(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

GULF COAST TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
BILOXOI, MS
SEPTEMBER 12-14, 2002
By: SKA

Bruce and Cindy Rutledge and Mike Dillard came to fish the fourth leg of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour but found themselves like everyone else, sitting at the dock because of a tropical storm in the gulf and headed straight for Biloxi. Most of the pros packed up and headed home but many ran into more bad weather on the road than they would have seen if they stayed in Biloxi. The bad weather was all to the east of the storm. The Pro Tournament was scheduled to be run along with the final event in Division 12. I told most of the locals to call me on Saturday to see if we could fish on Sunday. The weather broke and although the Gulf was strewn with debris the seas calmed to three feet or less and the event was on.

Bruce and Cindy decided to hang and fish Sunday, citing practice time for the Nationals, and walked away with all the marbles. The Irresistible, a Mercury powered Fountain, ran south fifty miles to work the rigs while most of the other boats headed for Louisiana’s West Delta waters. “We moved over to the Gus about 2:30,” explained Bruce. “We were fishing next to Randy Nader’s Exterminader. There was plenty of bait on the surface and birds working everywhere. It looked really good.” As the day was ending and the team knew it was about time to get ready to run in the big girl hit a top trolled blue runner. As it slid in the boat the hooks fell out of its mouth. They picked up and ran back to make the six o’clock deadline and made it with minutes to spare. The leading fish at that time was Too Smooth’s 46.10, which if you took a poll, most would have agreed that with the storm just passing a 46 was huge. But after holding up their fish for a picture, Mike and Cindy headed for the scale to hear Bob Flocken shout out 49.14. They were ecstatic. “We made the right call to stay and fished the right area for a good fish. This really feels good,” Bruce added.

The Too Smooth with Mike Waller at the helm ran a total of 300 miles to the West Delta’s block 60’s to pick up that 46. They also had a big wahoo and ling in their fish box. Fishing with Greg Hedges, Rodney Willard, and Todd Kercher, the team arrived at their destination around 8am. “The water looked real good when we stopped. We set the first bait adrift and there she was. Rodney grabbed the rod and within just a few minutes we were all excited, the fish was in the bag,” said Waller. The team kept fishing but couldn’t improve on the 46 pounder. However Willard told me, “This was one of our best days on the water. I couldn’t believe a tropical storm passed 24 hours ago.”

Neal Foster—what can you say about this talented fisherman that already hasn’t been said? His boat’s name, Intense, explains his whole attitude toward his fishing game. He and his team of Aaron Wells, Joe White, and Bryan Bistrong (yes, it’s Marty’s son) bagged a 44.01 to earn the tournament’s third place. “We caught a sailfish. Can you believe that, right after the storm,” said Foster as he was pulling his king from the bag. “It was getting late and I really didn’t think we were going to get a good fish, then at 2:30 she hit. Aaron picked up the rod and a second line went off. We knew one of them would make the board. It was Aaron’s.” Neil was also grateful to the folks at Yamaha. “We spun a prop on the way out and changed it. We had a 19” on one side and a 21” on the other and it still worked fine. I’m impressed.”

The Airborne, with Steve and Sean McMullen, along with Chris Scarano, Jay Watts, and Jimmy Madden caught a nice 42.61 that earned the Yamaha powered Contender team fourth. That king moved the team into fourth place in the division and one of their best finishes ever.

Rounding out the top five was Todd King’s King Scape, another Yamaha powered Contender. Paul Bridges handled the angling chores and brought yet another West Delta king, a 42.60 to the scale. “We caught it at 1:30 on a hardtail on the downrigger. We were fishing in 150 feet of water.” On board and helping with the chores were Summer King and Trey Davis. Keith Mercer’s Risk Taker earned the event’s sixth spot with a nice 39.60 while Tommy Saucier captured seventh aboard the Bowd Up. The team also won the Class of 23 with their 38.61.

Eighth place fell to this year’s Division winners Dan and Ronda Abshire and Quint Higdon with a 33.68. They fish the RXCape. The Jones family’s Conxxxtion earned ninth with a 33.60 and The Natural team came from South Florida to pre fish for the Nationals and earned tenth. On board is Bud Randall and Jon Gundlach.

The tournament site, The Palace Casino Resort, is as fine a facility as we’ve ever been in. It is the perfect spot for an event with plenty of room for dockage, a first class launch ramp, beautiful rooms, and great buffets. Casino is world class and the staff couldn’t be more accommodating. Keith and his staff went out of their way to ensure our comfort. Everyone agreed that the Palace is the place in Biloxi, whether fishing or just getting away for a few days.

Final Standings

1. IRRESISTIBLE 49.14 Fountain ... Mercury Bruce Rutledge Cindy Rutledge Mike Dillard 2. TOO SMOOTH 46.10 Contender ... Yamaha Mike Waller Greg Hedges Rodney Willard Todd Kercher 3. INTENSE 44.01 Contender ... Yamaha Neal Foster Aaron Wells Joe Witte Bryan Bistrong 4. AIRBORNE 42.61 Contender ... Yamaha Steve McMullen Sean McMullen Christopher Scarano Jay Watts Jimmy Madden 5. KING SCAPE 42.60 Contender ... Yamaha Todd King Summer King Paul Bridges Trey Davis

6. RISKTAKER 39.60 Mako ..... Yamaha Keith Mercer Dan Yeatman Karson Bates 7. BOWD UP 38.61 Pro Line .... Mercury Tommy Saucier Chad Peterson Garland O’Neal 8. RXCAPE 33.68 Contender ... Yamaha Dan Abshire Ronda Abshire Quint Higdon Charity Griffin 9. CONXXXTION 33.60 Contender ... Yamaha Mark Jones Glen Jones David Jones David A. Jones 10. THE NATURAL 33.20 KRC ....... Mercury Bud Randall Jon Gundlach

CLASS OF 23 1. BOWD UP 38.61  2. GET LAYED 29.02 Contender ... Yamaha Fred Watkins Jr. Ken Jansen Steve Davis 3. ROCKETMAN 27.63 Contender ... Yamaha Harry Crump Judson Crump Benton Crump Top Lady Angler: Cindy Rutledge ... Irrestisible

 

PENSACOLA BUD LIGHT KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
JUNE 21-23, 2002
By: SKA

Dan and Ronda Abshire, a husband and wife team, have conquered one of the two most prestigious titles in all of sport fishing, SKA National Champions. They are fortunate in the fact that they never need to qualify for the Nationals, however they choose to increase their mark in fishing circles. The Pensacola Bud Lite tournament is but another notch in their remarkable success story.

After no fish on day one, the pair with Quint Higdon onboard, decided to make a 90 mile run to one of their better spots. 'We had just deployed all out baits when a fish hit," said the Captain after weighing in a 58 pounder. "Ronda picked up the rod and the fight was on. I was pulling up the downriggers and asking Ronda if she thought it was a good fish. As I turned to reel our Better Baits ribbonfish in I saw the big girl come out of the prop wash and strike the bait. I immediately told Ronda to cut her line as Quint turned the boat to chase my fish. He maneuvered the boat with great skill which helped me get her to the boat." The RXcape was fishing in 150 feet of water and was on their way back to the scale by a little after 10.There are now eleven National Champions on the record books, several less Top Anglers of the Year because noted anglers Dave Workman Jr. has won the title an unpresented three and Fountain guru Clayton Kirby has been afforded the title twice. Theirs only one pinnacle no one has accomplished yet. Winning both titles. Maybe next year Dan and Ronda will make that run at Top Angler status and go down in the records books. Then again maybe they can repeat as National Champions. They're good enough to accomplish both. Steve and Jon Ennis are back fishing together and it's as if they never dropped out of competition. They used the Bud Lite to show their fellow competitors that they still got the mojo. "We ran to the west and just started rig hoping," said Jon. "Rig after rig all's we could catch was AJ's. We were at the last rig, ready to call it a day and try again on Sunday, when the big girl hit. She hit a hardtail on the downrigger 45 feet down in 150 feet of water." The team including Madison Currin and Bob Sharp spent the next 25 minutes bringing her to the boat. At four they started to the scale. They had second place with a 51.84. The east side of the river gave up another good king this year.

Mark Cumpton's M-Pact team of Scotty and Sambo Bowden, Taylor Cumpton, and Joe Guidry, also bagged a 50 pounder which earned them third place. "We didn't have anything to talk about from Saturday so we decided to run 125 miles on Sunday to one of our old spots," said Cumpton. It was really slow till early afternoon when we had a double header. After about five minutes we cut off what we thought was the smaller fish. It was a good call." They were fishing in 125 feet of water. The fish ate a hardtail on the surface.

Fourth thru sixth place fell to non members. What a waste of good points.Mike Waller's Too Smooth nailed a 42 pounder to capture seventh while Todd Kings King Scape earned eighth on the strength of another 42 pounder.Rusty Hook earned ninth place and Marcus Kennedy, who left the Yamaha Pro Tour event in Georgia when it was postponed due to bad weather, drove back to Pensacola in time for this event and earned 10th place

Harry, Judson, and Benton Crump are having a great season on their 23 foot Contender, Rocketman. They caught a 37 pounder to earn top of Class of 23. They ran west 60 miles. 'We saw a lot of bait so we stopped,' said Harry. "It was slow. We decided to change baits and dropped a 2 pound hard tail back 200 feet. It did the trick."

Rocketman leads Division twelve with a two fish agg of 77.52. he is followed by Fishing Fever with 58.59 and the Island Hopper team is third with 43.39.

In the over 24 Division, RXcape leads with a two fish agg of 98.2 with Kwazar close behind with 90.51. Steve Ennis rounds out the top 15 with a one fish 51.84 total.

Final Standings

1. RXCAPE 58.40 Contender ... Yamaha Dan Abshire Ronda Abshire Quint Higdon 2. ENNIVATOR 51.84 Steve Ennis Jon Ennis Madison Currin Bob Sharp 3. M-PACT 50.48 Contender .. Yamaha Mark Cumpton Scotty Bowden Sambo Bowden Joey Guidry Taylor Cumpton 4. Entrapment 46.10 5. M/V BlackFin 45.78 6. Done Deal 45.60

7. TOO SMOOTH 42.04 Contender ....Mercury Mike Waller Greg Hedges Todd Kercher Rodney Willard Todd James 8. KING SCAPE 41.91 Contender .... Yamaha Todd King Paul Bridges Trey Davis Summer King 9. RUSTY HOOK 41.58 Cape Horn .... Yamaha Geoffrey Gibson Tim Bronson J.P. Kelly Keith Wells Mitch Bronson 10. KWAZAR 40.51 Contender ... Yamaha Marcus Kennedy Max Williams Tyler Kennedy Rene Kennedy Buddy Hucks Jeff McCoy

CLASS OF 23 ROCKETMAN 36.92 Contender ... Yamaha Harry Crump Judson Crump Benton Crump

 

OUTCAST KINGFISH CLASSIC
JUNE 7-9, 2002
By: SKA

Outcast Bait and Tackle owner Tommy Holmes was very pleased with the turnout of his Outcast Kingfish Classic. Holmes made sure that this second annual tournament was top notch. "We take care of our fishermen and their families," said Holmes, and this showed as the bleachers and balconies at the marina filled with spectators. While 1st place finishers fish for a guaranteed amount of prize money, and over 50% of prize money was given out to a field of only 38% of expected boats, the United Cerebral Palsy Association came out a real winner as the tournament gave the organization $2,500. "We really give a lot back to the community. We want to give back to the community, and we do need to have a great turnout of boats to help," said Holmes.

The five man crew on the Mercury powered Instigator only needed day one to bring in the winning King. They fished about 100 miles southwest of the weigh-in using live Hard Tails and around 1 P.M. fought the 51 pound fish for nearly 45 minutes. Pat Flood thought he lost the fish when the line went slack in the dirty water but was relieved to bring the fish on board. He said of his catch, "It was a team effort, and I couldn't have done it without my team." Instigator also could not have done it without Delta Water Sports out of Saraland, Alabama. They had an outboard problem and took the boat in on Wednesday and picked it up Friday just in time to win the Outcast Classic. Cape Horn Boat Manufacturing also worked hard to make sure the team had a good competition boat that could handle the weather that started getting bad as Instigator made its way to the scales.

High Velocity and its twin powered Yamaha Contender took a beating from the rough seas about 100 miles to the west of Pensacola on the second day of fishing and came out with an impressive 50.20 king, good enough to take second place. Randy Hooper had a feeling he would catch a good king and said of the weather conditions, "That's when the big Kings bite." Instigator and third place finisher Kwazar had to sweat out the final minutes of the weigh in as High Velocity's orange and blue floating Auburn advertisement pulled up to the dock with the last fish of the day. That last fish of the tournament revived the crowd as it was taken off of the boat and with only seconds left bumped Kwazar from second to third place.

"Don't worry, we are back," a member of the Kwazar boat said with a joking smile on his face. Marcus Kennedy, who has 44 first place finishes in the SKA since 1991 and has won the Gulf 7 times, hasn't finished in the top three for an unheard of three straight tournaments, but it was no surprise to see his boat near the top of the leader board again. Max Williams caught the fish and it only took 5 minutes to reel and gaff her in around 10:30 in the morning. Kwazar's 50.00 pound king was also the winner of the top Junior, Tyler Kennedy, and Lady Angler, Ranae Kennedy.

Starr Boykin and her all women team including her sister, sister-in-law, and niece caught the fourth place fish weighing in at 48.7 on the first day and sat out day two of fishing. The ladies caught the king using Hardtail in about 140 feet of water. They were followed by the five man Yamaha powered Airborne who rounded out the top five.

The small boat division was exciting to watch finish out the two days of fishing in water that surely caused them some trouble. Rocketman lead that leader board with a 40.6 in a Contender with two Yamahas. Ramrod, also fishing in a Contender, took second with a 39.8. The lively crew aboard the Mckee Craft Mercury powered 18 foot Island Hopper took third place. Island Hopper is sponsored by Posner Marine. Buck Hall and Nathan Dennis, who caught the fish, hope to be able to fish a bigger boat in the near future. The Outcast Kingfish Classic already has a commitment from Miller Lite
for next year's tournament. With the sponsors and help from the fishermen, this tournament promises to be even better next year.

 

MISSISSIPPI DEEP SEA FISHING RODEO
Instigator's Kelly and Marty Daniels, first again!
GULF PORT, MS
JULY 3-6, 2002
By: Jack Holmes

Two big paydays in less than a month is nothing to sneeze at. But the saying goes, "when you've got the mojo, run with it, enjoy it, and definitely count your blessings."

Marty and Kelly Daniels, Rich Schultz, Pat Flood, and Rick Freed of the Instigator, out of Mobile, have that mojo. A string of good luck that is paying off handsomely. They won the Outcast tournament in Pensacola a few weeks back and now won the inaugural tournament of the Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, King Mackerel Jackpot Division, in Gulfport.

"This is unbelievable," said the captain of the 24' Cape Horn boat. "I can't believe the fish held up."On the first day of the three day event, Kelly Daniels hooked up to the 48.55 pound fish around noon and a half an hour later the winning fish came over the gunwale. "We ran about 50 miles and fished in 100 feet of water," explained Marty Daniels before collecting his $10,000 check. "We fished the next couple of days but didn't come close to bettering this fish." Kelly also won the Top Lady award and the team moved into second place in the Division with a three fish agg of 136.70.

The Reel Addiction, captained by Gary Smith, finished second just two tenths of a pound off the winners fish, a 48.38. While they really wanted the win, it is assumed that now with a 119 pound three fish agg, they are assured of a berth in the Nationals which is in their backyard. It's really important for us to qualify and now the pressure should be off," said the team leader. They weighed a 41.68 on day one, dropped to sixth on day two when they couldn't improve on their size, then bagged the good one to move back into second on day three. That's perseverance! "We ran over 200 miles today,"said Robert Hayward, the angler on the fish. "We looked at the leader board and kind of figured where the fish were and that's where we went." The team also includes Mike Allen and John Smith and is sponsored by Okuma, P-Line, Mustad hooks, and Biloxi Rod and Tackle. Allen also had the tournaments largest Cobia, a 60 pounder.

Third place fell to a non member, Dr. Hook, but it proves that the locals can fish and do well in tournaments. They had a 46.55.

Steve McMullen piloted his Airborne into fourth with a 46.33. This fish gave him a two fish agg of 92.13. One more fish in the last event in the Division and they'll have a great standings and a trip to the bigs. Together with Sean McMullen, Jay Watts, Jimmy Hart, and Jimmy Madden they hooked a big king in the morning but lost it. They immediately left the rig to return later in the day in hopes of hooking the king again. Using a bluefish on the downrigger 30 feet deep, they hooked her or at least what they believe to be the same fish.Dan and Ronda Abshire did their thing on the boat while Quint Higdon tried to get them on the board. He had the business end of the rod with a 45.90 at the other end fighting for her life. She lost! They weighed on day two and went into second place but by the time the tournament ended they had dropped into fifth. Ronda also had a 60 pound wahoo which made the rodeo board. "That fish skied higher than the T-Top on the bait we were letting out," explained the captain. "We needed this fish. It kept us in the division lead which we
really want to win." Their 144 point three fish agg is eight points ahead of Instigators and nine points ahead of Marcus Kennedy's Kwazar.

David Alvarez's Feeding Frenzy won the Class of 23 with a 39.66. He and Phil Voelkel worked hard weighing fish virtually every day but it was day two when the big boy came to the scales. David, who runs a Mercury powered Mako, moved into third place in his class with a two fish agg of 54.65. He is just behind Forest Via's Fishing Fever. Harry Crump's Rocketman sits atop the class with a 77 pound two fish agg. He is certainly the man to beat but don't count Alvarez or Via out.

Cecil Capps earned second place in the Class of 23 with a 29.69. Once again we found ourselves on the Gulf coast, working a tournament, this time over a holiday. Not bad duty. We stayed with Bobby Carter at the Isle of Capri, ate great food, both at the resort and at the tournament grounds, got to see a super fireworks show from the Isle's boat docks, The Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo has been a fourth of July mainstay for the past 54 years. Steeped in tradition, the rodeo thru it's directors Chuck Dedeaux, Marrianne Dorsey, and Buzz Olsen, are trying to move the rodeo forward, to place it on an even stature or better with events of it's size across the country. Their ideas are sound, innovative, and deserve consideration by all the directors. This is a great event but has the leadership and direction to possibly make it one of the best. We hope we can go along for the ride.

Final Standings

1. INSTIGATOR 48.55 Cape Horn .... Mercury Marty Daniels Kelly Daniels Pat Flood Rick Freed Rich Schultz 2. REEL ADDICTION 48.38 Contender ... Yamaha Gary Smith Mike Allen John Smith Robert Hayward 3. Dr. Hook 46.55 4. AIRBORNE 46.33 Contender .... Yamaha Steve McMullen Sean McMullen Jay Watts Jimmy Hart Jimmy Madden 5. RXCAPE 45.90 Contender ... Yamaha Dan Abshire Ronda Abshire Quint Higdon	6. Cape Horn Offshore 45.65 7. INTENSE 45.20 Contender ... Yamaha Neal Foster Robby Montgomery David VanLent Andy Conklin Shea Foster 8. KWAZAR 44.74 Contender ... Yamaha Marcus Kennedy Max Williams Tyler Kennedy Rene Kennedy Kenny Smith 9. M-PACT 43.64 Contender ... Yamaha Mark Cumpton Scotty Bowden Taylor Cumpton Joey Guidry Sam Bowden 10. R & R EXPRESS 42.99 Donzi ... Mercury Richard Harris James Rentrop Sr. James Rentrop Jr.
CLASS OF 23 1. FEEDING FRENZY 39.66 Mako ... Yamaha Dave Alvarez Phil Voelkel Boyce White 2. SEA HAGG 29.69 Sea Craft .... Mercury Cecil Capps Earl Burbridge Wesley Burbridge Jay Doole 3. Big Canoe 28.45
Top Lady Angler: Kelly Daniels ..... Instigator	Top Junior Angler: Shae Foster .... Intense