Mitchell, got off to a rousing start on his Suzuki powered Contender, Bandit. Ron came back to the series this year with a lot of Pro talent. First, long time fishing partner Will Geraghty came back. Then he added Carl Carder who fished his own boat last year, “C Crazy.” David and Brad Butler round out the team. They fished Season Ticket last season. That’s horsepower!

The team fished the Banana Bar and kept working the reef line. They scaled a 34.42 on day one however they showed me a king bitten in two by a shark that would have gone into the mid to high 40s. “It was a tough break,” said Ron but when you fish here you always have that problem. “We had her under the boat but felt when the shark hit.”

On day two they brought a 46.84 to the boat at noon caught on a tinker mackerel. “We called Jim S. in on the bite and he caught a 44.”

The Bandit team ended with 81.26 points, good for third place and the $10,000 paycheck.

The Conched Out team elected to join the tour this year and proved their team was up to the task. Corey and Ryan McBride, Greg and Chase Haskin, and David Kalik ran 40 miles south and fished in 100 feet of water on their Mercury powered Conch.    

“We fished the same place as last year where we caught our 50,” said Corey. “Ryan got a 34.11 on day one to scale using a blue runner.”

On day two they were within two miles of where they fished on Saturday. “The water temperature was 70 degrees,” Corey continued to explain. “We had a tinker mackerel out and it’s the one our 41.81 hit at 11:30. David was on the rod and didn’t take long to get her to the boat.”

The team's 75.92 aggregate won the $6,000 for fourth place. Chase Haskin was the event's Top Junior Angler.
Corey wanted to thank Mercury Outboards, Total Marine in Davie, Florida, and Accurate Reels for all their help.
Conrad Lau and Dell Williamson’s team, Koolau, earned fifth. With Rad Lau, Rocky Cusack, and Gill Strelec on board, the team could also be found at the Tail End Buoy area on day one. “We started just east of the area on Saturday,” explained Conrad. “But we just couldn’t find the good fish we needed and had to settle for a 23.74 on the scale as day one ended.

The second day was much different. “We were really hoping she would go 50 but she ended up going 49.85,” he went on. “But what was sad is that we had caught a 43-pound king earlier that day. That king on day one could have made the race very close for the top slot.”

The one thing that Conrad does that most don’t is fly a kite rig. “It’s a lot of work keeping them adjusted but I find it pays off.”

The team ended up in fifth place with a 73.59 aggregate and Conrad earned the Senior Angler award for the event.
Lance Irvine showed up in Key West to fish the Pros in a rebuilt Fountain boat he worked all last year on. It was a magnificent job, the boat looking and running great with Mercury power.

With Lance were Max and Houston Irvine, and Harrison Smith. The team caught a 33.87 on day one and returned Sunday with a 39.44. Good, consistent fishing will win you a title so the Young Guns sixth place finish will bode them well this season.

Team Donzi already has one “National Championship” title under their belt (2000) and would like to add the “Angler of the Year” title to their resume.

Ken and Dan Upton, Jack Wood who has another NC title, David Heavenridge, and Matt Davis scaled a 46.73 on day one but could only back it up with a 25.16 on day two. Their 71.89 still allowed them to pick up seventh place honors. Another great start for this very experienced team.

Dan, Travis, Lucas, and Laurie Crowley, plus Lewis Rogers, and Muller Otto earned 69.31 points fishing the Posse, a Mercury powered Yellowfin. They scaled a 36.51 on the first day and ended with a 32.80 for a 69.31 aggregate. This is one team I will keep my eye on. They finished thirteenth last year and  should finish up much higher this year if not win it all.

Last year’s eleventh place finisher is now also on the prowl. Kevin Hannon’s ProMarineUSA.com / Hannon’s Cannon picked up ninth with 69.01 points. With Shannon Armstrong, Chris Blackwell, Rick Cook, and Jim Naset onboard, they scaled a 27.93 on day one, then added a 41.08.

The final money spot in the event went to Darren Ratley, John Mott, Jimmy Stecki, and John McNeill fishing the Mercury powered Yellowfin, Rat Pak.

The team scaled a 39.26 on day one and added a 29.61 on day two for a 68.87 aggregate.

Two 50s and eleven 40s were caught in the 60-boat field. $85,000 was paid out to the top ten places.

The event held at the Key West Harbour Marina went off without a hitch and will probably return there next year in January.  The fishing is too good not to consider it.

Most teams reported two to three foot seas going west to their destination and seas three to five foot outside the reef line.