(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

Camerons Win Season Ender at Fall Frantic Atlantic
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
October 16, 2000

N. Myrtle Beach, SC—Eddie and Michelle Cameron have been one of the most consistent husband and wife fishing teams anywhere. The only thing that has eluded the Ole’ all season has been a major win, but their number was finally called during the final tournament of the season in Division Three at the Fall Frantic Atlantic.

Since the tournament did not require a check out, the Camerons elected to fish out of their home port in Morehead, heading for the normally productive waters off the eastern side of Cape Lookout Shoals.

“We hit the 1700 Rock first but it wasn’t looking too good so then we picked up and headed farther offshore,” Eddie reported at the dock. The move produced a large amberjack followed by a yellowfin tuna estimated at over 40 pounds for the team, but there were no kings to be found. A quick call from a friend enticed the pair to run back inshore of the 1700 where they deployed a fresh spread of bluefish in 75 feet of water. The first strike was a screamer, but the fish was able to gain its’ freedom by chewing through the wire leader. Another strike followed shortly afterward. “We really didn’t think it was a big fish,” Michelle said. “He barely ran at all, and he headed downwind and downsea, which is unusual. I fought him for only about 10 or 15 minutes before Eddie could gaff him.”

Their 44.22 pound kingfish nailed a naked bluefish on the long topline. “We had penned up bait the night before, and I think that helped us,” Eddie said later. By 10:30, they already had a good king aboard but continued to fish a bit longer in search of another larger one. After releasing several much smaller fish, the Ole’ was off and running to the scales. “HydraSports and OMC really have come through for us this season,” Eddie said. “The boat has just performed extremely well all year, and those guys deserve a lot of credit for that. Now, we’re looking forward to going home to Morehead for the National Championship.”

While the Ole’s fish would continue to lead the tournament, they did have one serious contender for the title on the second day of fishing. Chuck Permenter and Patrick Bellamy were still breaking in a brand new Mercury-powered Donzi, so they decided to fish close to home. “We headed to Myrtle Beach Rock,” Permenter reported. “First thing this morning, as soon as we had bait.” Their fish hit a double pogy rig just after 8 AM. After a short but intense battle with the big smoker, Permenter soon had the fish aboard. Bellamy said, “We hooked up as soon as we passed over the numbers. In fact, Chuggy Vereen [Slip Form] had a bite as he passed by us going the other way.” Later that afternoon, the Mining My Bidness team presented their fish to the weighmaster, who called the weight at 44.18 pounds. Four-tenths of a pound separated them from the leaders--that’s tight competition!

Dieter Cardwell and Mike Lundy rolled the dice during the Frantic Atlantic, and came up with a 37 even for third place overall on the Tideline. They had heard of a good bite happening off Hatteras, but it would be a long, long ride to the scales. “We fished the Smell Wreck in 100 feet of water,” Lundy said. “The fish hit a pogy on the topline, and I fought him for only about 10 minutes before we had him in the boat.” Then came the hard part. “I punched in the numbers for the weigh in, and it was 197 miles one way,” Cardwell said. “We left the Smell Wreck at 20 minutes to 12 and made it here with 10 minutes to spare. The boat holds 238 gallons of fuel and I think we burned 221.” At the awards, Cardwell had high praise for the performance of his OMC outboards, saying they gave him the range to make the 200 mile run to the scales.

Dean Spatholt and Mike Callahan finished fourth in the tournament on the Yamaha-powered Contender Fish Meister. They also fished on the East Side off Morehead, locating their 36.90 pound kingfish just inshore of the 1700 Rock. “We caught him on a ribbonfish,” Spatholt reported. “And we never have had very much luck on ribbonfish--I don’t even like to pull ‘em, but it paid off for us this weekend.” Their bite happened at 11 AM on the 40 foot downrigger. Fifteen minutes later the king was in the boat. “He never made much of a run at all,” said the captain. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we would make it back in time, but we got here with about 10 minutes before cutoff time.”

In the “I’ve Seen It All Now” category, this was the first tournament that I’ve ever witnessed a sailboat weighing in. Jack Newton sloowwwly pulled up to the weigh in dock on the second day of the tournament in his big blowboat with one for the scales. When we asked where the fish was, Newton replied, “In the shower.” While one member of his crew went below to retrieve the fish, I thought to myself, “Dink. Maybe a dinky dink at that.” Much to my surprise, the guy pulled out a pretty good fish that would weigh 24.70 pounds and put the stately Lady Godiva in twenty-first place. In fact, he beat the past National Champions on That’s My Dog--they could only manage a 24.58 for twenty-second in the tournament in a Donzi 32 powered by twin Merc 300s. I really hope this doesn’t start a trend in tournament kingfishing, although the Lady Godiva’s top speed under power is just about right for slow trolling a spread of pogies. Where do you put the downriggers, though? Should we start a sailboat division? Stay tuned...

Final Standings

1. OLE’.................................44.22 HydraSports/OMCEddie Cameron Michelle Cameron 2. MINING MY BIDNESS.......................44.18 Donzi/Mercury Chuck Permenter Patrick Bellamy 3. TIDELINE............................37.00 Wellcraft/OMC Dieter Cardwell Mike Lundy 4. FISHMEISTER..............................36.90 Contender/Yamaha Dean Spatholt Mike Callahan 5. Money Talks.............................34.64

6. POCKET BROKE...........................32.86 Contender/Yamaha Tripp Jackson Landy Blackwell Jeff Newcomb 7. TAILWALKER....................................32.38 Contender/Yamaha Stuart Ballard Don Mussman Frank Clemens 8. Just Because...................................32.04 9. Big Dawg......................................31.34 10. SLIP FORM.............................30.74 HydraSports/OMC Travis Cleardy Chuggy Vereen Jess Vereen

Lure Me Top Local Team at Tailwalker King Sting
Susan Elizabeth Bests The Fleet In Class of 23
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
August 7, 2000

Georgetown, SC—With the Yamaha Pro Tour and the Tailwalker Marine King Sting being run consecutively, it was no surprise that the competition would be fierce. The divisional teams were out to prove they could fish just as well as the pros, and that they did.

Even though the Attitude Adjuster would finish first with their big fish of 39.20 pounds and the Vamoose would take the aggregate second place money, the locals still made a fine showing in the event.

Five of the top ten spots would fall to divisional competitors, as well as ten of the top twenty. Monty Mishoe and the Lure Me team would find third place overall in the big fish competition with a 35.9 pounder boated on the first day of fishing. “We fished the Not So Secret Hole, along with most of the fleet on Day One,” Mishoe reported later. “Our biggest fish hit a long shotgun line with a plain pogy. Ronnie was on the rod for about 30 minutes. I would like to say thanks to the other boats around us that were courteous enough to clear lines and stay out of the way. I don’t even remember exactly who they were but we appreciated their efforts regardless.” After boating their fish, the team decided to head for the shoals at Cape Romain in search of a larger kingfish, but would have to settle for the one in the box. The ocean turned sloppy, but Mishoe was the first to praise the ride of the Yamaha-powered Contender, saying that the boat was a major reason that the team could remain fishing in safety and comfort.

Another Contender, David Hartness’ Fish Digger, placed fourth in the tournament. Hartness and Frankie Marion were attempting to catch bait when a throw of the net yielded an unexpected prize: a live ribbonfish. “Luckily we didn’t have far to run once we baited up,” Hartness said. “We put him on the downrigger and he was swimming well.” In 45 feet of water off Cape Romain Shoals, the eel was inhaled by a 30 pounder. “We were off to a good start with that fish,” according to the captain, “so we put the lines back out. Five minutes later, the 33 hit in the propwash.” Angler Frankie Marion had the fish to the boat in 20 minutes. They then redeployed the lines to have a 28 crash a flatline. The bite started red hot for the team then ended when the fish turned off for the remainder of the day. “It was a great morning of fishing,” David said.

They were followed by Terry Grantham, David Baker, Joel Coker and Ron Enslen on the My Three Sons, a Mercury-powered Fountain fishing the Pro Tour. Since they hadn’t caught a good fish during the first day, I expected they had a nice one aboard when they idled to the scales on Day Two. That fish scaled 33.50 pounds and would be good for fifth place overall, and their largest fish thus far on the Pro side. This team won the last tournament of their division last year to easily qualify for the National Championships, so it’s never over until the obese lady vocalizes. Alan Richey won sixth for the Mt. Pleasant, SC-based Knot Guilty team, proving that the locals can also find the fish during any given tournament.

The real story in the Tailwalker’s Class of 23 has to be Mark Hamner. Fishing with his young son Ben on the T-topless 17-foot Parker, Susan Elizabeth, Mark boated a 31.35 to finish eighth and first in the Class of 23. Combined with the fish he boated SOLO during the SC Outdoors event, he can begin making plans for Morehead City and the Nationals, I assure you. He will be the first to say that you can be competitive in about any type of boat if you just go fishing. Anyone interested in sponsoring a top-notch family team in the South Carolina area should give Mark a call.

Once again, Stuart Ballard and the volunteers from Tailwalker Marine went out of their way to provide a highly enjoyable event for the fishermen, a feat for which they should all be commended. A free dinner was sponsored for each afternoon following the captain’s meeting and fishing days--low country boil followed by barbeque and culminating with steak and potatoes after the awards ceremonies for both tournaments. With good marine facilities, a number of convenient hotels and restaurants included, the Tailwalker event has become a must-fish tournament in South Carolina.

Final Standings (Second Place Based On Two Fish Aggregate)

1. ATTITUDE ADJUSTER..............................39.20 Wellcraft/Mercury David Murphy Kevin Murphy Bob Townsend 2. VAMOOSE..................................63.40 Contender/Yamaha Randy Crabtree Roy Boone Paul Dozier Donna Gowen Tara Tuten 3. LURE ME............................35.90 Contender/Yamaha Monty Mishoe Baird Sanders Ronnie Broeck 4. FISH DIGGER............................33.80 Contender/Yamaha David Hartness Frankie Marion 5. MY THREE SONS............................33.50 Fountain/Mercury Terry Grantham Joel Coker David Baker Ron Enslen

6. KNOT GUILTY................................32.80 Contender/Yamaha Alan Richey Robert Wyndham Jay McCormack Russ Lamb Britt Tooley Paul Gawaych 7. KING SIZE......................................31.40 Contender/Yamaha Rick Ryan Joel Wood 8. * SUSAN ELIZABETH.............................31.35 Parker/Evinrude Mark Hamner Ben Hamner 9. DONNA’S WORRY.........................31.20 Mako/Mercury Ernie Diloretti 10. TEAM DUPREZ..................................30.10 Donzi/Mercury Don Workman Kerry Townsend Mike Collins

SKA WELLCRAFT JUNIOR ANGLERS 1. Ben Hamner........Susan Elizabeth     2. Adam Taylor......That’s My Dog     3. Josh Poe........Kill-N-Me

Play N' Hookie Rolls Through Mack-A-Tack
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
August 1, 2000

CONDITIONS:
DAY ONE: Sunny, light winds and calm seas
DAY TWO: Rain with occasional thunderstorms, seas range from 2 ft. to 6+ in storms

Mt. Pleasant, SC— Jay Robertson is a firm believer in what might be called the Three Ps of tournament fishing: planning, preparation and patience. So far in Division Three, that devotion to the sport has paid off handsomely for his Play N’ Hookie team of himself and Lisa Wright and junior angler Aaron Wright.

The team topped the field earlier this season at the Sun Fun tournament, then came into the SC Outdoors Mack Attack tournament looking for even more success. The team managed to scale a 20.92 for points on Day One, then returned on Day Two looking for a winner. “We had prefished several spots before the tournament,” Robertson said. “so we felt pretty confident that we could find a good one.” He decided to fish inshore of the Not So Secret hole on the second day of the event, hooking up with a big fish just after 11 AM. “He nailed a pogy on the topline in the middle of a rain storm,” Robertson reported. “I’ve caught several big fish while it’s raining, and thought this might be a big one.” Lisa held on as the fish made several long runs as Jay followed with the Johnson-powered Stratos 33. Thirty minutes later, the fish appeared at boatside. Robertson gaffed the fish and then handed the gaff to Lisa so he could reach over and tail the fish aboard. “We weren’t going to take any chances with that one!” he said later. “I thought he was over forty [pounds] for sure.” He would be slightly disappointed, but when the fish pulled down the digital scale to 39.44 pounds he knew that they were in the driver’s seat. It was their tournament to win or lose, but no other teams would scale a bigger fish throughout Day Two, giving them their second win of the year.

Tim and Chris Johnson were leading the event after Day One, having scaled a 38.54 pounder early in the day on the My Three Dogs. The Johnsons were the second boat to the scales in their Triton 22, knowing they had a nice king aboard. “We fished a place called the Minefield in 40 feet of water,” Tim said. “We studied the charts before the tournament, and that looked like a real fishy area with lots of good bottom, so we got there and had the bite right off the bat.” Johnson said he deployed a ribbonfish down 25 feet, then stepped over to the other side of the boat when the fish struck. “I turned to Chris and said, ‘There he is, son, get him!’ and the fight was on,” said the proud captain. Halfway through the fight, Chris was sure he had hooked a barracuda but when Tim looked over the side he saw it was indeed a nice kingfish. “I told him, ‘Don’t get excited, and don’t touch the drag,’ and he fought him like a pro,” he said later. A short while later, the fish was securely aboard and the team was headed for the scales at the Charleston Harbor Marina. Second place was theirs, in addition to the top spot in the Class of 23 for the tournament.

Chuck Permenter and Patrick Bellamy also came to Charleston looking for a good fish in the division after missing the weigh-in cutoff by thirty seconds earlier this year at the Jolly Mon tournament. The Mining My Bidness, a Mercury-powered Donzi 30, was waiting for the scales to open on Day One with a sizable kingfish aboard. After weighing in their 38.43 pounder, the team returned to the boat to report an amazing tale of how an early morning bite had taken place for them as well. “That fish hit the third bait in the water as I was freespooling it back,” Bellamy said. “He missed it the first time so I freespooled it back but he didn’t come back around. That’s when I put the reel in gear and cranked it a couple times, kind of skipping the pogy back to the boat. That’s when he nailed it--I didn’t even have a chance to put the clicker on!” The fish immediately burned down the drag, even after Bellamy switched the reel’s clicker on. The team elected to fish the 6CR area in 35 feet of water, using the boat’s speed in the ocean to be one of the first teams there with the lines in the water. Their fish would hold up to win third place overall in the event.

Mark and Ben Hamner were able to put the Susan Elizabeth into fifth place overall in the event behind non-members. The pair scaled a 36.07 pounder on Day One of the tournament. The Hamners fish from a 17-foot Parker center console powered by a single Johnson outboard, once again proving that when conditions allow, small boats can and do catch big kings.

The SC Outdoors Mack Attack tournament was filmed as part of the SKA’s new television series, Kingmasters, and should air during next year. Bill Haire and his staff worked very hard to produce a top-quality event in Charleston, and by all reports their efforts paid off. Over one hundred twenty boats turned out to compete, making it a very successful event for their first year. If you missed the tournament, make plans now to fish it next season as even bigger and better things are planned.

Final Standings

1. PLAY N’ HOOKIE.......................39.44 Stratos/Johnson Jay Robertson Lisa Wright Aaron Wright 2. *MY THREE DOGS..........................38.54 Triton/Johnson Tim Johnson Chris Johnson 3. MINING MY BIDNESS.......................38.43 Donzi/Mercury Chuck Permenter Patrick Bellamy 4. Miss Kim..............................36.85 5. Reelin’...................................36.56

6. SUSAN ELIZABETH................................36.07 Parker/Johnson Mark Hamner Ben Hamner 7. Sea Jay................................34.54 8. Sweet Dog II..............................34.0 9. KING SIZE..........................34.0 Contender/Yamaha Rick Ryan Joel Wood 10. Luna Tuna..............................33.67 11. SEA D’S...............................33.33 Contender/Yamaha Dirk McDonald Steve Vernarec Drayton McDonald Keith Vernarec

Wallens Are Top Team at Hilton Head
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
June 19, 2000

Hilton Head Island, SC— Danny Wallen and the HD Springs Marine fishing team were the top SKA boat at the Hilton Head Island Kingfish Classic, held July 15-18, 2000. Wallen, fishing with son Travis, wife Gwen and Chad Newman, elected to fish the Charleston Shipping Channel instead of running farther offshore. "We had fished the Not So Secret hole earlier in the week and caught good fish there, but it was so windy Friday morning that we decided to stay in the ship channel instead. I was just thinking that we might be making a mistake by staying here when the reel started screaming!" Wallen stated. Travis grabbed the rod as the fish made a long smoking initial run away from the Evinrude-powered HydraSports. "He hit the long topline and screamed off line for a good run, then we were able to work him in slowly. That's one of the only fish that Travis has ever had to circle around the boat with the rod. Twenty minutes later, he was in the bag," said the proud captain. The fish would weigh 35.46 pounds, good enough for second place in the tournament behind non-members.

Bill Bendell's Stratos, Stretched Out, finished third in the Hilton Head event this season. The team felt that big kings would be holding over a live bottom approximately 30 miles north of the Charleston jetties in 62 feet of water. Their biggest kingfish of the weekend, a fat 35 pounder, hit a live pogy laced with a C&H Lures Kingbuster skirt on the topline. Bendell reported that angler Elvis Matzelle fought the fish for well over an hour after the 11:30 AM hookup.

The Bonnie B IV, captained by Jim Banks, finished fourth overall in the event with a 33.98 pound king mackerel. The team fished off the Charleston jetties the first day, catching lots of kingfish but none large enough to take to the scales. Day Two found them well offshore, working the break between 55 and 65 feet of water. "We had two good fish that day," Banks reported. "One hit around 10:30 on a ribbonfish down, and the other came around 2 PM on a propwash pogy," he said. He fought the largest of the two for only about 15 minutes before it came to the boat.

Joe and Paula Wells and Rusty Dunn put the Dirty Work into fifth place overall in the tournament. However, the team's day didn't begin very well. Minor mechanical problems sent the Dirty Work back onto the trailer for repair after the team had caught bait for the day. Fortunately, they were able to get the boat fixed in order to stay in the game. "It was frustrating at first, having to start all over again after we had caught bait and everything. We didn't get fishing until after 9:30 in the morning," Joe Wells said later. They decided to fish one of his pet spots for big kings, a live bottom north of Charleston in 50 feet of water. "It's one of the only places I can go and not see any other boats," he reported. After releasing several other smaller kings that morning, their biggest fish of the day hit around noon.

Charles Stephens captained the Shady Grady to sixth place in the tournament and first in the SKA's Class of 23. Second place in the class fell to the SC Outdoors boat, captained by Bill Haire. Incidentally, Bill is the producer of the SKA's new television show, entitled Kingmasters.

The next tournament in Division Three will be the SC Outdoors Mack Attack King Classic, to be held July 27-29, 2000 at the Charleston Harbor Marina Resort. This tournament will also be produced for television as part of the SKA series, so everyone is encouraged to join the SKA and participate in this event. For more information contact Bill Haire at 843-664-2431. And for a complete recap of the Hilton Head event, see the upcoming issue of Angler Magazine, the official publication of the SKA.

Final Standings

1. Roadkill.......................36.80 2. HD SPRINGS MARINE....................35.46 HydraSports/Evinrude Danny Wallen Travis Wallen Gwen Wallen Chad Newman 3. STRETCHED OUT.........................35.00 Stratos/OMC Bill Bendell 4. BONNIE B IV.........................33.98 HydraSports/Evinrude Jim Banks John Gaeto Robbie Bigham 5. DIRTY WORK............................32.29 Regulator/Yamaha Joe Wells Paula Wells Rusty Dunn 6. *SHADY GRADY.............................31.95 Grady-White/Johnson Charles Stephens 7. SLIP FORM........................31.20 HydraSports/Johnson Travis Claridy Chuggy Vereen 8. BIG BITE..........................30.69 Marlin/Yamaha Sam Britt Gerry McGuire Pete Bogart

9. LURE ME............................28.58 Contender/Yamaha Monty Mishoe Baird Sanders Michael Purcell Ronnie Broach 10. *SC OUTDOORS.......................26.46 Key West/Johnson Bill Haire Ronnie Atkinson Bobby Martin 11. KING SIZE.........................26.01 Contender/Yamaha Rick Ryan Joel Wood 12. TOOL TIME..........................25.97 Donzi/Mercury Eric Myers Don Myers Donnie Myers Lee McBride 13. TWO DOGS........................25.90 Marlin/Mercury Robert Glover Alan Klugle Michael Zervog 14. BADD BOYS.....................25.79 Fountain/Mercury Alex Dewey Pete Hall Bob Cullen 15. VINEYARD......................24.74 Proline/Mercury Chris Vines Greg Peralta Corey Hume Becky Vines

Junior Angler Trey Young, Reel Young Lady Angler Susan Kaminsky, Loose Lucy

Play-N-Hookie Tops Sun Fun
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
June 6, 2000

Surfside Beach, SC—Some fish are just destined to be caught. That's what happened to Jay Robertson and the Play-N-Hookie team during the recent Sun Fun tournament. It seemed that whatever could go wrong for the team, did go wrong.

"We fished the Not So Secret Hole during the tournament," Robertson said. "Our big fish hit as I was freespooling a pogy back into the spread, right off the bat." That's when things went from good to bad to worse. "The reel backlashed under the pressure from the run, but eventually I was able to unsnarl the mess," he reported. "Then I saw that the line had gone over the top of the reel and was actually burning a groove in it! I just knew that the fish would break off at any time, but somehow we stayed with him." As the end of the battle neared some thirty long minutes later, the team saw a very large cobia shadowing the kingfish to the boat. The cobia was actually trying to eat the king! But after overcoming all the obstacles thrown at them, the team was finally able to get the fish aboard. To top it all off, the business end of a treble hook found its' way into Robertson's leg. That's when they decided they had done enough fishing for one day, and headed for the scales in Georgetown to weigh in. The fish that was destined to be caught ended up at the top of the Sun Fun leaderboard, earning the team the big payday for the weekend.

The Gotta Love It, captained by Bob White (no relation) finished in second place for the tournament. They also chose to fish the Not So Secret Hole, hooking up early in the morning on a live pogy fished on the "way back" line. According to George Summerlin, who interviewed White at dockside, the big king made one long initial run followed by several shorter ones before coming to the boat.

The Yatesea, captained by David Yates, came in fourth place behind non-members on the Little Polly. He fised with his dad David Senior during the tournament, and had an outstanding weekend of fishing. "We probably caught and released over twenty kings in two days, just incredible," he reported.

Joe Winslow's Hooligan team found sixth place in the tournament. "We knew there would be some good fish at the Jungle," he said, "so we spent most of the night catching mullet for bait in order to be the first boat there." Winslow teamed up with Dean Spatholt and the Fish Meister crew to locate bait long before the sun came up. The strategy paid off for the team, as their biggest kingfish of the weekend hit one of the first lines in the water.

The next tournament in the SKA's Division Three will be the Hilton Head Kingfish Classic, to be held June 15-17 at the Palmetto Bay Marina. For more information call Charles Getsinger at 843-784-3177. For a complete recap of the Sun Fun, see the upcoming issue of Angler Magazine, the official publication of the Southern Kingfish Association.

Final Standings

1. PLAY-N-HOOKIE....................40.50 Stratos/Johnson Jay Robertson Lisa Wright 2. GOTTA LUV IT....................39.17 Intrepid/Yamaha Bob White 3. Litttle Polly....................36.31 4. YATESEA....................34.30 Contender/Yamaha David Yates David Yates, Sr. Jeff Yates 5. SOLID SURFACE....................34.12 Intrepid/Mercury Andy Nettles Mike Rumph Billy Ford Adam Hampton

6. HOOLIGAN....................34.01 Contender/Yamaha Joe Winslow David Haines 7. Crazy Love....................32.65 8. RAT PAK....................31.27 Fountain/Mercury Darren Ratley Gary Lineberry Bret Hayes Vance Cook 9. JOYSTICK....................30.98 Fountain/Mercury Wayne Hill Robyn Hill Rhett Dickson 10. Miss Brooke....................30.63