(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

Town Creek Shootout Turns Into "Reel Screamer"
November 11, 2001
By: Sam White, SKA

BEAUFORT, NC--The Reel Screamer, with brothers Chip and Chad Sanders aboard, topped the fleet in grand style during the Town Creek Shootout. Held in near-perfect conditions weatherwise, the tournament is part of the SKA’s “last chance” Division Nine. This late series of tournaments features outstanding fishing off the Outer Banks of North Carolina as well as on the eastern side of Cape Lookout Shoals. The Reel Screamer team took advantage of the good sea conditions to head for the popular Smell Wreck off Cape Hatteras.

“We had penned up bait the day before,” Chad Sanders reported, “so we were able to take advantage of the early bite.” En route to the offshore wreck, the pair found a temperature break of nearly ten degrees and decided to run out a spread of baits. The standard mode of operation for fall fishing off Hatteras is to locate a good temperature break, then begin scanning the colorscope for bait pods holding off the bottom. Locally called “croaker knots,” these balls of bottomfish usually hold big kings in close proximity. “The water looked pretty good on the warmer side, so we put the baits out and turned left toward the Smell Wreck, and that’s when the fish hit,” Chad said later.

Their big king nailed a jumbo pogy on the topline, rigged with a mylar duster skirt, in about 95 feet of water. Chip fought the fish for just over twenty minutes before Chad was able to drive home the gaff and hoist the trophy king aboard their Evinrude-powered KenCraft 25. “He went 54 inches by 22 inches, so we guessed him in the low forties and decided to keep on fishing,” Chad reported, hoping a bigger fish was roaming the temperature break. It was only 8:06 in the morning as well! “We normally don’t get a good fish until late in the day, so it’s great to finally get one first thing.

The wind picked up around noon, though, so we decided to call it a day and start heading for the scales,” Chad related. The team would also be pleasantly surprised once their fish was officially weighed and scored. The smoker king pulled the scales down to 45.75 pounds and would set the top mark for the tournament. Others would be close, but no one would be able to top their score in the one day event--the win would be theirs. “It’s great to finally win one,” Sanders said in closing. “It wasn’t enough to beat Joe [“Hooligan” Winslow] for the divisional win, but we’ll take it anyway. See you in Ft. Pierce!”

William Alligood’s Steel Fishin’ took second in the tournament with a 44.60 pound king mackerel. Alligood had checked the water temperature in the area via the Internet and elected not to make the long run to Hatteras in his Yamaha-powered Contender 25. “I figured everyone would be off Hatteras, but the warmer water had moved into the East Side, so we decided to jump the shoals instead.” The pair found only smaller kings at the Summerlin Reef, so they continued offshore, eventually finding themselves in 72.8 degree water over the Atlas Tanker. “There was a real steady bite,” Alligood reported, “and the fish were getting bigger. That’s where we picked up the 44.6.”

The team bagged the big smoker at 10AM and decided to keep fishing since it was so early in the day, but a bigger fish never arrived. “I’d like to give some credit to Bill McNeely off the Miss Behavin’,” Alligood said. “We used one of his secret rigs on our topline, and caught our biggest fish on that rig. In fact, we caught four fish on the same rig--I know you’re not supposed to do that, but it was the hot rig so we had to keep using it!” At 1PM, the Steel Fishin’ picked up their lines and headed for the scales at Town Creek.

The Loose Lucy team of Mike and Susan Kaminsky, Trey Humphries and David Hodges finished third overall in the tournament. The team, running a Mercury-powered Donzi, had already qualified in Division Eleven earlier this year. “We just love to fish off North Carolina in the fall,” Susan Kaminsky stated. “So we came up to catch some big kings and have some fun.” The team would score a 44.30 pound king mackerel in the one day event.

They would be followed by Chris Bryan and Phil Hooks on the On A Mission, a Mercury-powered Fountain 31. Bryan, looking for a late season qualifying slot in D9, had nailed a 39.4 the previous weekend in Hatteras. Teaming up with Hooks off the Dragg’n Bait, he would be fortunate enough to bag a 43.85 in the Town Creek event, securing a Nationals bid. “I just couldn’t believe it when that fish hit the deck!” Bryan reported. “Two good fish in two weekends.” Doug and Brian Saunders, fishing with Allen Sasser, rounded out the top five on the KD, a Robalo 22. Their 37.10 would be good enough for a top five finish as well as the top spot in the SKA’s Class of 23 for the tournament.

Final Standings

1. REEL SCREAMER..............45.75 KenCraft 25/Evinrude Chad Sanders Chip Sanders 2. STEEL FISHIN......................44.60 Contender 25/Yamaha William Alligood Chuck Marshall 3. LOOSE LUCY....................44.30 Donzi 32/Mercury Mike Kaminsky Susan Kaminsky Trey Humphries David Hodges 4. ON A MISSION.................43.85 Fountain 31/Mercury Chris Bryan Phil Hooks 5. KD.............................37.10 Robalo 22/OMC Cobra Doug Saunders Allen Sasser Brian Saunders

6. BUCK WILD.....................36.15 Privateer 28/Mercury Parker Dudley Jeff Morris Chris Tharin 7. WEBB’S FIBERGLASS..............35.30 KenCraft 23/Yamaha Mike Webb Ty Conti Brian Bracey 8. DADDY’S DREAM........................35.15 Key West 23/Yamaha John Hutchens Tom Compton Charles Cook David Cook 9.ATTITUDE ADJUSTER..................34.50 Wellcraft 35/Mercury David Murphy Bob Townsend Jim Davis Kevin Murphy 10. BIG TIME...........................34.05 Privateer 28/Mercury Jack S. Russell Jr. Skip Conklin Chris Conklin Joey Whitesell

"Team Donzi" Wins at Coral Bay
November 11, 2001
By: Sam White, SKA

MOREHEAD CITY, NC--As Division Nine was winding down this year, a period of bad weather forced the combination of the final two events at Coral Bay and Town Creek.

Time constrictions prior to the National Championship forced the two one day tournaments to be held in the same weekend. Those teams still looking for a Championship invitation could fish two tournaments in as many days in hopes of accumulating the points needed to make the Big Show later this month. And even though Jack Wood on the Team Donzi boat has an automatic entry into the Championship as a two time past winner of that event, he and the rest of the team are not one to rest on their laurels, either. Ken Upton teamed up with Wood on the Mercury-powered Donzi 32, and the pair were able to top the field at the Coral Bay Open tournament with a 39.5 pound kingfish.

The weather conditions were not especially favorable during the weekend, as the teams faced six-to-eight footers with the occasional bigger set waves thrown in for good measure. “We jumped the shoals and headed to the 1700 Rock,” Ken Upton reported. “We had only been there about ten minutes when he hit a medium flatline. The fish made a really impressive first run--Jack had to cut two of our lines so we could turn the boat and get on him.

The line was getting down to a sketchy level when we finally were able to get up to the fish.” In a classic big king manner, the fish sounded deep after its’ long initial run, making several wide circles deep beneath the boat. Then the fish succumbed to the constant but light pressure Upton applied, allowing Wood to drive home the gaff and bring the king aboard. “We decided to keep fishing, so we headed for the Chicken Rock after a while but didn’t have any other big fish,” Ken said later. “We heard on the radio that there weren’t many other fish being caught, so we decided to go on in to weigh that fish.” Surprisingly, the king would hold up for the win in the tournament.

Harold Hill’s Shockwave team were able to box a 36.14 to place second in the event, fishing from a Yamaha-powered Contender 27. The team used a boatload of patience for their finish, however. “We crossed the shoals early and headed for the Tanker,” Harold reported. “And we were in the fish all day, but they were all small teenagers--we probably caught eight or ten fish before lunchtime.” Persistence pays off sometimes, though, and it certainly rewarded this team during the weekend when their 36.14 came calling on the shotgun line shortly before noon. “The fish hit a pogy on the shotgun and nearly spooled us on the first run,” Hill said, “so we got the boat turned and started chasing them down. The fish came right back at the boat, and so I was able to gaff it after only about five minutes.”

The team chose to purchase bait early that morning instead of hunting for the widely scattered pods of pogies off the beach, which proved to be a wise decision. “The water temperature at the Tanker was about 70 degrees, which meant that we were in the right place,” Hill related later. “My son Jeff ran the boat, while Ronnie [Adams] fought the fish. We worked well as a team out there.” Mitch Yates and the Sea Rat team won third place at Coral Bay, also fishing off the East Side of the shoals. They put a very respectable 35.7 pound fish aboard the KenCraft 25. The Sea Rat has done very well in this division and should be a stand out in the Nationals later this season. They were followed by Jonathan Wilkins and Joseph Thompson on the Team MayCraft.

Wilkins and the team put a 34.5 in the boat to finish fourth place overall. Jimmy Dupree’s OBX Girl rounded out the top five in the Coral Bay event.They appeared at the scales with a 27.13, a valuable points fish for the team, who’s also looking for a qualifying slot in the division this year.

Congratulations to all who fished in Division Nine this year. The bite indeed turned on in classic North Carolina style this year, with the Long Overdue breaking the SKA state record and numerous fish over forty pounds brought to the scales. This is one area that’s known for consistently producing big kings in the fall, and is certainly one of the outstanding fishing destinations on the SKA’s Mercury Tournament Trail.

Final Standings

1. TEAM DONZI....................39.5 Donzi 32/Mercury Ken Upton Jack Wood 2. SHOCKWAVE.................36.14 Contender 27/Yamaha Harold Hill Jeff Hill Ronnie Adams 3. SEA RAT........................35.7 KenCraft 25/Evinrude Mitch Yates 4. TEAM MAY-CRAFT............34.5 MayCraft 27/Mercury Jonathan Wilkins Joseph Thompson 5. OBX GIRL.....................27.13 Contender 31/Yamaha Jimmy Dupree Richard Short James Dupree Jim Dupree III

6. THREE STOOGES & CHERYL..........24.6 Donzi 32/Mercury Larry Warren Cheryl Warren 7. THUMPIN.................24.2 Donzi 32/Mercury Linwood Clark Brad Clark 8. BUCK WILD....................23.5 Privateer 28/Mercury Parker Dudley Jeff Morris Chris Tharin 9. HOOLIGAN....................22.14 Contender 31/Yamaha Joe Winslow 10. REEL HEEL......................20.0 Glacier Bay 26/Mercury Don Westbrook Larry Denning Mark Denning Leigh Westbrook Marcus Denning

 

"Reelality" tops SKA Fleet at US Open
November 6, 2001
By: Sam White, SKA

SOUTHPORT, NC--Fishing in a huge pack of boats, hoping for that one big king mackerel to strike one of your baits, is much like hoping to win the lottery.

The payoff can be great, but the odds don’t really seem to be in your favor. With hundreds of other boats in the same general area, all using the same baits and techniques, the odds can seem impossible. But don’t tell brothers Jim and John Harrison on the Reelality.

They like the odds just fine. The pair teamed up to fish the US Open this year, and walked away with second place honors for the tournament. They were also the highest finishing boat among registered SKA members. “We were headed offshore with some baits we had leftover from yesterday, but decided to hit the [Southport] River Channel instead.

There must have been 350 other boats there!” Harrison reported. “But we hooked up with a pretty good fish almost right away.” Unfortunately, their first good bite eluded the team, finding freedom by cutting the team off under another boat. “I was ready to leave, but John said ‘let’s stick it out for a little while.’ Sure enough, about 15 minutes later we had another shot.” The team’s medium topline began to scream, announcing the arrival of a true smoker king.

Jim grabbed the rod as John maneuvered the Mercury-powered Fountain 31 on the fish. “He ran out a good ways, then turned and ran back under the boat and cut off the downrigger,” Jim reported. “Then he just kind of laid up on the surface, and John was able to gaff it.” Once aboard, the team took one look at the fish and decided their day was over. And it was only 9AM. “It’s a great feeling to have a good king in the boat early,” Jim said. “We’ve never caught a tournament fish over forty pounds in nine years of fishing in the SKA, so this felt awesome!”

The pair’s king would weigh in at forty pounds even, good for second place honors. It also just might earn the Reelality team a trip to Fort Pierce later this season to compete against the best of the best in the National Championship as well.

Harry Evans and his Southern Saltwater team had already earned their trip to the big show with a fourth place finish in Division Three, so they went hunting for a big king and a big payday in the Open. Evans, fishing a new Mercury-powered Triton 27, was able to nail down third place in the tournament with a 38.30. This is one team that’s been very consistent this season, placing in the top ten in several events including a second in the Summer Fun event and a sixth at Georgetown. Watch for them to be standouts at the Nationals!

David Godbold and Stacy Hester made the big board in fourth place with a 37.90 pound king. Godbold certainly knows the waters around Southport very well, having won the East Coast Got-Em-On tournament several years ago with a last minute fish from the river channel. Since that time, he’s moved into a Yamaha-powered Contender 25 and continues to do very well.

CONSERVATION AND THE SKA

When we put the US Open on the 2001 SKA Tournament Trail, there was an understanding that we would only sanction the tournament if it was a big fish event.

However, once we were contractually obligated to sanction the event, we learned that they would still be keeping six fish per boat per day. Let’s see...500 boats times six fish, times two days of fishing, that’s a whopping six thousand fish! So let’s say that only half that many were actually caught, that’s three thousand kings, with an average weight of maybe 18 pounds. That would total 54,000 pounds of king mackerel by the end of the weekend.

Any way you choose to look at this situation, that’s an enormous amount of fish to take in just two days. The conservation ethic in the SKA remains strong, however. Our management made it quite clear to the tournament directors of the US Open: if you keep more than one fish per boat per day then we will not sanction the event next year.

Final Standings

1. Switch-er-oo..................44.85 2. REELALITY..............40.00 Fountain 31/Mercury Jim Harrison John Harrison 3. SOUTHERN SALTWATER............38.30 Triton 27/Mercury Harry Evans 4. DEEP THRILLS..................37.90 Contender 25/Yamaha David Godbold Sandy Hester 5. Skirt Chaser...................37.85

6. TIDELINE....................37.50 Wellcraft 35/Yamaha Dieter Cardwell Mike Lundy Jennifer Lundy Adam Temples 7. ON THE EDGE....................36.45 Edgewater 26/Evinrude Johnnie Sears Joe Sears 8. TNT...........................36.45 9. Fishineer...................36.40 10. 19th Hole................35.65

"Long Overdue " Blows Away SKA Record at Teach's Lair
November 9, 2001
By: Sam White, SKA

HATTERAS, NC--Phillip Cottrell and Paul Prystash blasted the North Carolina SKA state record out of the water during the Teach’s Lair King Mackerel Classic, boating a 56.75 pound beast of a kingfish during the one day tournament.

Their Suzuki-powered Bluefin 25 was at the docks early Saturday, awaiting the scales to open at 3PM. “We went to the Bad Bottoms first, but it was kinda slow,” Cottrell reported. “So then we moved on off to Avon Rocks, just following the pack of boats out there.” The team redeployed a spread of jumbo Hatteras pogies and quickly released two fish in the twenty pound range as they worked the outside rim of the pack of about fifty other boats. Then, “big Mo” came calling in the propwash. “We had just caught an amberjack before this fish hit, and we were worried that we had another AJ on,” Cottrell said. “The fish didn’t run much at all, just stayed deep under the boat.

The Reelin’ and Rockin’ was right behind us, and he yelled over asking if he needed to move, but the fish just stayed deep. I was really shocked at how easily it came to the boat. Paul and I had even talked about breaking off the fish, so I learned my lesson on that one.” Ten minutes after the hookup, the team saw the monstrous fish in the water and knew they had a good one on.

With Cottrell on the rod, Prystash took his shot with the gaff, then both men struggled to get the fish aboard. “We guessed him in the low fifties, which was good enough for us to head on to the scales around 11:30,” Cottrell said later. “We were really surprised when Dale called out the weight at 56.75 pounds, though. I still can’t believe that we broke the record!” The fish would earn the team an additional $30,000 in addition to the tournament win, making it the third time this year that an SKA record has been broken.

Close behind the Long Overdue team was the Thumpin, with the father and son team of Brad and Linwood Clark aboard. They also headed off Avon Rocks in their Mercury-powered Donzi 32, finding an incredible bite in progress.

At dockside, Brad related the story: “It was just awesome--we had three fish over forty pounds on at once, with just two of us on the boat! Dad had the big one in the bow, I was fighting one, and had a third line go off. I just put that one between my legs and let it go. We ended up getting all of them to the boat as well!” The Thumpin’s biggest fish would weigh 49.85 pounds, just shy of being another fifty. This also helps them tremendously in the points race for Division Nine and a trip to Ft. Pierce in a few short weeks.

Another boat that’s in the hunt for a qualifying slot is the Three Stooges & Cheryl, another Mercury-powered Donzi 32. Larry Warren, his wife Cheryl Warren, Jimmy Wright and Shawn Beistel bagged a 46.45 off Avon Rocks as well, proving that the bigger fish had indeed arrived in that area. Cheryl would be the top Lady Angler in the SKA for that event as well for her participation with the team. Brothers Chip and Chad Sanders teamed up with Wayne Hardee on the Reel Screamer during the tournament, and they would leave Hatteras Island with a fourth place finish. The Reel Screamer, an Evinrude-powered KenCraft, bagged a 44.35 in the event. This also puts the team in the hunt for a Championship bid.

They were followed by yet another Mercury-powered Donzi, this one belonging to the family team of Glenn and Gary Slaughter. The Carolina Girl team weighed a 44.05 to round out the top five, making it three for five for Donzi and Mercury. In all, there were an amazing ten fish over forty pounds boated during the one day tournament, including the state record fifty-plus. This is another testament to the incredible fall fishing off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.I was lucky enough to shake loose for the weekend and actually fish in this tournament with my good friend Chris Bryan on the On A Mission boat.

What a great time of year to fish off Hatteras--beautiful weather and sea conditions, not to mention the jumbo fish. We managed to trick a 39.4 pounder into the Mercury-powered Fountain 31 after a thirty minute fight. Respectable, good points fish, but wouldn’t win us anything. Still, it was very enjoyable to get out on the water for a couple days. Thanks to Chris, his wife Alice and the entire Oden clan in Hatteras for their hospitality. We’ll see you all again very soon!

Final Standings

1. LONG OVERDUE...............56.75 Bluefin 25/Suzuki Phil Cottrell Paul Prystash 2. THUMPIN.................49.85 Donzi 32/Mercury Linwood Clark Brad Clark 3. THREE STOOGES AND CHERYL.........46.45 Donzi 32/Mercury Larry Warren Cheryl Warren Jimmy Wright Shawn Beistel 4. REEL SCREAMER..............44.35 KenCraft 25/Evinrude Chad Sanders Chip Sanders Wayne Hardee 5. CAROLINA GIRL...............44.05 Donzi 32/Mercury Glenn Slaughter Gary Slaughter Steven Smith

6. GREENVILLE MARINE............44.00 Fountain 31/Mercury Steve Walton Denny Spence 7. HOOLIGAN...............43.55 Contender 31/Yamaha Joe Winslow Fred Coyne Richard Bunce 8. ATTITUDE ADJUSTER...........43.20 Wellcraft 35/Mercury David Murphy Jim Dawson Bob Townsend Jim Davis 9. SCRAPIN’ BOTTOM.................42.25 KenCraft/Evinrude Andrew Holloway III Herb Snead Andrew Holloway IV 10. EARLY RISER.................40.40 Wellcraft 30/Mercury John Parks James Bunce Marilyn Bunce

 

Division nine opener goes to "Hooligan" Team
October 23, 2001
By: George Summerlin, SKA

BEAUFORT, NC---On a cool, crisp October morning in Beaufort, Division Nine kicked off with the Drum Inlet tournament. The months of October and November always bring great fall fishing to the Carolinas, and this tournament would be no exception.

As the sun rose, a record number of boats headed for the famous Outer Banks fishing grounds. They went to the well known spots of the East Side of Cape Lookout Shoals, such as the George Summerlin reef, 30 Minute Rock, 1700 Rock, East Rock and the Atlas Tanker. Stories of previous fishing had tales of big kings being caught, but in the back of everyone’s minds was the weather forecast. There was a large tropical depression about 150 miles offshore which eventually became Hurricane Kristina, pushing a ten-foot storm surge and producing ten- to twelve-foot swells.

Everyone was anxious to see what the treacherous slough would look like. No one was disappointed. The shortcut across the shoals of Cape Lookout were two and a half miles of ten-foot breaking waves. This being a Captain’s Choice tournament, many headed through, being led by Jerry Ballard on the Second Nature and Jimmy Butts aboard the Jimmy Mack. Several more were headed that way when a radio call came from David Hill on the Stinger that if you wanted to fish on the East Side, you needed to head around the shoals by way of the Knuckle. Several boats took Hill’s suggestion.

Then the sound of a May Day call came over the VHF. A 21-foot KenCraft, the Courtney Lee, had overturned and was being assisted by the Unbelievable. After finding out that everyone was OK, the boats began fishing.

About half the fleet headed to Ocracoke Inlet through Core and Pamlico Sounds. This is a great area for producing big kings in the fall as well. Joe Winslow and the Hooligan spent a good part of the day Friday catching bait for the tournament the following morning. Unfortunately, Joe had left his “pickle barrel” in Myrtle Beach, so he was forced to use a standard mesh bait pen. Around 11PM, he came down to the boat to check on the baits and found the otters swarming around the pen, trying to chew their way through the mesh. “We’ve never been able to do anything the easy way,” Winslow said, “so I volunteered to sleep on the boat.” Every few minutes, he would awake to the sounds of chattering otters, keeping the feisty mammals at bay by using his trusty twelve foot gaff as a bat. It was worth it for him to loose a little sleep, since he had plenty of bait first thing the next morning.

After bouncing around to a couple good looking temperature breaks without a good kingfish strike, the Hooligan finally found the fish. After boating several nice kings, Winslow called in several other boats, and nearly all hooked up right away. The Hooligan’s largest fish of the weekend would later weigh 52.10 at the scales, good enough for the win. This team has been a standout in this division for the past few seasons, and it looks like they’re off to a good start again in 2001.

Second place went to one of the boats Joe called into the hotspot, Terry Wells’ Rock Candi. According to Rock Wells, the team departed from Harker’s Island, dodging the miles of pound nets in the sound before heading out via Ocracoke Inlet. “There were eight- to ten-foot breakers in the inlet,” Rock reported. “We started in about 70 feet of water but the water was still pretty dirty. Then we got a call from Joe and headed out about 4 miles offshore to a perfect color change and temperature break.” Just after lunchtime, the Rock Candi’s biggest fish of the day struck a jumbo pogy on the way back line.

Angler Allen Wells made short work of the fish, bringing it to the boat in about ten minutes. The team fished another hour but they were unable to find another larger kingfish. Jerry Ballard’s Second Nature finished third as well as topping the Class of 23 in the tournament (the Second Nature is a 21-foot Sea Ray). Ballard reported that he fished the 1700 Rock that morning, catching his 35.30 pound fish after only about five minutes with lines in the water.

The long, rolling swells made for pretty calm conditions in the ocean, apart from a brutal crossing at the slough. Mitch Yates put the Sea Rat team into fourth with a 30.30 pound fish, followed by Richard Chapman’s Just Natural in fifth with a 28.75 pounder. It looks like the fall fishing season has arrived off North Carolina, and we’re expecting some great things to happen this year in Division Nine.

Final Standings

1. HOOLIGAN...................52.10 Contender 31/Yamaha Joe Winslow Fred Coyne Richard Brice Ken Gibson 2. ROCK CANDI...............37.80 Contender 27/Yamaha Terry Wells Rock Wells Allen Wells 3. SECOND NATURE............35.30 Sea Ray 21/Yamaha Jerry Ballard Eddie Caldwell 4. SEA RAT................30.30 KenCraft 25/Evinrude Mitch Yates Matt Funtal 5. JUST NATURAL.............28.75 Donzi 32/Mercury Richard Chapman John Rumbold Margaret Chapman Randall Riggs

6. REEL SCREAMER...........27.70 KenCraft 25/Evinrude Chad Sanders Chip Sanders 7. WEBB’S FIBERGLASS..........27.60 KenCraft 23/Yamaha Mike Webb Ty Conti Brian Bracey Ron Dorsey 8. HOT GRITS...............27.55 Donzi 32/Mercury Andy Hinton Greg Theodorakis Tim Nobles David Stallings 9. DEAL KING................25.60 Privateer 28/Mercury Tim Newton Jim Inman Nick Newton Jim Panknin 10. TEAM DONZI......................24.10 Donzi 32/Mercury Ken Upton Jack Wood Mike Schulte