Bell & Bell Sponsored King Hunter Team Tops Rumble in the Jungle Field With A 35.60!

By Jack Holmes

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina—James Roberts and Jeff Lee teamed on the 23-foot Mercury powered Contender named King Hunter / Team Bell & Bell to win the Rumble in the Jungle tournament with a 35.60. The irony of this is that they had the biggest fish on Saturday, bigger than all the Pros who were fishing their final event of the season. In fact, the Pros only showed up in seven of the fifteen money slots on the leaderboard.

Board members of the Little River Fishing Club, the promoters of the event, had many comments from club members about having to compete against the Pros. As usual, many members were wrong, proving that local knowledge is still paramount regardless of the competition.

“We fished east of Yaupon and the River Channel,” said Jeff Lee. “It was rough and we were about four miles from where we wanted to be but James pulled back on the throttles to check the GPS. He found some numbers he had stored that were a lot closer so that’s where we stopped.”

At 9:15 non-member Roger Gales picked up the rod with the singing reel and the fight was on. “She ate a bluefish we caught the day before on the surface,” Lee added.

That king earned the team top honors in the event plus nearly $23,000 in tournament rewards. They received a standing ovation from the large crowd there for the ceremonies. They more than deserved it!

The Kill-N-Me / Team Invincible had a great event also. First, Howard Poe and Chris Cathey took second place honors in the tournament and a little over $9,000. Alex Todd earned Top Junior Angler honors for the team and its $620 prize. As you can imagine, it took ten minutes before all the picture taking was over.

The Kill-N-Me team also earned another $9,000 in the Pro Division of the event.

Derek Savage, Jon Patterson, and Zack Shackleton teamed on the Yamaha powered Contender, Twister, to earn third place honors with a 27.84.

“We ran out of Lockwood Folly and came down to checkout,” said Patterson. “We were going to go back to the ships channel where we caught the fourth place king in the U.S. Open  but saw a lot of bait at Shallotte Inlet and a couple of kings skying on that bait. Within 15 to 20 minutes of getting to back to the inlet we had a 22-pounder in the boat and released a teenager.”

The team figured that this was the best place to stay and fish especially with the four- to five-foot swells.

“At 11:30 our 27.84 hit a naked pogy in the prop wash. I grabbed the rod and within a few minutes had her in the boat,” Jon added. That king was worth $7,400. Plus they jumped to fourth place in the Division 9 SKA points race. 

Last year’s Class of 23 National Champion, Randall Edens, picked up fourth place with a 26.93. Fishing with his dad, George, Chris Gaddy, and Scott Wasilewski, they fished the river channel at Southport. “We knew what was caught there the week before in the U.S. Open so we wanted to start there,” Randall told me. “We caught a dozen or more kings on Friday because we were fishing the Pros also. The biggest was a 27.”

On day two, the team also ran back to the same spot and set up shop. “Fishing dropped off there on Saturday but we hung in, Randall went on. “At 9:30 we put a 22-pounder in the boat. A half hour later our fourth place 26.93 came in the boat.”

All their fish were caught with pogies. When asking Randall about the technique he used this weekend he responded. “We had 40 pounds of fresh chum on board and because bait was so plentiful, we even ground more as the day’s went on.”

Randall’s dad, George, was the event's Top Senior Angler.

Rounding out the top five was Kevin O’Neale and Michele Stroud on the Class of 23 Yamaha powered Sailfish named In 2 Deep. Michele was the event's Top Lady Angler. Their 26.13 not only gave them some money but pushed them up to fifth place in the Division standings however, they have already qualified for the nationals earning second in the Class standings in Division Three. This is one great team!

A Pro team from Mobile, Alabama was sixth. Marcus Kennedy, Brian Bailey, and past Angler of the Year David Van Lent, caught a 25.98. They are 7.90 points out of the Division win.

Seventh place fell to Eren’s Addiction Too with a 24.99.  Jack and Eren Bracewell now find themselves in third place in the Open Class in Division Nine with just one event left.

Bill Welborn and Chuck Owens were eighth fishing the Billz Fisher. They scaled a 24.05 and fish a Mercury powered Mako.

The ’07 Angler of the Year team, Mining My Bidness, with Chuck Permenter, Patrick Bellamy, Kent Taylor, and Todd Sanders picked up ninth scaling a 23.24.

Tenth place went to Feedin’ Frenzy / Tobacco Money with Randy Ungerfelt and Kevin Sneed. They weighed a 22.38.

The Class of 23 was won by a non-member with a 26.37, however second place, Sea’N Is Believe’n, was not that far behind. Anthony Queen, Scott McAteer, Landy Blackwell, and Bill McNeely, caught a nice 25.53 to earn second place. They fish a Yamaha powered Sea Pro.

All told, the Little River Sportfishing Club paid out $64,388 for cash winners in this year’s edition of the Rumble in the Jungle. It has to be one of the best tournaments on the circuit.

Our thanks go to Suzy and her staff at Harborgate Marina for a great job. The fisher people really appreciate all they do for our sport. 

Rumble in the Jungle

Open Class 35.601. KING HUNTER / TEAM BELL & BELL Contender / Mercury James Roberts Jeff Lee 31.512. KILL-N-ME Invincible / Mercury Howard Poe Donna Gowen Poe Jessica Poe Chris Cathey Alex Todd 27.843. TWISTER Contender / Yamaha Derek Savage Jon Patterson Zack Shackleton 26.934. EAST COAST SPORTS Onslow Bay / Yamaha Derek Savage Jon Patterson Zack Shackleton 26.135. IN 2 DEEP Sailfish / Yamaha Kevin O'Neale Michele Stroud 25.986. KWAZAR Yellowfin / Yamaha Marcus Kennedy Brian Bailey David Van Lent 24.997. EREN'S ADDICTION TOO Contender / Yamaha Jack Bracewell Eren Bracewell 24.058. BILLZ FISHER Mako / Mercury Bill Welborn Chuck Owens 23.249. MINING MY BIDNESS Donzi / Mercury Chuck Permenter Patrick Bellamy Kent Taylor Todd Sanders 22.3810. Tobacco Money 22.1311. TIDE LINE Wellcraft / Yamaha Dieter Cardwell Kevin Alley Lori Seawell 22.1312. TEAM SIMRAD Wellcraft / Yamaha Dieter Cardwell Kevin Alley Lori Seawell 21.6613. STEEL FISHING Wellcraft / Yamaha Randy Spainhour Joe Buie Ethan Hedrick James Gunter 21.3914. THE REEL WON Contender / Yamaha Robert Woithe Susan Woithe Jeff Dunbar Nancy Dunbar 20.9915. SEA BYRD Sailfish / Yamaha Ricky Byrd Will Richardson Brian Matthews Danny Matthews

Class of 23 26.371. Kan't Git Rite 25.532. SEA'N IS BELIEVE'N Sea Pro / Yamaha Anthony Queen Scott McAteer Landy Blackwell Billy McNeely Top Lady Angler 26.13Michele Stroud IN 2 DEEP Top Senior Angler 26.93George Edens EAST COAST SPORTS Top Junior Angler 31.51Alan Todd KILL-N-ME / TEAM INVINCIBLE SKA Top Junior Anglers sponsored by Ocean Isle Fishing Center 31.511. Alex Todd KILL-N-ME / TEAM INVINCIBLE  2. Richard James Boles and Jordan Robson TOES UP Mercury Marine Junior Angler Scholarship Winner Alex Todd KILL-IN-ME / TEAM INVINCIBLE