National Championship Falls to Team Donzi
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
November 20, 2000

Morehead City, NC—Jack Wood proved he still has the winner’s touch during the Southern Kingfish Association’s 2000 National Championship, held November 16-19 in Morehead City, NC.

Wood won the 1993 Nationals and has received automatic invites to every Championship since that time, an honor accorded to past champions within the SKA. This year, he teamed up with Ken and Dan Upton aboard the Team Donzi and won the prestigious 2000 Championship.

After weighing in a 22 pound kingfish during the first day of the two day tournament, the team headed back to the productive but extremely rough waters off Cape Hatteras in search of a winner and were rewarded when a 52.1 pounder decided to crash their party, nailing a toplined bait just off the transom. A short while later, the huge fish was residing aboard the Mercury-powered Donzi 32 center console boat, enough to give them a two day, two fish aggregate score of 74.1 pounds and the win.

For their efforts, the team won the event’s top prize of a new Donzi 23 rigged with twin Mercury outboard engines and a Loadmaster trailer, a prize package valued at over $75,000. “It was really a classic Hatteras kingfish bite,” Dan Upton reported at the awards ceremony. “We had several big kings in the baits and were able to get that 52 to bite.” He said the team found a good temperature break offshore that was loaded with both bait and huge kings. “We saw some fish that were even larger than the one we caught--sixty pound range for sure. There aren’t many times when you can say that you need a fifty-plus pounder on the second day of a tournament to win, and actually go out and catch one, but that’s what we were able to do today,” Upton said. “It’s a great feeling!” Wood is now the third multiple winner of an SKA Championship, tying Clayton Kirby’s two wins in 1991 and 1997.

The Mean C, captained by Buddy Hucks, finished second in the Championship tournament. His team was able to bag a 29.6 pound kingfish during the first day of competition, and he returned to the scales with a 44.2 pounder for a total score of 73.8 pounds. Hucks, campaigning a new Contender 36 powered by triple Yamaha outboards, won a beautiful Mercury-powered SeaCraft boat and Loadmaster trailer.

At the awards, Hucks praised the performance of the big Contender, saying that while the rest of the fleet kept hoping for calmer seas, his team wanted rough water. “The boat gets us where we want to go and back,” he said. Indeed, the tournament fleet was hampered by the high seas and strong westerly winds during this year’s event, courtesy of a recent cold front that had passed through the Carolinas in the days before the Championship.

Just six fish over 30 pounds were weighed in during the first day of the tournament, a testament to the fact that the weather had shut down the bite. The Barely Legal team, captained by Paul Chivas, won third place with a total aggregate of 73.4, just four tenths of a pound behind the Mean C. Chivas would return south with a new Mercury-powered Wellcraft boat and Loadmaster trailer. “I’m really sorry that Tommy [Rady, the usual captain on the boat] couldn’t be here. It’s a great feeling to come up here and do well,” Chivas said later. The top five finishers in the Overall class in this year’s National Championship received boat/motor/trailer packages.

In the SKA’s Class of 23, designed for boats 23 feet or less in length, the Miss Behavin team took first place. Captained by Danny Duncan, the Miss Behavin wound up the event with a total score of 50.2 pounds. “We had a 25.6 on the second day to go with our 24.6 from the first one,” Duncan said. “And we weren’t sure if it would be enough, but it was.” Duncan took possession of a new Mercury-powered Trophy boat and Loadmaster trailer for the win. “Now we’re off to Saskachewan for a hunting trip,” he said. “What a week this has been!”

The Contendress team, an all female fishing team captained by Donna Gowen won second place. A disappointing 13.2 pound kingfish on Day One had them in the hunt, and they would return on the second day with a 32.9 pounder that would boost them into second. For their efforts, they won a Sea Pro boat, Mercury outboard and Loadmaster trailer. Gowen was also awarded the SKA Director’s Award for the most professional angler during this year’s tournament season. “There’s a lot of luck in tournament fishing,” she said, “but there’s also tons of preparation and that’s what helped us be successful this year. We knew where the fish were, we just couldn’t get that good one on the first day. Still, second place in the Nationals after just our first year fishing together is a good accomplishment for our team. I’m really happy with it.”

Fred Piper’s Sandpiper team also had a big payday coming, even though they placed twenty-ninth overall. Piper was able to scale a 54.5 pound monster of a king mackerel during the final day of the Championship, beating the SKA state record for North Carolina. For this accomplishment, Piper won a separate promotion sponsored by the SKA and received a bonus of $30,000 in cash.

This was the first time all year that the promotion record has been beaten, and it happened during the Championship. In all, there were two kings caught that weighed over the 50 pound mark, and sixteen over forty pounds that hit the scales during the two day event. That’s world class king mackerel fishing anywhere in the world.

Miss Behavin Tops Class of 23
Sam White, Southern Kingfish Association
December 8, 2000

Morehead City, NC—In the SKA’s Class of 23, designed for boats 23 feet or less in length, the Miss Behavin team took first place. Captained by Danny Duncan, the Miss Behavin wound up the event with a total score of 50.2 pounds. “We had a 25.6 on the second day to go with our 24.6 from the first one,” Duncan said. “And we weren’t sure if it would be enough, but it was.” Duncan took possession of a new Mercury-powered Trophy boat and Loadmaster trailer for the win.

The team had planned an annual hunting trip to Canada right after the Nationals, and the weather was almost bad enough for them to head north early. "But we decided that we had come to fish, so off we went," said the team's co-captain, Bill McNeely. "We had fished here the year before for bluefin tuna in the same kind of weather, but this time we had to scrap our plans of fishing the East Side or Hatteras due to the weather." Instead, the Miss Behavin' headed directly offshore of Beaufort Inlet in the direction of the Little 10/Big 10 area, searching for warmer water. "With the fish moving south, we knew they had to go around the tip of the shoals, and that's where we wanted to be," McNeely reported.

The 17 mile run took over three hours due to the high winds and seas, but the water temperature jumped to 68 degrees as well. After a few half-hearted strikes the team convinced a 25.6 pounder aboard the KenCraft center console. "That's when we knew we were in pretty good shape, being out front in the tournament for a little while at least," he said.

However, the rough ride had pounded their baits into submission, forcing them to go back for more before the next day. After checkout, the team fished for bluefish for nearly two hours for a total of three live baits. They decided to head out, planning on using a combination of bluefish, dead cigar minnows, ballyhoo and ribbonfish instead. The change in wind direction had blown the warmer water several miles farther offshore, but they soon found their temperature break and began fishing.

Sharks ate the first two livies, followed by a 12 pound snake king. At noon, their junior angler Billy McNeely boated a king estimated at 22 pounds. They still had a chance, but time was running out--they had to leave by 2 PM to make the cutoff. Shortly before two, they had another good strike and boated their 24.6 pounder. That would be enough for the win.

"We felt pretty good at that point," McNeely said. "We were all sorry that Danny's wife Terri couldn't be there with us." In their first divisional tournament of the year, Terri Duncan had injured her back and was unable to finish the season with the team. "She deserves a lot of credit for our win," McNeely reported. "She's been behind us all the way, and she loves to fish. The conditions were so bad, though, that she had to stay behind and cheer for us. We're hoping s he'll be back aboard for next year."

The Miss Behavin team will receive automatic invitations to future Championships in the Class of 23 without having to requalify due to their status as National Champions in 2000.

The Contendress, captained by Donna Gowen, won second place. A disappointing 13.2 pound kingfish on Day One had them in the hunt, and they would return on the second day with a 32.9 pounder that would boost them into second. For their efforts, they won a Sea Pro boat, Mercury outboard and Loadmaster trailer. Gowen was also awarded the SKA Director’s Award for the most professional angler during this year’s tournament season.

“There’s a lot of luck in tournament fishing,” she said, “but there’s also tons of preparation and that’s what helped us be successful this year. We knew where the fish were, we just couldn’t get that good one on the first day. Still, second place in the Nationals after just our first year fishing together is a good accomplishment for our team. I’m really happy with it.”

The team crossed the Slough on the first day and headed for the Atlas Tanker, but the weather quickly went from bad to really bad, forcing them to cut their day on the East Side short. "I really didn't want to run the shoals with the weather getting worse, so we headed back across," Gowen said. The team ended up fishing several wrecks on the western side of the shoals for their small king. Disappointment set in, but one look at the leaderboard and their spirits rose again--they were in sixth place.

The team was determined to cross the shoals again on the second day, where they elected to fish the 1700 Rock first. The bluefins again made a showing, with one fish pulling the Contendress for over three miles as the team tried to turn the giant. Then the team decided to head for a set of numbers supplied by Richard Chapman near the area, and that produced their 32.9 pounder that would be good for second place.

"I'm really happy for the winners," Gowen said. "They did what you have to do in a Championship, and that's be consistent. They had two good fish and they deserved the win. I'm just sorry that our junior angler, Sarah, couldn't be with us. We had made plans for her to join us later in the week, but as rough as it was, I told her to stay home. She's fished with us a lot this year, though, and I know she's looking forward to next season as much as the rest of the team."

Final Standings
Two Day-Two Fish Aggregate

1. TEAM DONZI....................... DAY ONE: 22.0 DAY TWO: 52.1 TOTAL: 74.1
   Donzi/Mercury
   Jack Wood
   Dan Upton
   Ken Upton

2. MEAN C........................................DAY ONE: 29.6 DAY TWO: 44.2 TOTAL: 73.8
   Contender/Yamaha
   Buddy Hucks
   Freddie Travis
   Critt Gore
   Jerry Felish

3. BARELY LEGAL.................................DAY ONE: 30.5 DAY TWO: 42.9 TOTAL: 73.4
   Contender/Yamaha
   Paul Chivas
   Mark Titus
   Carl Titus
   Bian Bushloper

4. GREENVILLE MARINE...........................DAY ONE: 29.5 DAY TWO: 42.6 TOTAL: 72.1
   Fountain/Mercury
   Steve Walton
   Denny Spence
   David Spence

5. KWAZAR.........................DAY ONE: 28.5 DAY TWO: 41.8 TOTAL: 70.3
   Contender/Yamaha
   Marcus Kennedy
   Jeff McCoy
   Max Williams
   Tyler Kennedy

6. GRAVY TRAIN.........................................DAY ONE: 32.7 DAY TWO: 36.7 TOTAL: 69.4
   Contender/Yamaha
   Henry Bishop
   Jay Cole
   Bob Injaychock
   Frank DeLoach

7. LA PERLA..................................DAY ONE: 24.0 DAY TWO: 43.2 TOTAL: 67.2
   Donzi/Yamaha
   Randy Keys
   Kris Sahr
   Jerry Clark
   Frank Chivas

8. CAROLINA CONTENDER.....................DAY ONE: 27.1 DAY TWO: 39.3 TOTAL: 66.4
   Contender/Yamaha
   Brant McMullan
   Rube McMullan
   Barrett McMullan
   Amy McMullan
   Brian Aycock

9. ATTITUDE ADJUSTER...........................DAY ONE 19.0 DAY TWO: 46.6 TOTAL: 65.6
   Wellcraft/Mercury
   David Murphy
   Kevin Murphy
   Bob Townsend

10. TEAM DUPREZ...............................DAY ONE: 23.4 DAY TWO: 42.1 TOTAL: 65.5
    Donzi/Mercury
    Donald Workman
    Mike Collins
    Scott Nelson

11. CRAW GATOR.............................DAY ONE: 22.5 DAY TWO: 42.8 TOTAL: 65.3
    Contender/Yamaha
    Bill Butler
    Mitt Butler
    Steve Jenkins

12. KING BUSTER.............................DAY ONE: 25.2 DAY TWO: 39.5 TOTAL: 64.7
    Contender/Yamaha
    Fred Hoyt
    Darren Ratley

13. VAMOOSE............................DAY ONE: 22.5 DAY TWO: 42.1 TOTAL: 64.6
    Contender/Yamaha
    Randy Crabtree
    Roy Boone
    Chad Branch

14. GOOD VIBES........................DAY ONE: 23.3 DAY TWO: 40.1 TOTAL: 63.4
    Contender/Yamaha
    Pete Eldridge
    Dennis Sergent
    Harris Hines

15. LIVE WIRE.....................................DAY ONE: 24.4 DAY TWO: 38.4 TOTAL: 62.8
    Regulator/Yamaha
    Earl Clewis
    Stanley Rehder

16. BIG BAD WOLF.....................DAY ONE: 28.3 DAY TWO: 34.2 TOTAL: 62.5
    Contender/Yamaha
    Stacy Wester
    Al “Ditto” Wester
    Clay Walker

17. ANGLING PURSUITS.....................DAY ONE: 22.1 DAY TWO: 40.1 TOTAL: 62.2
    Donzi/Mercury
    Joe Bruce
    David Fulford
    Mark Yokeley

18. OLE........................DAY ONE: 21.6 DAY TWO: 39.9 TOTAL: 61.5
    HydraSports/OMC
    Eddie Cameron
    Michelle Cameron

19. LOOSE LUCY............................DAY ONE: 20.9 DAY TWO: 40.5 TOTAL: 61.4
    ProLine/Mercury
    Mike Kaminsky
    Susan Kaminsky
    Kevin Hoffman

20. BIG TIME.........................DAY ONE: 23.6 DAY TWO: 37.5 TOTAL: 61.1
    Privateer/Mercury
    Jack Russell
    David May
    Joe Beasley

21. TEAM YELLOWFIN............................DAY ONE: 27.7 DAY TWO: 33.4 TOTAL: 61.1
    Yellowfin/Mercury
    Mark Liberman
    Wylie Nagler
    Robert Helmick
    Scott Routh

22. JUST NATURAL....................................DAY ONE: 26.9 DAY TWO: 34.1 TOTAL: 61.0
    ProLine/Mercury
    Richard Chapman
    Margaret Chapman
    John Rumbold
    Randall Riggs
    Frank Pope

23. RAW HIDE.................................DAY ONE: 20.5 DAY TWO: 39.6 TOTAL: 60.1
    HydraSports/OMC
    Terry Godwin
    Jake Godwin
    Richard Keck

24. VENICE MARINA.........................DAY ONE: 32.6 DAY TWO: 27.4 TOTAL: 60.0
    HydraSports/OMC
    Brent Ballay
    Deborah Ballay
    Kirk Lewellen
    Bob Clement

25. C&H LURES......................................DAY ONE: 19.6 DAY TWO: 39.1 TOTAL: 58.7
    Donzi/Mercury
    Dave Workman
    Karl Anderson

26. CAROLINA BANDIT.................DAY ONE: 22.2 DAY TWO: 36.3 TOTAL: 58.5
    Contender/Yamaha
    Lonnie Jones III
    Lonnie Jones
    Ron Dorsey
    Jon Dorsey

27. JET LAG................................DAY ONE: 15.3 DAY TWO: 42.3 TOTAL: 57.6
    Contender/Yamaha
    Pete Owens
    Darryl Thaw
    Jim Dupree Jr.

28. THE CHASE........................DAY ONE: 20.4 DAY TWO: 35.6 TOTAL: 56.0
    ProLine/Mercury
    Chris Chase
    Dean Nichols
    Angelique Nichols

29. SAND PIPER............................DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 54.5 TOTAL: 54.5
    (SKA State Record Fish)
    HydraSports/OMC
    Fred Piper
    William Dowd

30. KILL N ME..........................DAY ONE: 14.2 DAY TWO: 40.3 TOTAL: 54.5
    ProLine/Mercury
    Howard Poe
    Josh Poe
    Kent Sanderson

31. REELIN & ROCKIN...........................DAY ONE: 16.3 DAY TWO: 38.0 TOTAL: 54.3
    Paramount/Mercury
    Kenneth Lane
    Dawn Lane
    Lee Lane
    Mike Spencer

32. WILD BILL...........................DAY ONE: 19.8 DAY TWO: 33.2 TOTAL: 53.0
    Donzi/Mercury
    Bill Hopkins
    Jerry Hopkins
    Sarah Hopkins
    Johnny Hudson

33. BLUE RUNNER......................DAY ONE: 20.9 DAY TWO: 32.0 TOTAL: 52.9
    Contender/Yamaha
    Chris Blackwell
    Mark Blackwell
    Fred Davis

34. FORCE 10........................DAY ONE: 19.0 DAY TWO: 33.1 TOTAL: 52.1
    Trophy/Mercury
    Chris Machacek
    Kenny Sullivan
    Bob Childress

35. RAG TAG...............................DAY ONE: 29.6 DAY TWO: 22.5 TOTAL: 52.1
    Contender/Yamaha
    Creighton Parker
    Robert Merritt
    Geoff Persall
    Nathan Payton

36. FOUNTAIN VENGEANCE.............DAY ONE: 33.8 DAY TWO: 17.4 TOTAL: 51.2
    Fountain/Mercury
    Clayton Kirby
    Bryan Gillikin
    Russ Russell

37. IN THE RED..............DAY ONE: 16.3 DAY TWO: 34.7 TOTAL: 51.0
    Fountain/Mercury
    Gary Unger
    Elizabeth Unger

38. TEAM THUNDER......................DAY ONE: 23.4 DAY TWO: 27.6 TOTAL: 51.0
    Donzi/Mercury
    Steve Shook
    Ginger Shook
    Kyle Thorson

39. MOON DOGGIE...........................DAY ONE: 17.2 DAY TWO: 32.6 TOTAL: 49.8
    Contender/Mercury
    Mark Emmartv
    Billy Emmart
    Maurice Emmart

40. FULL TILT................................DAY ONE 15.7 DAY TWO: 33.6 TOTAL: 49.3
    ProLine/Mercury
    Rob Dunagan
    Bob Dunagan
    Chip Underwood

 

Final Standings Class of 23

1. MISS BEHAVIN................................DAY ONE: 25.6 DAY TWO: 24.6 TOTAL: 50.2
   Kencraft/Yamaha
   Danny Duncan
   Bill McNeely
   Billy McNeely
   William Higgins

2. CONTENDRESS............................DAY ONE: 31.2 DAY TWO: 32.9 TOTAL: 46.1
   Contender/Yamaha
   Donna Gowen
   Tara Tuten
   Suzanne Cauley

3. SEA HAGG.......................................DAY ONE: 11.7 DAY TWO: 31.0 TOTAL: 42.7
   Contender/Yamaha
   Cecil Capps, Jr.
   Randy Crews
   Jonathan Wilkins

4. SECOND CHANZE......................DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 41.1 TOTAL: 41.1
   SeaCraft/Mercury
   John Lewis
   Shae Lewis

5. STICKY BUSINESS........................DAY ONE 21.2 DAY TWO: 16.0 TOTAL: 37.2
   Mako/Yamaha
   Bryan Everett
   Richard Ward
   Neil Bradshaw

6. SOUTH CAROLINA OUTDOORS...............DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 27.8 TOTAL: 27.8
   Key West/Mercury
   Bill Haire
   Bobby Martin
   Rob Goff
   Dicky Knight

7. CASPER...........................DAY ONE: 10.7 DAY TWO: 15.8 TOTAL: 26.5
   Triton/OMC
   Lewis Croom
   Henry Williams
   Scott Williams
   Nancy Williams

8. EJW OUTDOORS...............................DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 25.3 TOTAL: 25.3
   Jones Bros./Yamaha
   David Willis
   Lee Taylor

9. BEAR CAT...........................DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 19.8 TOTAL: 19.8
   Otech/Suzuki
   Barrington Page
   Chad Holdridge

10. MISS MERCY...................DAY ONE: 0 DAY TWO: 18.5 TOTAL: 18.5
    Aquasport/ Mercury
    Walter Geise
    Chris Querry
    John Stucky
    Ken Johnson