(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

Savannah Coastal Empire Tourney Falls to Mean C
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
July 10, 2000

Conditions:
Winds Northeast at 15-25 mph.
Seas: 2-4 feet early, increasing to 4-6 and larger throughout the one-day tournament
Temp: mid-80s
Partly to Mostly Cloudy

Savannah, GA—Buddy and Field Hucks, assisted by longtime friend Eddie Cameron, rolled into the Coastal Empire for the Yamaha Pro Tour. The team elected to fish the coinciding Division Four tournament as well, and this proved to be a wise move on their part. At stake was a new Yamaha-powered Century 19 and Loadmaster trailer as the event's top prize.

Word had circulated around the weigh-in that the Mean C team was en route with a good fish aboard the Contender 36. Tough fishing conditions prevailed throughout the weekend, and we had yet to see a king mackerel over the mid-30 pound mark. Once there, weighmaster Flocken reported the weight as 35.1 pounds--the new leader! And what a story they had to tell.

Buddy had planned on anchoring the boat and chumming heavily, normally a very productive rough-water technique for big kings. Put out enough chum and let the fish come to you. However, they bent their anchor in an attempt to reposition themselves, so that option flew out the window. "We had to slow-troll," he said. "We found ourselves off Sapelo looking for bait on the beach when we noticed some Spanish working inshore of us. At first, I thought the colorscope was misreading--we were a couple miles offshore but only in 12 feet of water." A smashing strike on the double-pogy rig on a flatline and a screaming drag announced the hookup at 11:30 AM. "The fish headed offshore and into the wind, which is a pretty good sign of a decent fish," Cameron added.

With Buddy on the rod, Field driving the boat and Eddie standing by with the gaff, the team soon followed the hooked kingfish. Without the ability to go deep, the fish made several strong runs offshore. It passed by the boat once, where Cameron attempted a shot on the still-green fish. He clipped the fish in the tail, sending it off on yet another long run. "Buddy bit his tongue and didn't say much, but we had another shot in a few minutes and got the fish aboard," Eddie reported. They fished the shipping channel later in hopes of scoring another bigger fish, but were unsuccessful in that attempt, electing instead to head for the scales as the weather continued to worsen.

Frank Deloach's Jobsite, another Yamaha-powered Contender, won second place in the tournament with a 34.4 pounder. They fished about 12 miles off Sapelo Island in 45 feet of water to locate that one. "We already had a decent fish of about 27 pounds in the boat, so we were feeling pretty good. Then we got a better fish to place second," he said. At 1:30 in the afternoon, their largest fish of the day came up behind the transom to nail a live pogy. Angler John Jones fought the fish for just under one hour, unwilling to risk breaking off the king as it circled deep below the boat after several strong runs.

Chris, Tim and Jan Chase picked up another top five finish in Savannah, placing third overall with a 33 even. They had been skunked during the first day of the Pro Tournament, and went searching for a smoker on Day Two in the Port Royal area. Their first good fish of the day came to the boat before biting through the wire leader at the boat.The team quickly rebaited and resumed slow-trolling. A short while later, the deep rod went off. Jan again resumed her position in the bow as pandemonium broke loose in the stern. A ravenous school of kingfish attacked the remaining baits, cutting the rest of the lines and downriggers loose. Jan was still fast to her fish, gently coaxing it within gaff range for Tim. He again made a wild shot on the still-green fish, swinging it aboard just as the hooks pulled. "Another ten seconds and he would have been gone," Chris said.

The real story of the tournament, however, belonged to the Roadrunner team of Ron Boyer, Jim Karwacki and junior anglers Michael Karwacki and Brittany Tucker. Fishing from a 19-foot Key West, they fished the Middle Grounds area about 5 miles off Tybee Island in 32 feet of water. Some fishing friends had given them some numbers, and the team was determined to fish that spot. "It took us an hour and a half to get there," Boyer reported. "But once we got the baits in the water, we had a great strike at 9:15 right on the coordinates they had given us." Young Brittany, already handicapped by a cut on her foot, grabbed the rod and battled both the fish and the mounting seas. The smoker king took over 300 yards of line, heading directly into the six foot swells in an attempt to elude the team, but to no avail. A short while later, the fish was safely aboard. At that point the Roadrunner headed for the shipping channel, finding only jack crevalle there.

At the scales their fish would weigh 32.8 pounds, good for fourth and top prize in the Class of 23 category. For this win, the team took home a Buddy T skiff, Yamaha outboard and Loadmaster trailer, in addition to the cash for fourth in the regular tournament. "It's great to get to fish with the kids," Boyer reported. "This is Michael's fourth season, and he's only eight. Brittany kept begging us to please take her, so she's joined the team this year, too. It seems to be an effective combination. They fight the fish and Pogy Jim Karwacki catches and rigs the baits. It's really a lot of fun." All this in a 19-foot boat without a T-top. Any sponsors interested in a top-notch family fishing team need to look no further than the Roadrunner, that's for sure.

Sid Steverson, Amy Kidney and Andy Colson have again done an outstanding job promoting and organizing this tournament, now in its' second season. Even though the weather forecast was not in their favor, they still hosted an increase in participants over last season, no doubt due to the attractive payout offered for the small boaters. The Savannah Coastal Empire KMT is certainly a fitting capstone to the very successful Georgia division.

Final Standings

1. MEAN C............................................35.1 Contender/Yamaha Buddy Hucks Field Hucks Eddie Cameron 2. JOBSITE.............................................34.4 Contender/Yamaha Frank Deloach Mike Taylor John Jones Robert Strange 3. THE CHASE......................................33.0 ProLine/Mercury Chris Chase Tim Chase Jan Chase 4. *ROADRUNNER............................32.8 Key West/Mercury Ron Boyer James Karwacki Brittany Tucker Michael Karwacki 5. LA PERLA......................................32.0 Donzi/Yamaha Randy Keys Frank Chivas Cody Chivas Kyle Chivas 6. PAPA STYLES..............................32.0 Contender/Yamaha Darrell Smith Jerry McCoy Jerry Moulton Bob Koller 7. DADDY’S MONEY.......................31.6 Stamas/Suzuki Gary Smith Johnny Smith

8. *DOWN THE LINE...........................31.0 Wellcraft/Suzuki Julian Weston Chuck Easton 9. TEAM CREATIVE.............................30.1 Intrepid/Mercury Joe Verilla George Garrastazu Ron Kien 10. CAPT. HOOK....................................29.7 Contender/Mercury David Hooks Preston Kendall Dina Hooks 11. *PASS-A-GRILLE..............................28.5 Cobia/Yamaha Tom Palmer Wayne Brown Robin Dawson 12. REEL NAUTI......................................28.2 Contender/Yamaha Dean Nichols Angelique Nichols Danny Burton 13. BARELY LEGAL................................28.2 Contender/Yamaha Tommy Rady 14. KING SIZE..........................................26.7 Contender/Yamaha Rick Ryan Joel Wood 15. BACKLASH........................................26.3 Cliff Murray Henry Wheeler Mike Blackerby Ken Murray John Smith

Lady Luck Smiled on Swiftmortgage.com.....Wins Golden Isle with a 40.54!
Jack Holmes, Southern Kingfish Association
June 26, 2000

St. Simons Island, GA— Jacksonville's Todd Barger made a call to his friend in Atlanta, "Come on down, let's fish this tournament before we go back to Saudi Arabia." "Are you nuts," came the response from Mike McKinzie. "No, we fish a lot in Saudi and I think we can win this thing," Barger responded. Whatever ensued after is anyone's guess but Barger won out and on Thursday Barger, McKinzie and friend Clark Coleman hitched up the 22' Aquasport named swiftmortgage.com and headed to St. Simons island.

"We didn't have the slightest idea where to go so we first caught some bait in the ships channel," McKinzie explained. "Then we ran out about five miles. We saw some birds working the surface and said, this must be it!" So far the team was doing everything right. They had been fishing for a very short time when the winning king smacked a pogy trolled on top. Barger grabbed the Bass Pro Shop rod and skillfully beat the big smoker in 40

minutes. "We had lost our gaff so I had to tail the fish," said McKinzie. The first tournament of the teams career made it all look so simple, go out, catch big fish, come in, weigh big fish, collect prizes. For them it was, and they got to hook up the events top prize, a 23' Yamaha powered Contender complete with a Loadmaster Trailer and head for home.

Second place was a two day, two fish aggregate prize and was won by Ernie Knight aboard the Fish'n Grits. They fished Cabretta both days along with a quarter of the 180 boats entered in this years event. On day one they scaled a 30 pounder. On day two Dean Buie, while anchored fishing a pogy on the bottom with a sinker and chumming heavily, hooked up to the big fish at 3 o'clock.

The Double J, who has struggled this season, went from obscurity to in the hunt with the weighing of the events third place fish, a 36.98. It was the tournaments second largest fish caught. Previously they had only a 13 pounder on their side of the ledger. Now a nice fish in Savannah and they're on their way to the big party.

Jerry Gregory, fishing with David Wallace, Bill Blount and Bob Barnett, hooked up to the big king as Wallace was putting out their first bait. "We were fishing the Cabretta bottom," explained Wallace. "We were trying to jig up some bait and I knew to put a couple of baits out. Sure enough while I was pulling up some hardtails, he hit." The fight lasted just 30 minutes and they were fishing in 48 feet of water.

Marc Collins Chase'n Kings earned fourth with a 36.43 caught on day two. "We were in the Brunswick channel fishing double rigged pogy's," said the proud captain. "Our bait was getting real bad so we went in, loaded up, and came back to the same spot we had been in and their he was." The Custom Marine of Statesboro Georgia sponsored team of Collins, William Fawcett, Scott Herdspeth, and Jr Baker got a real shot in the arm for a trip to the Nationals with this fish. The Mercury powered Donzi, the Rainmaker, with Ron Gay at the helm, rounded out the top five with a 36.40. With Jim Henley and Van Wheeler on board, the team was one of several fishing the Cabretta area. "We found ours at 10:30 fishing a double pogy rig 25 feet down fishing in 50 feet of water," said the proud angler, Van Wheeler. Propwash earned the events Class of 23 award with a nice 34.22. Richard Darlington, Lynn Cline, and N.M. Wheeler chose to fish the ships channel. "A friend of mine said to go catch bait, then move right to the channel and start fishing," said Darlington. "He sure was right." Fishing in 32 feet of water, the big king ate a pogy off a downrigger line. They also go a 23 pounder for their lady angler, Lynn Cline. Kenny Crawford found his winning ways again by placing second in the 23 class with a 32.59. With fishing buddies Derek Ingram and Cary Pate the Contender boat, Crawfish, is a tough boat to beat when fishing these waters. The Sapelo Son needed to substitute their boat this week and fished a 23 foot Robalo. It worked as the team placed a 31.24 on the scale to earn fourth. On board was Tim and Ellen Harris and Art and Cathy Anderson. That fish definitely helped Harris in the division. Wendell Harper from the Free Spooling improved his point total by a couple of points but it wasn't enough to keep Henry Bishop's Gravy Train from taking over the Division four lead. It will be a tight race right down to the end.

Final Standings

1. SWIFTMORTGAGE.COM....................40.54 Aquasport/Yamaha Patrick Barger Mike McKinzie Clark Coleman 2. FISH N' GRITS....................66.07 3. DOUBLE J....................36.98 Contender/Yamaha J.T. Gregory Bob Barnett David Wallace Bill Blount 4. CHASE N' KINGS....................36.43 Hydra Sports/Evinrude Mark Collins William Fawcett Scott Herdspeth Jr. Baker 5. RAINMAKER....................36.40 Donzi/Mercury Ron Gay Jim Henley Van Wheeler Jason Keatts Trevor Keatts	6. Last Cast ....................36.02 7. NO LIMIT....................35.95 Contender/Yamaha Van Fletcher Jr. Hunter Fletcher Casey Lands Van Fletcher 8. Le-Ka....................35.53 9. Huge-Un....................34.50 10. DIRTY WORK....................33.88 Regulator/Yamaha Joe Wells Paula Wells Paul Douglas Logan Wells
Final Standings Class of 23
1. PROPWASH....................34.22 Wellcraft/Johnson Richard Darlington Lynn Cline N. M. Wheeler 2. CRAWFISH....................32.59 Contender/Yamaha Kenny Crawford Derek Ingram Cary Pate	3. Ham Bone....................32.05 4. SAPELO SON....................31.24 Wellcraft/Mercury Tim Harris Art Anderson Kathy Anderson Ellen Harris 5. Doc Bootle....................30.54

Got Your Spot Blows Away The Field At Two Way
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
June 6, 2000

Conditions at Two Way:
Sunny Skies, 90 degree plus temperatures
Winds: Light and Variable
Seas: 3 feet or less inshore, 2-4 feet offshore

Brunswick, GA— Tyler Tait, fishing with his dad Trey, landed the fish of a lifetime to win the Two Way Sportfishing Club's 14th Annual King Mackerel Tournament, held June 2nd and 3rd, 2000. The pair, fishing from a 21-foot Mercury-powered Offshore, were waiting patiently for the scales to open Saturday with a monster of a kingfish aboard. Early radio chatter had indicated such a fish was en route to the scales, so the crowds gathered round hoping for a glimpse of the whopper. Weighmaster Spud Woodward complimented the team on their catch before reading the scales' digital readout as it settled on 52.6 pounds.

The team would remain safely in the lead throughout the one day tournament. "We hooked up just after eight in the morning," Trey reported. "The fish really didn't run all that hard, but we just kept gentle pressure on her." Angler Tyler saw the immense fish below the boat and instinctively backed off the drag pressure. "When we finally got her aboard, we saw that she was just hooked by one barb of the treble hook right in the corner of her mouth, and that the hook was completely straightened out. Only the barb was holding--it fell right out on the deck!" he said. For their efforts the team won a new Mercury-powered Wellcraft boat and Loadmaster aluminum trailer.

Second place in the tournament also fell to a member of the Class of 23. Rodney James, Sammy Sweat and Brian Rowe weighed a 36.2 pounder off the Over Time to finish in the runner-up spot overall. They were one of the first few boats to weigh fish, knowing that everyone was now scrambling for second place behind the Taits. Boyce Davis and the Reely Hooked team was the third-highest boat in the Class of 23 at Two Way.

The tournament's third largest kingfish was landed by the Free Spooling team, captained by Wendell Harper. Their fish weighed 31.5 pounds. The Free Spooling is a Yamaha-powered Century 2800, one of several new Team Century boats fishing the SKA Tournament Trail this year. Roy Byrd and Bear Croft put the Wild Injun in fourth place overall with a 30.8 pounder. They reported searching all over looking for a good fish, hooking up late in the afternoon. Henry Bishop's Gravy Train, winners just one week ago in Sapelo, landed the tournament's fifth largest king mackerel at 27.9 pounds.

The next tournament in Division Four will be the Golden Isles Kingfish Classic, to be held out of St. Simons Island, GA on June 22-24, 2000. For a complete recap of this tournament, see the upcoming issue of Angler Magazine--the official publication of the Southern Kingfish Association.

Final Standings

1. *GOT YOUR SPOT......................................52.6 Offshore/Mercury Trey Tait Tyler Tait   2. *OVER TIME......................................36.2 SeaCraft/Mercury Rodney James Sammy Sweat Brian Rowe 3. FREE SPOOLING ......................................31.5 Century/Yamaha Wendell Harper Chris Skipper Ray Starling Bud Thomas Trip Durant 4. WILD INJUN ......................................30.8 Donzi/Mercury Roy Byrd Bear Croft 5. GRAVY TRAIN ......................................27.9 Contender/Yamaha Henry Bishop Jay Cole Bob Injaychock Henry Bishop Sr. 6. MIX'N ONE ......................................27.9 Fountain/Evinrude Mike Mixon Frank Edge Dennis Ward Henry Strickland Hunter Mixon 7. SNEAKY PETE ......................................26.1 Grady-White/Evinrude Herbert Johnson Jay Pace Chris Cantham

8. FISH HANGER ......................................25.8 Mako/Evinrude Greg Blocker Keith Blocker Mark Lewis 9. BIG BITE ......................................25.5 Marlin/Yamaha Sam Britt Mark Sweat Gary Weatherington Pete Bogart 10. *REELY HOOKED......................................24.9 Mako/Evinrude Boyce Davis Barbara Davis Kevin Boles Mike Jiran 11. GOIN' DEEP ......................................24.6 Albemarle/Yamaha Mike Zabarac Jamie Giello Randy Vein Tommy McCarthy 11. *HOT SPOT II......................................24.1 Biddison/Yamaha Joe Bell Michael Whitt 12. EASTBOUND II ......................................23.5 John C. Smith John C. Smith, Jr. 13. TIME OUT ......................................22.4 Donzi/Mercury Terry Moore Bryan Bunk 14. TO-DA-HUB......................................20.5 Mako/Mercury Jimmy Roberts

Gravy Train Tops Sapelo, Contendress Wins Class of 23
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
May 30, 2000

Riceboro, GA— Henry Bishop and his team aboard the Gravy Train thought they had done well during the tournament. However, they had no idea that their 39.45 pound king mackerel would hold up for the win in the 20th Annual Sapelo Open King Mackerel Tournament. They elected to fish a live bottom approximately 20 miles offshore, nailing their winner as the lines were being rebaited with fresh pogies. Bob Injaychock reported a strong bite in progress most of the morning, but until noon they had been mostly smaller fish. "That's when the big boy came calling," he reported. "I was dropping the bait back into position when the line started pulling off really fast. I hollered for some help so Henry came back and threw the drag lever into gear." Forty-five minutes later, their prize would be safely aboard and on the way to the scales. For their efforts, the team won a new Mercury-powered C-Strike boat and Loadmaster trailer, top prize in the tournament.

Frank Strickland, Marty Rowland and Tim Short placed second on the Rebecca Ann, one of the many boats that elected to fish south off St. Augustine. "The Captain's House has been holding some bigger fish," Strickland said. "So that's where we went." At 1:30 PM, their 35.25 pounder hit a rigged ribbonfish on the shallow downrigger before streaking for the horizon. Strickland kept the fish close by powering up the engines, and Rowland made a perfect gaff shot just fifteen minutes later.

The Jet Lag team finished third with another Captain's House fish. Pete Owens, Clinton Fonseca and Darryll, Jay and Taylor Thaw landed their big fish on a pogy flown from a kite just after 1 PM. Taylor Thaw was the SKA's top junior angler for the tournament as well.

Herb Johnson and Jay Pace placed fourth on the Sneaky Pete. They felt that a pet number at Gray's Reef would produce, so they intently worked the area in hopes of a good strike. Their biggest fish of the day, a 29.25 pounder, hit as part of a double-header. The two man crew concentrated on the closer fish initially, leaving the other rod in the rocket launcher. Once the first was aboard, they went after the second, which proved to be the one they were after.

Travis Smith captained the Team Paradise to a fifth place finish in the tournament. He was assisted by Paul Howe and Glen Gillespie during the weekend.

It was only a matter of time before Donna Gowen and the Contendress team found a good tournament fish, and their number was called this weekend in Sapelo. The team also fished the Captain's House, boating a 30.1 pounder late in the day before running for the scales. "I knew it would be at the limit of our range," Gowen said, "but it was a chance we were willing to take, and it paid off." Richard Darlington captained the Prop Wash into second place, scaling a 28.35 pound kingfish. Rodney James and Brian Rowe found third on the Over Time with a 27.35 pounder. Relatively calm conditions during the weekend let the small boaters in the Class of 23 fish wherever they chose, and they brought in good numbers of big kings in return.

The next tournament in Georgia's Division Four is the Two-Way Sportfishing Club's 14th Annual Kingfish Tournament, to be held at Two Way Fish Camp June 2-3, 2000. For more information, contact Rick Smith at 912-265-0410, or the SKA at 904-827-1400.

Final Standings

1. GRAVY TRAIN.............................................39.45 Contender/Yamaha Henry Bishop, Jr. Bob Injaychock Neil Baxter   2. REBECCA ANN.................................35.25 Fountain/Yamaha Frank Strickland Marty Rowland Tim Short 3. JET LAG....................................33.25 Contender/Yamaha Pete Owens Darryll Thaw Clinton Fonseca Jay Thaw Taylor Thaw 4. SNEAKY PETE..................................29.25 Grady-White/Johnson Herbert Johnson Jay Pace 5. TEAM PARADISE................................26.60 Bayliner/Mercury Travis Smith Paul Howe Glen Gillespie 6. GULLAH GAL................................................26.2 Crusader/Cat Al Martin 7. BIG BITE...........................................25.35 Marlin/Yamaha Sam Britt Gerry McGuire Gary Weatherinton 8. DEALER'S CHOICE...................................24.5 Contender/Yamaha Sid Steverson Robbie Murray Ike Mauldin	9. FISHIN' ADDITION..................................24.35 Marlin/Yamaha Charles Getsinger Sheri Getsinger Daniel Getsinger Tommy Strozzo   10. Paydirt......................................................23.3 11. GOIN' DEEP.....................................22.85 Albemarle/Yamaha Mike Zabarac Jamie Giello Randy Vein Clay Hinley Clarissa Zabarac 12. OCEAN DANCER.............................22.35 Marlago/Yamaha Al Kolberg Mike Jerome Beth Jerome Jeff Paul 13. VICTORIA'S SECRET..................................21.7 Contender/Yamaha Ricky Raleigh Vicky Raleigh Ricky Raleigh, Jr. Lindsey Netterton 14. FREE SPOOLING.......................................21.1 Century/Yamaha Wendell Harper Chris Skipper Ray Starling Trip Darent 15. MISS LIBBY II.................................................19.9 World Cat/Yamaha Russell Patterson Scott Cheslak
Final Standings Class of 23
1. CONTENDRESS.................................................30.1 Contender/Yamaha Donna Gowen Sarah Gowen Tara Tuten Suzanne Cauley Elizabeth Frost 2. PROP WASH.....................................28.35 Wellcraft/Johnson Richard Darlington Dale Nelson Lynn Cline 3. OVER TIME........................................27.35 SeaCraft/Mercury Rodney James Brian Rowe 4. FISH DANCER........................................24.84 Century/Yamaha Jeff Dunbar Nancy Dunbar 5. WAVE DANCER........................................23.6 SeaCraft/Mercury Fred Richardson Jerry Richardson 6. CAPT. ACID..............................................21.2 ProLine/Evinrude Al Bradshaw Reggie Woods 7. HIT-N-MISS...............................................18.45 Contender/Yamaha Ricky Hodges Gavin Hodges Nathan Hodges Patric Edwards Jason Parker	8. TEAM SEA PRO............................................17.95 Sea Pro/Yamaha Inman Coleman Tommy Lane Daniel Coleman Troy Hutcheson Michelle Hutcheson Dale Wiggins 9. PURPLE HOOTER................................................15.5 Contender/Yamaha Jimbo Tuten Robin Tuten 10. SLO-N-EZ...................................13.85 Pursuit/OMC Ray Phillips Kent Phillips Tom Glenn 11. Big Bopper.......................................................13.85 12. GOT YOUR SPOT.....................................12.9 Offshore/Mercury Trey Tait Tyler Tait Debbie Tait 13. HOT SPOT II...........................................12.55 Biddison/Yamaha Joe Bell Leonard Gonce 14. NAUTI-NAT.....................................................12.25 Contender/Yamaha Dee Delegal Scott Godwin Joey Miller 15. WANNA BE............................................11.4 Mako/Yamaha Rusty Rodgers
SKA WELLCRAFT JUNIOR ANGLERS 1. Taylor Thaw--Jet Lag      2. Sarah Gowen--Contendress      3. Daniel Getsinger--Fishin' Addition

Full Tilt Kicks Off Georgia Division with Big Win at Half Moon
Jack Holmes, Southern Kingfish Association
May 22, 2000

Riceboro, GA—When a game plan comes together, that's great. However, when it doesn't seem to be happening the top fishermen improvise. “I really thought the big fish would come from the Port Royal area,” said the tournament winning captain, Rob Dunagan. “We worked the area all morning but couldn't find any decent fish. I told Joey Rimes that if we didn't have one by early afternoon we'd change our plans.” They found themselves at J Reef, working their way back to the scales. “Donna Gowen was working the area and we called her to ask where the bait concentrations were holding,” said Rimes. “She indicated the other side of the buoy, so that’s where we dropped baits.”

The reel began that familiar swan song about 2:30. The trophy king had engulfed a deep trolled ribbonfish, Dunagan grabbed the rod, Chip Underwood piloted the big triple Mercury outboard powered Proline, and Rimes grabbed the gaff. Thirty minutes later the fight was over, they were on their way back to the Half Moon scales knowing their 42 pounder was a winning fish.

The Big Bite led for most of the afternoon with a nice 33 pounder. “We fished out of the Hilton Head area, that’s home to us,” said Sam Britt, the boat’s captain. “We got it in the boat by 10 o'clock. We were fishing in 60 feet of water when the king ate a deep trolled menhaden.” Fishing with Britt were team members Gerry McGuire and Gary Weatherington. .

Wendell Harper, captain of the factory sponsored Century, Free Spooling, earned third on the strength of a 32.50. Fishing with Carl Alexander, Bud Thomas, Ray Starling, and Chris Skipper, just east of the life bottom at Gray’s Reef, they fed a cigar minnow on top to their big king. “We knew it was a good fish, he pulled out over 200 yards of line,” said Harper. “We had him in the boat in ten minutes. Chris was on the rod and we just ran him down.”

Pete Owens III ran his Contender, Jet Lag, to fourth with a 31.70 caught in the Port Royal area. “We got the king in the boat around 11 o'clock,” said an excited Owens. “We bagged it using a mullet on a top line.” On board was Clinton Fonseca and Darrel and Taylor Thaw who was the top Wellcraft Junior in the tournament.

Rounding out the top five was Darek Gunderson’s Damifino. He caught a 31.20 while Boyce Mann earned sixth with the last of the 30’s to be caught, a 30.55.

The third boat to weigh was the first of the Class of 23 at the scales. N-2-Deep had a 23.80 which the captain, Ricky Williams and all the crew members, Hamp Danner, Scott Wallace, and Shannon Yarborough, thought to be rather small and certainly wouldn't hold up as a winning fish. They had to literally wait until the last boat to weigh, the Broke Out, to learn their fate. their fish went 24.15 to bump the N-2-Deep to second.

“We fished Jacksonville and caught ours at 8:30 slow trolling a dead ballyhoo,” said the winner, Kyle Williams. “It was definitely a long ride back.” The team of Scott Hickox and Keith Boatright were fishing in 110 feet of water.

The Roadrunner finished third with a 21.55. They cleaned up in the junior department with Michael Karwacki winning top boy and Brittany Tucker topping the girl division.

Final Standings

1. FULL TILT....................42.9 ProLine...Mercury Rob Dunagan Joey Rimes Chip Underwood 2. BIG BITE....................33.0 Marlin...Yamaha Sam Britt Gerry McGuire Gary Weatherington 3. FREE SPOOLING....................32.50 Century...Yamaha Wendell Harper Carl Alexander Bud Thomas Ray Starling Chris Skipper 4. JET LAG....................31.70 Contender...Yamaha Pete Owens III Darrel Thaw Clinton Fonseca Taylor Thaw	5. DAMIFINO....................31.20 Rybovich...Yamaha Derek Gunderson 6. BLIND HOG....................30.55 Contender...Yamaha Boyce Mann R.J. Pate L.C. Wilson Lee Wilson 7. Winnie's Thing....................25.70 8. Satisfaction....................24.90 9. OCEAN DANCER....................24.70 Marlago...Yamaha Al Kolberg Mike Jerome Jeff Paul Craig Jerome
Final Standings Class of 23
1. BROKE OUT....................24.15 Hydra Sports...Evinrude Kyle Williams Scott Hickox Keith Boatright 2. N-2-DEEP....................23.80 Wellcraft...Mariner Ricky Williams Hamp Danner Scott Wallace Shannon Yarborough	3. ROADRUNNER....................21.55 Key West...Mercury Ron Boyer James Karwacki Michael Karwacki Brittany Tucker Justin Boyer 4. REELY HOOKED....................18.45 Mako...EVINRUDE Boyce Davis Barbara Davis Kevin Boyles