« Return to About King Mackerel
Kids Love Fishing Too
Terry Lacoss
Take a young child fishing and let them hook into a fish of any size and you will soon see why kids love fishing too!
Till this very day, I can still remember the very first fish that I caught. My father took my older sister Carol and me fishing along an old riverbank with cane poles and worms. My father would thread the worms on our hooks and we were instructed to drop them deep into the water where the tip of the cane pole was held just above the surface of the water. Soon, I felt something tugging on my rod tip and began backing up while dragging a one-pound yellow perch from the river!
During the 27th Annual Nassau Sports Fishing Tournament of Champions, the widest grin at the awards dinner was produced by twelve-year-old Byron Darner. Darner claimed first place honors in the popular Southern Kingfish Association sanctioned event by topping all other youth fishermen with a 36.10-pound king mackerel.
However, the real story begins when Chuck Darner first taught his son, Charles Darner, the skills of king mackerel fishing. The father and son kingfish team competed in Northeast Florida’s Division 5 kingfish tournaments aboard the kingfish boat, Let's Go.
“When Chuck’s son Byron was old enough to fish, we began taking Byron king fishing too,” Chuck said. “This year we entered the Nassau Sports Fishing Tournament and signed Byron up for the Junior Angler portion of the tournament. Our targeted kingfish waters were just south of St. Augustine at the Matanzas Inlet. Here we slow trolled ribbonfish on the clear side of the tide line and hoped to catch that big tournament winning king mackerel.”
“Luck and skill played their hand as we boated a real smoker that tipped the tournament scales at 36.10-pounds. However both my son Charles and me did not see the same excitement on the face of our junior angler when the big kingfish was gaffed and placed in our boat’s kingfish bag, as we did at the award’s dinner. When Byron found out that he had won a $500.00 cash award and a $500.00 savings bond sponsored by Subway, you can’t imagine how his overall outlook on winning the Junior Angler tournament changed!"
I was there at the awards ceremony and actually witnessed one of the happiest junior king mackerel fishermen that I have seen to date. Byron’s grin stretched from one ear to the other during the entire awards program!
Which this brings up a good point: taking young fishermen fishing is a great idea, but entering them in a fishing tournament is an even better idea. Children love to be recognized for catching a fish and what a better way to award a young fishermen for making a big catch than by giving them a trophy and prize?
Prior to the Nassau Sports Fishing Association’s Kingfish Tournament, the N.S.F.A. held its annual Black Drum Fishing Tournament. The event is usually won by fishing after dark, in heavy seas and off from the beaches of Amelia Island in heavy surf. A junior angler has never won the event.
“We live on a creek that feeds the Nassau River where we have easy access to excellent river fishing,” John Jones said. “We often fish for striped bass, sea trout and redfish, which molded my son Jacob into a very enthusiastic fisherman at a very young age!”
On March 25th, John Jones, son Jacob and Vernon Crosby anchored their fishing boat just off from the surf at Main Beach. Fresh blue crabs were cut in half and used for drum baits. It was 5:30pm, the day before a full moon and the tide had just started to rise.
“The ocean was rough with seas running between three and four feet, with a southeast wind blowing at 15 to 18 knots,” John Jones remembers. “We had been catching a few stingrays and sharks when Jacob hooked a big fish. The fight lasted for 20 minutes before Jacob was able to reel his big fish up close enough to our fishing boat to identify it. We were very excited to see a huge black drum at the other end of Uncle Bugg’s fishing rod and reel. What made it very special, was my son Jacob had the satisfaction of being able to reel in that big drum fish in with Uncle Bugg’s fishing rod and reel!”
“That next morning at Leaders & Sinkers bait and tackle shop, Don Whitman weighed in Jacob Jones's big drum. The tournament scales put 12-year-old Jacob Jones in the number one spot with a weight of 80.96-pounds and is the only junior angler to have ever won the Black Drum tournament.
“Being able to catch the largest black drum in the tournament was very special to me because the fishing pole and reel that I caught the big drum on was given to me by my Uncle Buggs," Jacob Jones said.
Relatives and friends frequently called Carlice Carter, “Uncle Buggs.” Before passing away after a lengthy illness, Uncle Buggs wished that his nephew, Jacob would have his saltwater fishing rod and reel.
And more than likely, young Jacob was sending a message to bite his crab bait fished at the business end of Uncle Bugg’s fishing rod and reel to that big Amelia Island drum fish. Without saying, 12-year-old Jacob Jones will never forget catching that big drum with Uncle Bugg’s fishing rod and reel and winning a big saltwater fishing tournament as a Junior Angler.
The AT&T Bell South Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament has long been remembered for hoisting the largest king mackerel tournament in the world. With a failing economy, the number of boats entering the event has dropped each year during the past five kingfish seasons. However, during the Junior Angler tournament, the number of Junior Anglers has increased. Which is an excellent indication that families still wish to get their children involved with fishing.
Junior anglers aboard Steve Pickett’s 4/0 kingfish boat stole the show during the 2009 AT&T Bell South Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament. Junior anglers included Charlie Palmer, Colby LeSage, Carter Pickett also fished with Spencer LeSage who weighed in a 37.40-pound king mackerel. Also fishing aboard the 4/0 kingfish boat included William LeSage, Walker Palmer, Steve Pickett Jr. and Jimmy Pickett.
The Fernandina Beach based kingfish team began their morning by slow trolling a variety of kingfish baits in a deep slough located offshore of Amelia Island. Spencer’s big fish struck a ribbon fish around 9:00am and took some 20 minutes to land. First prize in the Junior Angler tournament included a fully outfitted, 15-foot Carolina Skiff, powered by a Mercury outboard engine complete with a Loadmaster aluminum trailer. Charlie Palmer also finished in the 22nd spot with his 21.65-pound kingfish.
This was the column that ran in the newspaper, however there were many more words that tell this kingfish story:
"During the 1994 N.S.F.A. Kingfish Tournament, Steve Pickett captained his 4/0 Kingfish team to the winner's circle while weighing in a 51.36-pound king mackerel. Fishing aboard the 4/0 kingfish boat were several family members including Steve Pickett, Jr., Jimmy Pickett, J.T. Pickett, Johnny Pickett, Trace Pickett and a close friend, Mayo Smith. Their tournament record held for several years until 2005 when team Southbound weighed in a 53-pound king mackerel."
However the moral of this story is, all of these family-fishing teams have one thing in common, they are family orientated and truly enjoy taking their children fishing!
