Team Zebra / Oh Yeah’s 47.98 Wins Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament

By Don Ewing

Atlantic Beach, North Carolina - There were thirty-one teams going into the Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament with just one fish on their side of the ledger. Now we have a race that will be decided at the Onslow Bay tournament. It’s anyone’s race, however, Team Zebra / Oh Yeah, captained by David Tedder is certainly feeling better and he has a bunch of Benjamin’s in his pocket to boot.

Tedder, Brian Shore, David Godbold, and Jeff Smith,  fishing their first year as SKA members, ran their 36’ Yamaha powered Contender south to a spot just north of Topsail. “We had a spread of pogies out in a spot we had fished the day before,” explained Tedder. “It was about ten-fifteen when she at a pogy in the prop wash. Brian picked up the rod and told us this was a good fish. After a routine fight David and Jeff were waiting, gaff in hand, to get her in the boat. This was certainly the biggest king we’ve ever caught in a tournament.”

Zebra Environmental sponsored them and David Godbold was pronounced the event’s Top Senior Angler.

Later that evening the team stood on the tournament stage and accepted a $27,000 check from tournament promoter Terry Adkins for their big win. David and his team certainly had something to brag about when they returned home to Colfax, North Carolina, and a memory that will last with them for the rest of their lives.

SKA members David Lucas and Thomas Evans picked up $5,640 for third after a non-member won second. Fishing Lucas’ Evinrude powered C-Hawk, the duo fished on the east side of the thirty-minute rock in sixty feet of water.

We’ve had good luck here in September’s past,” said Lucas. “It was an early fish. We had both pogies and ribbonfish in our spread. At seven-forty-five she hit a pogy on the surface. Tom Evans did the honors, but because of rough seas it was real hard to get on top of the fish.”

Back at the scales the fish weighed 37.61, good for the first day’s lead. But with one hundred seventy-six boats entered it was enviable someone would find a bigger fish, but with that many entries third is something this team can be very proud of.

Congratulations Amanda Gail!

William D. and Sherry Littleton caught a 36.45 to earn fourth, however they were really the top Class of 23 team in competition this weekend. The payout, $2040, was greater than the $1360 paid for the Class win. Sherry also won $300 for Top Lady honors.

David and Sherry have been members of the SKA for seventeen years and used that experience at the inlet where at three-ten they landed their king.

“Sherry caught her using a shad in forty feet of water,” William informed us. “James Lewis was waiting with the gaff when Sherry brought her by the boat. Sherry is a good lady angler and did what was expected when we hooked up.”

They fish a Mercury powered Bayliner named Unbelievable.

Moving to sixth place was first year members, Roy A. Jarman, Truman Waller, Tommie Jarman, and Roy M. Jarman fishing the Yamaha powered Cape Horn, Team Pro Build.

Here’s a heartbreaker, “We had just lost an estimated fifty pound king just thirty minutes before,” Roy told us. “She just pulled the hooks, then our thirty-three hit a hard-tail on a balloon rig. I took the rod while the others attended to duties. We didn’t want to loose this one. When she got close to the boat Truman was ready with the gaff and didn’t miss”

They earned $1360 plus got to go on stage and collect their accolades. Pro Build and Sea View Pier sponsor them.

It’s tough to loose a good fish. Sometimes it demoralizes a team but Team Pro Build did what they needed to do. Got the baits out and went to work again. This is the mark of a very good team. Keep your eye on them!

Seventh place fell to the Reel Thrill, a Mercury powered Fountain with Vaughn Ford, Derek Ennis, and Curt Roosa on board.

“We fished the Seventeen-Hundred Rock in ninety feet of water,” Ford told us. “We had been catching big sharks and AJ’s so when the 32.72 hit a naked pogy on the surface it just didn’t feel like a king. She made a short run then sounded, but we thought if she was an Amberjack we would put it in the boat for friends. Near the end of the fight she ran under the motors and we almost lost her. We were all surprised when she came to the surface, but Curt made short work with the gaff and we had a nice top ten fish.”

Eighth place went to Team Killingsworth with a nice 31.56. James Sharp and Jim Warenda fish a Mercury powered World Cat.

Ninth place fell to Jeff Morris on the Sharon Leigh with a 31.54.

So all told the SKA members earned fourteen places in the top twenty. A very respectful finish but SKA members are the cream of the fishing fraternity.

A strange thing happened however, SKA had no Class of 23 teams finish in the top three money spots.

The SKA juniors did really well also. Tanner Pardue won this tournament with a 24.70 fishing on Steppin Up.

Nicholas Brown earned second place from the Blue Chips with a 24.01 while Cole Edens won third fishing East Coast Sports.

So let’s take a look at the standings after four events in Division One. D. Logan, Logan’s Run, holds onto an eight-point lead over North Florida’s Jeff Keeton. If you remember Keeton fished Division Five, didn’t qualify, so decided to come to North Carolina and make a run at it. He and his family are second. That’s a story!

Thanks to this past weekend, Team Zebra has moved into third and Ken Strickland’s All In team is fourth. Rounding out the top five is John Parks' Team Raymarine. Can’t wait to see how this all plays out this coming weekend at Onslow Bay.       

Congratulations to Terry Adkins for producing a truly great event. Terry if definitely bringing this event back to the stature it once commanded. He is to be applauded!

ATLANTIC BEACH KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT

Open Class 47.981. TEAM ZEBRA / OH YEAH Contender / Yamaha David Tedder Brian Shore David Godbold Jeff Smith 39.322. Kings Ransom 37.613. AMANDA GAIL C-Hawk / Evinrude David Lucas Thomas Evans 36.454. UNBELIEVABLE Bayliner / Mercury William D. Littleton Sherry Littleton 35.415. Reel World 33.036. TEAM PRO BUILD Cape Horn / Yamaha Roy A. Jarman Truman Waller Tommie Jarman 32.727. REEL THRILL Fountain / Mercury Vaughn Ford Derek Ennis Curt Roosa 31.568. TEAM KILLINGSWORTH World Cat / Mercury James Sharp Jim Warenda Randy Barnes 31.549. SHARON LEIGH Sea Vee / Mercury Jeff Morris 31.2110. Hat Trick 31.2111. SUMMER GRACE KenCraft / Yamaha Tee Page 31.1712. WALL HANGER Hydra Sports / Yamaha Brian Allen James Harris Brian Stancil 31.0413. SIMPLY STORAGE Yellowfin / Yamaha Mike Kennedy Mark Kennedy Bruce Brown Stacy Brown 30.4314. Mount Maker 30.2915. JUSTIN TIME Contender / Suzuki Johnny Hudson Robert Parrott Chad Shingleton 28.7316. R/C HOMES Fountain / Mercury Rick Hill John Banks Charlie Neal 28.4817. Far Fetched 27.9018. RAYMARINE Wellcraft / Yamaha John Parks Matt Henderson Matthew Henderson 26.2919. Work Release 26.2320. ALL IN Cape Horn / Yamaha Kenneth Strickland Roy Strickland Lynn Fox Tim Wayt

Class of 23 0.001. Top 3 Class of 23 boats placed higher in Open Class. Top Lady Angler 36.45Sherry Littleton UNBELIEVABLE Top Senior Angler 47.98David Godbold TEAM ZEBRA / OH YEAH SKA Top Junior Anglers sponsored by Tudor's Insurance Agency & Carroll Construction Inc. 24.701. Tanner Pardue STEPPIN UP 24.012. Nicholas Brown BLUE CHIPS 20.073. Cole Edens EAST COAST SPORTS