(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

CORAL BAY OPEN- PRO EVENT
"Vamoose Winner at Yamaha Pro Tour's Coral Bay Event"
MOREHEAD CITY, NC
OCTOBER 24-26
By: Jack Holmes

Morehead City, North Carolina. This was to be the final tournament of the 2002 Yamaha Professional Tour but thanks to a hurricane that swept into Biloxi, Mississippi, in September, the Biloxi Pro Tour event was postponed and will end at this year’s National Championship. It’s been a tough year for the SKA’s elite. If it isn’t storms, it is bad enough for the bravest to stand up and say, “Thanks for not making us fish today!”

Such was the case in Morehead, the first day’s scheduled fishing got delayed for a day. Day two, Saturday, wasn’t a whole lot better but as the day progressed so did the laying down of a rough Atlantic Ocean. Sunday was as picture perfect as you could get but the big fish that northern North Carolina waters are noted for had all but vanished.

Richard Chapman’s Just Natural caught the biggest fish on the second day, a 35.86, but didn’t have an earlier fish to move his team into the money. The Pro Tour separates the men from boys in tournament fishing by each event being a two-fish aggregate.

Robert Woithe could have won the tournament with just one fish. “It was the biggest fish I’d ever seen,” said the perennial winner. Unfortunately, a shark got it at the boat and Bob and his wife Susan were left with a tail that weighed 25 pounds.

32 boats weighed on Saturday with any of those poised to add a second fish on Sunday and capture some of the $90,000 prize money. Most missed their chance as boats who didn’t weigh on Saturday showed up with a fish on Sunday. They had to; not adding a fish to your scorecard here spelled instant death for the season.

Greg Carroll’s Dig It III saved his chances with a 31.54 and just missed the board. Marcus Kennedy’s Kwazar stayed in the hunt with a 26.30 as did Terry Grantham’s My Three Sons who scaled a 34.38. David Murphy’s Attitude Adjustor would have won the event also but put his boat in the sand and couldn’t make the weigh in deadline. He had a 28 pounder on board according to his hand scale, then weighed a 31.34 on day two. He really needed that second fish!

The big winners were Roy Boone and Chad Branch aboard Randy Crabtree’s Vamoose from Jacksonville, Florida. They did what most of the competitors did—ran to Hatteras and fished the temperature breaks. They caught a 27.09 on the first day then captured a 34.88 on day two for a 61.97 aggregate. This moved them into sixth place in the overall standings with only six fish and put them in contention for Top Angler of the Year honors. They fished in 120 feet of water and caught both fish within a mile of one another.

Bill Butler’s Crawgator, a 36’ Contender like Vamoose, lost four points in the overall standings and dropped to second place to Sandy Smith’s Gatorbait who earned the division’s top spot and third in the tournament. “We did exactly what we wanted to do,” said an excited Butler who had very limited experience fishing North Carolina waters. “Now we go home to Louisiana and get ready for the Nationals.” The team caught a 30.77 on day one and backed it up with a 26.77 on day two for a 57.54 aggregate.

The Fort Pierce fisherman, Sandy Smith, who finished a very close second in last year’s Pro series, finds himself in the same spot again this year, in a position to win sportfishing’s most coveted title. “I’m excited about it because I’ve been chasing it for the past few years but if it happens, it happens. We’ve won a lot of money this year so we really have no complaints. I’m going to go out the day before, get bait, and give it my best shot.” Matt Pitman who normally fishes with Smith will not be on board the Yellowfin in Biloxi. “I qualified in Division 5 this year and have an opportunity to campaign a Dakota in the Championship so I owe it to my crew to seize the opportunity,” said Pitman. “I don’t believe I need to be on board for Sandy to win in Biloxi. He’s so good at adapting to the conditions and is as good a fisherman as I’ve ever seen. He’ll be there in the end.” The Gatorbait caught a 27.40 on day one and a 29.49 on day two for a 56.89 aggregate.

Another Fort Pierce angler, Mark Malazia, found his Contender in contention after Morehead. The Ambitious team banged a 30.84 on day one and a 21.48 on day two for a 52.32 total and fourth place honors in the tournament. “I’ve never been in this position before,” said Malazia. “I’m definitely going to need some help in Biloxi but our team has really been fishing well. We’ll work hard and see where we are at the end.” If you take everyone in contention’s best five fish with anticipation of adding two big boys in Biloxi, the Ambitious is in the lead.

Darrin Carter’s Gotcha, a 36’ Mercury powered Contender, is in 16th in the overall scheme of things but still has a great shot in Biloxi. He needed Morehead bad and came through. The team posted a 23.34 on day one and a 27.92 on day two for 51.26 points and fifth place money. Carter’s Gotcha always finishes close at the end of the season, maybe this is his year. Don’t count them out! Rick Ryan’s King Size is having a great season. In this event the team posted a 26 pounder and a 23 on day two for a 49-point sixth place finish. Ryan has a six fish aggregate going into Biloxi which means he has as good a chance as the rest of the fleet. He’s due!

Steve Cunningham posted a seventh place finish with a 47.95 aggregate. The Contender team is in the top bracket of candidates who have the best shot at the title. The team is fourth in current standings and sixth if you only count the best five fish.

David Heavenridge and Ron Kein fish the Top Gun. They earned eighth place money with 47.57 points. They now have a five fish agg of 115.86, making it a tough road to Number One in Biloxi however anything can happen. They have a good working knowledge of the Gulf and with a little luck they should be near the top. This is one of those teams you never count out till it’s all over! Stacy Wester, Ditto Wester, and Clay Walker have been in this position before. A chance to win it all thanks to a ninth place finish in Morehead. The Big Bad Wolf team is in fifth overall. It won’t be easy but it never is, they’ll be oh so close if they don’t make it.

Rounding out the top ten in the money at Coral Bay was Michael Causley’s Snap Bean who posted a 44.95 aggregate. Never heard of this team? Well you better wake up and take notice. They’re in 9th overall with very little pressure on the team. They’ve already proved they’re a force to be reckoned with so what do they have to lose. This is a great position to be in and their standings are real confidence builders. They are as dangerous as it gets!

The race for Top Angler is as tight as it’s ever been and any one of 20 teams have a real shot. Names we haven’t mentioned , Ed Mecchella, Clayton Kirby, Marcus Kennedy, Johnny Gay, David Van Lent, and there’s more. It’s going to be a barn burner all right, right down to Saturday night when the last fish is weighed. I, for one, can’t wait!

Final Standings:
Two fish aggregate

1. VAMOOSE 61.97 Contender ... Yamaha Randy Crabtree Roy Boone Chad Branch 2. CRAWGATOR 57.54 Contender ... Yamaha Bill Butler Steve Jenkins Mike Butler Fredy Travis 3. GATORBAIT 56.89 Yellowfin ... Mercury Sandy Smith Wylie Nagler Matt Pitman Anthony Guettler 4. AMBITIOUS 52.32 Contender ... Yamaha Mark Malizia Brent Bowman Chris Blackwell 5. GOTCHA 51.26 Contender ... Mercury Darren Carter Jason English Jason Carter

6. KING SIZE 49.02 Contender .... Yamaha Rick Ryan Joel Wood 7. NO MERCY 47.95 Contender ... Mercury Steve Cunningham Lee Roddenberry John Hall 8. TOP GUN 47.57 Donzi ... Mercury David Heavenridge Ron Kien 9. BIG BAD WOLF 45.57 Contender ... Yamaha Stacy Wester Ditto Wester Clay Walker 10. SNAP BEAN 44.95 Contender ... Yamaha Mike Causley David Stevens

 

GOLDEN ISLE KINGFISH CLASSIC- PRO EVENT
ST. SIMON'S ISLAND, GA
AUGUST 22-24
By: Jack Holmes

The Yamaha Pro Tour is a tough arena to ply your trade, actually as tough as it gets. It not only takes enormous fishing talent, but teamwork, and most important, strategy.

“I felt if we could come out of Golden Isles with 50 points we had a real shot at the title,” said Gator Bait captain Sandy Smith referring to the Top Angler of the Year award. His team of Matt Pitman, Anthony Guettler, and Yellowfin boat builder Wylie Nagler fished the Elton Grounds both days to scale a 26.84 caught by Pitman on day one and a 28.18 bagged by Guettler on day two to win the third tournament of the year on the Yamaha Pro Tour and pick up a $25,000 payday. “I asked Matt to make the call on where we were going to fish this weekend,”explained Smith. “I did not have time to pre-fish and I have all the confidence in Matt to make the right call and he did.” Smith went on to tell me, “We needed a third person on the team and Anthony was our guy. He’s so meticulous, everything for the boat he gets ready and he’s a great fisherman. I really am lucky.” Nagler is the fourth person on the team and Smith says if it wasn’t for his driving skills they never would have made the long run from Fort Pierce to St. Augustine in really rough seas to weigh a king that helped win Division 5. Gator Bait is now in third place in the Pro’s with a five fish aggregate of 147.52 points, that’s a 29.40 pound average.

Wayne Scarborough Jr. is another one of those lucky fishermen. Not in the sense of his fishing, but the fact that he has two great competitors on his team, Ty Petway and Patrick Lanahan. Together they managed a 30.41 on day one and a 24 pounder on day two for a 54.41 second place aggregate. “We went to Nassau Sound on the first day and had that nice 30,” said the captain. “On day two we ran 50 miles offshore looking for that other big fish. We came back to the beach and fished, then moved back out to 50 feet of water where we got our 24.” They were using both ribbonfish and pogies. The Yamaha powered Contender team now has a 31st place, four fish agg of 92.14. That’s a 23 pound average.

Steve Cunningham finds his No Mercy team in sixth place after Golden Isles with a five fish aggregate of 132.9 thanks to a third place finish with 53.15 points. That’s close to a 27 pound average. Cunningham’s team of Lee Roddenberry, Gary Ryals, Tim Piccin, and John Hall fished in 60 feet of water to scale a 27.83 on Friday and backed it up with a 25.32 on Saturday. “Henry Bishop gave us some numbers that really worked,” said Cunningham. “The rest was up to the team and they came through.” Now fate is in their hands, they’re through the tough tournaments where you have to put some mid-20s on the board and they did it. Biloxi can be real kind or your season’s downfall. The team is polished and determined. It’s really up to them now, but I wouldn’t bet against them. The No Mercy is a 36’ triple Mercury powered Contender.

Fourth place was earned by the Big Bad Wolf with an impressive 52.94 two fish agg.

Stacy and Ditto Wester and Clay Walker teamed up to put a 24.30 on the scale the first day, then bagged a 28.64 on day two to really help them climb the ladder. This weekend’s fishing moved the Yamaha powered Contender into second place on the Tour with a six fish aggregate of 149.82. They’ve got a 25 pound average which will go up after they complete the event in Biloxi. Then it’s home to North Carolina and the final Tour event where they should add more points to their total. They should be right in the hunt at the very end.

Mike Jones and Don Potter, fishing the 1/2 lit started flexing their muscles here in Golden Isles, telling the rest of the competitors, you’re not going to leave us behind. With team members Doug Jones, Lilian Jones, and Ken Wrangell they had a 21.85 on day one and a nice 30.41 on day two, for a fifth place 52.26 finish. That 30 pounder even earned the team a check in the Divisional tournament. Now they find themselves in thirteenth place in the Pro standings with a five fish agg of 120.32 points, 24 pound average. They run a Mercury powered Fountain.

If you analyze the entire Pro standings you will see that no one really has run away with anything yet. In fact it was a completely different leader board in Golden Isles from the board in Georgetown. Averages are really close and even the teams near the bottom still have a chance. In this tournament the difference between first and fifth was just two and three quarters of a pound. It’s just a great season. Thanks to a Divisional tournament-winning 41.76 smoker, Sam Britt and his Big Bite team of Kevin Barker, Kevin Hannon, and Perry Hodge earned sixth place in the Pro event. The Mercury powered Yellowfin team could only muster a 10.47 on day one, but just imagine if that snake was just three or four pounds larger. This weekend moved the team into the top 25 with a four fish 100.10 agg, or a 25 pound average.

The Reel Won, a Yamaha powered Contender, added two more nice fish to their side of the ledger, a 28.14 and a 23.53 for a 51.67 aggregate and a seventh place finish. Robert, Bruce, and Susan Woithe, and Craig Martin could be the sleeper of this year’s Pro Tour. They now have a four fish 109.27 agg, or a 27 pound average, going into Biloxi. If they find one average and one good fish in the upper Gulf, they will win the whole show in Morehead and yes, they are more than capable of doing it!

Crawgator is your current Pro points leader with a 161.15 six fish agg and a 27 pound average. Bill and Mike Butler, Brent Balley, Steve Jenkins, and Fredy Travis earned this right with a two fish, eighth place 51.26 point Golden Isles finish. Now they get to go home and contemplate their fate. The fourth tournament in the series takes place in their home waters, plus they have a 36’ Contender so they can literally run wherever they want. If the bayou waters are good to them, they can seal their fate and the Championship before they go to Morehead. Or at least make the rest of the competitors aware of their task at hand. It’s a big if!

Another top competitor, Outrageous, caught two good kings, a 23.31 on day one and a 27.17 day two for a 50.48 ninth place agg. Paul Massey, Joe Bruce, and David Fulford find themselves in 25th in the standings with a 100.80 four fish agg. They’re far from out of it with their 25 pound average.

Rounding out the top ten is the Barely Legal team with a 47.66 agg. This is the team of Tom Rady, Paul Chavis, Mark Titus, and Carl Titus that won the Greater Jacksonville KMT this year.

This was a very unusual tournament, with many having a chance at the big bucks after day one, but not executing and scaling a king on day two. Now it’s on to Biloxi and the fourth leg of the Yamaha Pro Tour. Some will emerge looking to win it all in the final event in Morehead City, North Carolina. Most will be content to just place in the top 25 and qualify for the National Championship where they have to face the upper Gulf all over again.

Final Standings:
Two fish aggregate

1. GATOR BAIT 55.02 Yellowfin ... Mercury Sandy Smith Matt Pitman Anthony Guettler Wylie Nagler 2. PET PEEVE 54.41 Contender ... Yamaha Wayne Scarborough Jr. Ty Petway Patrick Lanahan 3. NO MERCY 53.15 Contender .... Mercury Steve Cunningham Lee Roddenberry Gary Ryals Tim Piccin John Hall 4. BIG BAD WOLF 52.94 Contender ... Yamaha Stacy Wester Ditto Wester Clay Walker 5. 1/2 LIT 52.26 Fountain ... Mercury Mike Jones Don Potter Doug Potter Lilian Jones Ken Wrangell

6. BIG BITE 52.23 Yellowfin ... Yamaha Sam Britt Kevin Barker Kevin Hannon Perry Dodge 7. THE REEL WON 51.67 Contender .... Yamaha Robert Woithe Bruce Woithe Susan Woithe Craig Martin 8. CRAWGATOR 51.26 Contender ... Yamaha Bill Butler Mike Butler Brent Balley Steve Jenkins Fredy Travis 9. OUTRAGEOUS 50.48 Yellowfin .... Contender Paul Massey Joe Bruce David Fulford 10. BARELY LEGAL 47.66 Contender ... Yamaha Tom Rady Paul Chavis Mark Titus Carl Titus

 

 

TAILWALKER MARINE'S KING STING
"Laperla's 60.15 Aggregate Captures Georgetown"
GEORGETOWN, SC
AUGUST 1-3, 2002
By: Jack Holmes

The object of most of the pros you talked to was to come out of Georgetown, South Carolina, with 50 more points on your side of the ledger. Most did! Some, however, improved their standings. While the weekend seemed to be a Team Wellcraft, Wal-Mart-Evinrude show, when the dust settled it was pretty evenly spaced throughout the brands. In the top ten there were three Fountains, three Contenders, two Donzis, and two Wellcrafts.

As the overall standings after two of the five events have been completed, let’s look to see who’s on first. Mark Malizia’s Ambitious took over the lead from Ken Thompson’s Penn Boat with a four fish agg of 118.8 points followed by Bill Butler’s Crawgator with 109.89. Both the Penn Boat and Clayton Kirby’s Fountain Vengence are third and fourth now with three fish aggs. Kirby’s third with 103.91, and Thompson with 101.52. Ed Mecchella’s Fish Fever, who is always in the hunt, is fifth with a four fish agg of 99.91. Close behind is the Wester’s Big Bad Wolf with 96.88 and Terry Grantham’s My Three Sons with 93.63. Last year’s runner up is within striking distance, Sandy Smith’s Gatorbait, 92.5.
As this represents Fountain, Contender, Wellcraft, Donzi, and Yellowfin, you can bet the factories are are giving many words of encouragement to the representative teams.

Randy Keys, past National Champion, did what he does best, digs hard. “It was another one of those last minute fish,” said the popular Captain. “Just like Miami two years ago, it was four o’clock and we didn’t have a good fish. Then she hit.” The 32.42 pound king, coupled to a 27.73 10th place first day fish, gave the La Perla team a 60.15 aggregate, first place win and the $25,000 payday. “We needed this weekend,” he added. “We didn’t catch a thing in Fort Pierce so now were back in the hunt.” One thing to remember about Randy, when he gets the mojo he’s hard to stop. “My secret weapon this year is my fishing partner, west coast ace Harry Thomas,” he added. The team fishes a 32’ Yamaha powered Donzi.

Conrad Lau’s Whopper Stopper caught the biggest fish of the event, a 40.23 on day one. “It was 1:30 and we had just gone to the beach to re bait,” said Lau. We set up north of the inlet on the tide line rip because south of the inlet was stacked up with tournament boats. We had earlier success there but nothing to brag about.” Lau was only there about 20 minutes when he began adjusting the long line. “She skied on the pogy and I knew it was a good fish,” he added. On day two Lau credits his Wellcraft team members with helping him get his second fish, a 17.07. The 57.30 agg gave the team second place, $14,000 cash, and enough points to move the team into the top 25. “I really think that the Evinrude Direct Injection harmonics helped us catch our fish, said Lau. I really couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for my sponsors, Stren, American Fishing Wire, Calusa Nets, and Shimano. Fishing the 32’ Wellcraft with Lau is Patsy Stancil and Nelson Railey.

How about this team for talent? Perry Johnston, Tommy Brower, Randy Spainhour, and Ricky Spainhour. Fishing Johnston’s Yamaha powered Wellcraft, the Marcia D, the team fished with great consistency placing a 28.17 on the scale the first day, then backing it up with a 25.61 on day two for a third place 53.78 aggregate. The team now finds itself in 17th place in the Pro standings with just three fish. Remember, this team will close the season in familiar waters. “I especially want to thank Brad Grubbs at Grubbs Marine for their sponsorship and quick response to any and all repairs required to keep our team fishing every tournament,” said Johnston.

Like a lot of competitors, Greg Carroll had a tough time in Fort Pierce, but boosted his points and confidence after this event, thanks to a strong fourth place finish. It also helped the bank account. Fishing with Lonnie Jones III and Tony Carroll aboard the Dig It II, a Yamaha powered Contender, the team scaled a 28.76 on day one and a 24.62 on day two for a 53.38 aggregate. That’s only four tenths of a pound out of third place. Competition was tough. The team is now just out of the top 25 but have only three fish in their column. If they have a good Georgia tournament they’ll be in the hunt for sportfishing’s most coveted award. Glenn Slaughter needed a couple of good fish and got them. Fishing the Mercury powered 32’ Donzi, Carolina Girl, with his son Gary and Jerry Gibson, the team caught a 31.81 on the first day and backed it up with a 21.48 for a 53.29 aggregate good for fifth place. This moved the team into the top ten with three tournaments to go and remember, the last event is in their home waters, Morehead City.

The Haulin Ace, a 31’ Yamaha powered Contender captained by Mark Strickland, earned sixth place honors. With Brent Elvington and Pernell Roberts on board, the team weighed a 22.72 on day one, then backed it up with a 30.38 on day two. A nice payday and, more important, they moved into 20th place in the standings.

Clayton Kirby caught a 51.42 in Fort Pierce. He knew he needed two decent fish here if he was going to stay near the top. With Dennis Sergent, Rick Stoker, and Brian Gilligan on board they accomplished their goal and put some change in their pocket to boot. The Mercury powered 34’ Fountain team, Fountain Vengence, bagged a 22.55 and a 29.94 for a seventh place agg of 52.49. Clayton is good in the Gulf and he knows Morehead City waters like the back of his hand. What he lacks in knowledge he has a really strong team to back him up. Is this the year he ties Dave Workman Jr. for three Top Angler titles?

Derrick Blanton has put together a high powered team this year and joined the ranks of the pros. With two tournaments under his belt, the team of Chris Blanton, Wayne Hill, and James Mc Adren fishing a 35’ Mercury powered Fountain, My Boat, added a 27.47 and 24.98 to the score sheet to earn eighth in this event and move into 26th place with just three fish.

Terry Grantham’s My Three Sons is always a threat in any tournament it fishes. This weekend David Baker, Ron Enslen, and Joel Coker found a 23.14 and 28.92 to give the team a ninth place finish and move them into seventh in the rankings. This team has the talent to win it all, they have the boat, a 38’ triple Mercury powered Fountain, and the experience. If they do well in Biloxi, they’ll be in the hunt when everything is decided in Morehead.

Steve Cunningham fishes the pros for three reasons, he loves to fish, wants to be with fellow Contender owners, and uses the tournaments to help develop Contender boats. The company’s Vice President, along with Lee Rodenberry and Gary Ryals netted 51.54 more points thanks to the 23.76 and 27.78 they weighed this weekend—tenth place in the tournament and fifteenth in the Pro standings. They fish a triple Mercury powered Contender.

The Yamaha Pro Tour moves to Golden Isles, Georgia the last weekend in August then on to Biloxi, Mississippi in mid September. The tour ends in October in Morehead City, North Carolina.

Our hats off to Stuart Ballard and his Tailwalker Marine team who allowed us to piggy back with his divisional event. It was one of the best tournaments of the year!

Final Standings

1. LAPERLA 60.15 Donzi ..... Yamaha Randy Keys Harry Thomas 2. WHOPPER STOPPER 57.30 Wellcraft .... Evinrude Conrad Lau Patsy Stancil Nelson Railey 3. MARCIA D 53.78 Wellcraft ....Yamaha Perry Johnston Tommy Brower Randy Spainhour Ricky Spainhour 4. DIG IT II 53.38 Contender ... Yamaha Greg Carroll Lonnie Jones III Tony Carroll 5. CAROLINA GIRL 53.29 Donzi .... Mercury Glen Slaughter Gary Slaughter Jerry Gibson

6. HAULIN ACE 53.10 Contender .... Yamaha Mark Strickland Brent Elvington Pernell Roberts 7. FOUNTAIN VENGEANCE 52.49 Fountain ..... Mercury Clayton Kirby Dennis Sergent Rick Stoker Bryan Gilligan 8. MY BOAT 52.45 Fountain .... Mercury Derrick Blanton Chris Blanton Wayne Hill James McAdren 9. MY THREE SONS 52.06 Fountain .... Mercury Terry Grantham David Baker Ron Enslen Joel Coker 10. NO MERCY 51.54 Contender ... Mercury Steve Cunningham Lee Rodenberry Gary Ryals

 

FORT PIERCE KINGFISH OPEN- PRO EVENT
FORT PIERCE, FL
APRIL 11-13
By: Ed Killer

DAY 1
FORT PIERCE - Notice was served to the 79 teams lined up for the first minute of the first Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour of the 2002 season: this elite series is not for the squeamish.

An un-forecasted, pre-dawn driving rain storm welcomed anglers precisely at the start of check-out on the morning of the first day of the Fort Pierce Kingfish Open. Minutes later (for those that elected to check out through the Fort Pierce Inlet) and a half-hour later (for those crews that ran north to Sebastian Inlet or south to St. Lucie Inlet), the annoyance of the
pouring rain gave way to the questioning of one's own judgment.

Roaring seas were found behind the rain squall. The roughness was egged on by a powerful ground swell coming out of the central Atlantic and created conditions that to many were uncomfortable and to some were un-fishable. But for those that got to their spot and had good bait to offer, the rewards were worth the trip.

Just ask the guys on The Penn Boat/Team Freedom. Ken Thompson, Bo Walker, and Butch Constable ran Mercury-powered 32 Donzi down the Intracoastal Waterway to St. Lucie Inlet and on south towards Jupiter where Constable operates a charter business a couple hundred days a year. Despite the daunting day one seas, the trio found some hungry kings in 90 feet of water north of Jupiter Inlet. Not the least of which was the two-day tournament's second heaviest fish. Weighing 43.91 pounds, the Yamaha Pro Tour rookies knew they had a good jump on the season.

"We earned that fish," said Walker of Jupiter, filling in for dad, Gary Walker, who was away on business. "We faced Mother Nature at its worst. At times it looked "˜The Perfect Storm" out there. We had to climb up faces of waves and down the other side."

Two crews were fortunate enough not to have to spend all day on the up-and-down fishing platforms. Inside Chance and Ambitious were each snugly tied up at Fort Pierce City Marina hours before the start of the weigh-in. Paul Dozier led his teammates aboard the St. Augustine-based Yellowfin to a spot within quick reach of the Fort Pierce Inlet. The first bait in the water was taken by a Spanish mackerel, but the second bait was slammed by a good king, 43.14 pounds when scaled.

"It was if we hand fed the king, it hit so fast after we put the bait in the water," said Dozier who just received Inside Chance in March and recorded the boat's first king that day. "We fought it for 40 minutes, put it in the bag, and were on our way home. Being the first boat there proved to be the difference. We were on our way home before we saw the next boat pull in there."Dozier was glad to call the day early.

"It was every bit of 4 to 7-foot out there with an occasional set that went 9 to 12," he said. "It was really blowing behind the rain."One of the next boats to pull into that area was Ambitious, a 31 Contender piloted by Fort Pierce's Mark Malizia.. Malizia and crew weren't crazy about the conditions, but found two decent slabs and a cuda in 70 feet of water to reinforce their decision to fish.

"You couldn't even run on a plane, it was so rough," Malizia said. "It really reminded me of SKA Nationals in Morehead City in 2000.""On the marine radio weather forecast, they don't tell you that you have to add the two numbers together," said Mike Hogan, fishing with Malizia and Geoff Quatraro.

Ambitious posted a 37.53 but knew they had to find at least one more like it to have a chance at finishing in the money.
For Capt. Brant McMullan of Outer Banks-based Carolina Contender, the fluffy water was just another day at the office. Captain and lady angler/wife Amy McMullan weighed a 43.14 and a 40.87 on Friday to wow the weigh-in crowd, but hoped the extra one wasn't going to come back and haunt them.

"We caught a lot of fish out there," said McMullan who reported being in 60 feet of water off Sebastian. "But it was real rough."Other impressive fish that convinced anglers they did the right thing: 41.78 for the crew of Jacksonville's Vamoose, 39.62 for Homestead's Snap Bean, and 37.90 by Louisiana's Crawgator.

But as anyone knows, it's all about Day Two in a pro event. And on Day Two, the ooohhs and aaahhs would go to Fountain Vengeance. Two time SKA Angler of the Year Clayton Kirby, Rick Stoker, and Dennis Sergent ran the recently-splashed Mercury-powered 34 Fountain to the stage and then proceeded to struggle a little bit with their next item of business: getting their whopper out of their insulated fish bag.

Once they did, however, it was a true crowd-pleaser. Kirby's big smoker topped out at 51.42 pounds, big enough to secure the top spot of the Open portion of the tourney ($12,000). Big enough still to net Fountain Vengeance 10th place in the pro event ($500) despite having come in empty-bagged on Day One.

"We found a good bite about 30 miles up the beach," explained Kirby, "we even had three fish on at a time at one point, but none of them were real big."

"But there was another spot about 19 miles away I had wanted to try. At about 11:30 the bite turned off where we were, so we moved. We caught a couple of fish right away, but then at about 12:45 we had a hit and fought him for about 45 minutes."

"When the fish got close, we had trouble getting a gaff in him, and we saw that he was foul hooked with trebles hooked in the top of his head. The next time we got him up, Dennis stuck the gaff. When we tried to get him over the side, that's when we knew he had to be over 50."

"That was the second largest king I've ever caught in the Atlantic and the largest I've ever caught in a tournament," said Kirby whose Angler of the Year titles came in 1991 and 1997. "As for having a zero on the first day, we basically have one drop fish out of the way."

The Penn Boat was among the next few boats to weigh, alleviating much of any would-be last minute drama with over an hour left until the scales closed. This time Walker and Thompson escorted a 39.69-pound slab to the stage, raising the pro bar to an aggregate of 83.60 pounds for any remaining boats to shoot for.

As time wound down, Thompson, Walker and Constable mentally checked off each of the remaining boats that had weighed good fish on Day One. The McMullans came in with an 18.28 good for 61.42 pounds. Gatorbait added a 31.37 for 60.31 pounds. Rat Pak put up a 39.96 for 61.00. Crawgator put up a 23.72 for 61.68. In the Rough had a 33.33 for 55.82. T & B already sat with 70.42 from their day two 41.35 weighed just before The Penn Boat's. All they had to wait for Inside Chance and Ambitious.

Finally, Ambitious turned the corner into the marina and off the boat jumped a very excited Malizia and Quatraro. The bulging fish bag raised more than just a little interest from The Penn Boat and its supporters. Bobby Flocken hoisted the long silvery king onto the hook, and Jack Holmes loudly informed the crowd that it weighed 37.68 pounds. (It still took everyone a second to do some quick mental calculations.) But there were two sets of happy crews - The Penn Boat for having apparently withstood its closest challenge and won its first-ever stint into the pros, and Ambitious, for having secured a career-best runner-up finish in just its second season of pro competition with 75.21 pounds in two days. Inside Chance never made it to the scales Saturday.

"When I saw (Ambitious') fish come out of the bag, I couldn't move," said Thompson, of Eatonton, Ga., within a 3-wood's reach of Augusta where the Masters was being played the same weekend the pros were in Fort Pierce. "Plus, Jack makes a 22-pounder sound huge," said Walker.

"I had been working on trying to get sponsorship this season before joining the Yamaha Pro Tour and couldn't get one, so I entered us on my own," explained Thompson, who also gave away his tickets to the Masters. "I told my sister, Pat (Gary's wife and Bo's mother), I'm taking the year off now go tell those TV shows to get ready for me."As far as positioning, Constable was dialed in.

"There had been some fish in that area the previous week - before the wind started to blow," he said. "(Saturday), the bite wasn't as good as (Friday) - they flat bit (Friday). (Saturday) I know there were fish licking our baits, but we couldn't get 'em to bite."Constable also avoided some logistical issues when it came to pre-fishing for bait.

"I had been out catching bait three weeks before the tournament and kept some blue runners alive in my bait well. I just fed them every day and took care of them." "As a team, we didn't miss a single fish. Everything really came together," he added.Malizia was just glad to see their second fish. With just an 11-pounder in the bag at 4 p.m., Ambitious was running out of time. "We had a deep bait get eaten, and when we got him near the boat, we saw he was foul-hooked, so we had to take it easy," he said. "We got him literally six inches from the gaff and the fish went back down on another
run. When he turned, he tail-whipped us and came off."

"We decided we had five more minutes and the fish were turning on. We started to deploy another bait, and there he was."Being 30 miles from the check-in point with 30 minutes to get there, they threw him in the boat, and ran.

T & B's third place finish reinforced their decision to turn pro."That 41 was the only hit we had all day except for a cuda," said Berk Ellis of the Key West based team. "We sat down up north off Bethel Shoals in 60 feet of water. We were marking bait all day and we finally got that one to hit."

Crawgator's second trip to Fort Pierce went a little smoother thanks to their fourth place."We went to the same place both days (37.96 and a 23.72)," said Bill Butler of Belle Chasse, La. "Friday night, the bait pump burned up and all my bait died so we had to catch bait Saturday morning. I went to the spot, but there was a pile of boats in there. We eased in, caught five or six hardtails and eased out, and that's where the fish hit. Whopper Stopper was near us at the time, and was kind enough to pull up their lines when our fish ran under their boat."

"Saturday was horrible for us," said fifth-place finisher Brant McMullan. "The water was dirty and we just couldn't get 'em going. We worked very hard for those small fish we caught."

"It was a real good feeling to come back with that 39 after the 22 on the first day," said Rat Pak's Darren Ratley after finishing sixth. "We didn't catch him until 3:30 Saturday up where Clayton Kirby was. If we hadn't been in that 38 Fountain, we never would have made it back in time."

"We never had a shot at a big fish," explained seventh place finisher Anthony Guettler who fished aboard the new Gatorbait, a 36 Yellowfin with triple 300 Mercurys. "There were big fish caught all around us."

Several fish in the high 30s and low 40s give many of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour competitors a good start on the young season. Coming up next is the Golden Isles Kingfish Classic June 20-22 in St. Simon's Island, Ga.

Final Standings:
Two fish aggregate

1. 83.60 pounds, The Penn Boat, Gary Walker, Jupiter, $25,000 2. 75.21, Ambitious, Mark Malizia, Fort Pierce, $14,000 3. 70.42, T & B, Bill Oliver, Key West, $11,500 4. 61.62, Crawgator, Bill Butler, Belle Chasse, LA, $9,000 5. 61.42, Carolina Contender, Brant McMullan, NC, $7,000

6. 61.00, Rat Pak, Darren Ratley, Myrtle Beach, SC, $6,000 7. 60.31, Gatorbait, Sandy Smith, Fort Pierce FL, $5,000 8. 55.89, In The Rough, David Van Lent, Bellaire, FL, $4,500 9. 54.76, Snap Bean, Mike Causley, Homestead, $3,500 10. 51.42, Fountain Vengeance, Clayton Kirby, Jax FL, $3,500

DAY 2
FORT PIERCE - Clayton Kirby, Rick Stoker, and Dennis Sergent wasted little time christening the new 34-foot Fountain Vengeance. Fishing a new hull (No. 6, according to Kirby), the trio needed exactly one tournament to place the boat in the winner's circle.I guess that means they'll keep it.

Fishing an area nearly 50 miles north of Fort Pierce on the tournament's second day, Kirby and crew won the fifth annual Fort Pierce Kingfish Open and its top payout of $12,000 cash with the largest tournament kingfish Kirby has ever gaffed in Atlantic waters. Fountain Vengeance made a statement by showing the crowd of 2,000-plus exactly what a 51.42-pound smoker king mackerel looks like up close and in 3-D.

The big king bested a fleet of 137 boats that were besieged by rough waters on the tournament's opening day, as well as the days leading into the event, which wreaked havoc on the bait-catching plans of many an out-of-town angler. The marine weather forecast of 4 to 6 foot seas was way off the mark according to teams that braved the big waves.The way the check out began - with an all out downpour from a pod of rainfall that blew in off the ocean - it was amazing anyone went fishing at all. One unknown angler's comment heard over the VHF summed up the feeling: "Does this rain squall have an eye in it?"

But for many of those that donned their rain gear before first light, the rewards would be good. In fact, six of the tournament's top 10 placing kings were caught on day one, as were the majority of the points fish for Division 10 competitors. Although Day Two's 3-5 foot seas were more fishable, the bite of big ones wasn't as prevalent, but a few were caught. Like Kirby's.

"We found a good bite about 30 miles up the beach," explained Kirby, "we even had three fish on at a time at one point, but none of them were real big." "But there was another spot about 19 miles away I had wanted to try. At about 11:30 the bite turned off where we were, so we moved. We caught a couple of fish right away, but then at about 12:45 we had a hit and fought him for about 45 minutes."

"That was the second largest king I've ever caught in the Atlantic and the largest I've ever caught in a tournament," said Kirby whose Angler of the Year titles came in 1991 and 1997. "As for having a zero on the first day, we basically have one drop fish out of the way."

The Penn Boat weighed a 43.91-pound fish Friday for a $3,000 payday while Inside Chance's 43.14 and Carolina Contender's 43.14 earned them $2,000 and $1,5000 respectively. Vamoose rounded out the top five with a 41.78 and $1,000.

Interestingly enough, all five of these boats either are not competing in Mercury Tournament Trail's Division 10 which began the last weekend in January in Key West with the Hog's Breath Saloon Tournament, did not weigh a fish in that event, or just plain did not fish in that event. However, T & B out of Key West, Ambitious out of Fort Pierce, and Blue Runner out of Fort Pierce, are all aggressively in the hunt for the spot occupied by Casey Hunt and his crew of Australian Gold.

Hunt and crew out of Fort Lauderdale entered the Fort Pierce Kingfish Open with its lead courtesy of a 51.60-pound hoss caught in Key West. They left with a slim lead in the division thanks to a 27.41 king caught on Day Two in Fort Pierce. Hunt has the 36 Dakota standing with 79.01 pounds with two tournaments to go in the division.

"I think it'll take 90 pounds to qualify for Nationals and 100 to win this division," said an optimistic Hunt who now must tune up for the Daytona Kingfish Brawl May 18 and the Port Canaveral Kingfish Classic in late July. Right on his heels is T & B led by Bill Oliver with 76.83 pounds coming from a 41.35 on Day Two of Fort Pierce and a 35.48 from Key West. Oliver is attempting to best last year's Division 10 finish where they put up 110 pounds and still finished fifth during that league's unbelievable 2001 run where seven boats topped 100 pounds.

Fish Fever's Ed Mecchella, a former winner of the Fort Pierce Kingfish Open and Division 10, boated a 30.84-pound king for Team Wellcraft which were proudly displaying their new Wal-Mart colors. After finding a 45.28 in Key West, Fish Fever's Fort Pierce king placed them in third in the division with 76.12 pounds overall.

A 37.68 for Ambitious kept Mark Malizia on track earning ninth place money in the Fort Pierce King Open but keeping his team sixth in D-10. Blue Runner's 36.91 was 10th, and has them fourth in D-10 with 75.11. SKA Lady Angler of the Year (Atlantic divisions) Becky Blackwell is happy about that. A 32.32 in Fort Pierce keeps The Reel Won in the running in D-10 after coming off their first-ever divisional championship from 2001's Division 11. Lost Boys are hanging in there with 69.04 pounds; first-year team Hook-N-Up benefited from a 29.86 to stay in the picture. Sure Thing could only manage a 17-pound fish in the home waters of Fort Pierce, but with their Key West 51.11 on their side, the 17 may end up being a drop fish.

Teams that may be in the bottom half of the top 15 of the divisional standings but should be watched are: Pilgrim (65.88), coming off a win in Fort Myers, these guys ran third in D-10 a year ago keeping the heat on Gatorbait's record sprint. The division's final two events will essentially be on Pilgrim's home court - Melbourne. Irresistible (65.04), Swivel Lips (64.61), and Justin Time (64.26) all have over 40 Key West fish to their credit meaning another one vaults them to the top. Team Freespool (63.44) and Sake (62.85) are two more boats that will be fishing home or close enough to home waters to have a good chance at securing a bid to Nationals and possible the division title in the process.

The sea conditions made life difficult on a number of SKA teams, especially in the Class of 23 and teams with junior anglers, senior anglers, and lady anglers. Steve Senecal, Scott Senecal, and Rich Iwanicki aboard Knot Home, a 23 foot Wellcraft, boated a a fish each day of Fort Pierce with their 27.96 being the biggest. With 61.23 pounds, the St. Augustine entry is bucking for a divisional title.

"We lost a real good fish Friday," Steve said. "We fought it for 20 or 30 minutes before pulling the hooks on it. Friday the bite non-stop for us although none too big. (Saturday) we had one knockdown, one fish."Mike Carter's Bounty Hunter, a 23 Regulator, found a 24.55-pound fish during the weekend for 49.67 pounds total.

Blue Runner's Blackwell has not relinquished her hold on the division's top spot for ladies yet leading The Reel Won's Susan Woithe 75.11 to 71.21 pounds. Whopper Stopper's Chelsea Lau weighed a 13.63-pounder to win the tournament's junior angler award, a gift certificate to West Marine for $125.

"It was miserable the first day, rainy and freaky rough," said Lau, 11, of Neptune Beach, Fla. "I'm just glad we were in a Wellcraft with direct injected Evinrudes. I also want to thank Wal-Mart and Loadmaster Trailers."The Daytona Kingfish Brawl May 18 will be the next event on the D-10 schedule. The Port Canaveral Kingfish Classic will be July 26-28.

Final Standings

1. 51.42 pounds, Fountain Vengeance, Clayton Kirby, FL $12,000 2. 43.91, The Penn Boat, Ken Thompson, Eatonton, GA, $3,000 3. 43.14, Inside Chance, Paul Dozier, St. Augustine, $2,000 4. 43.14, Carolina Contender, Brant McMullan, , NC, $1,500 5. 41.78, Vamoose, Randy Crabtree, Jacksonville, $1,000

6. 41.35, T & B, Bill Oliver, Key West, $1,000 7. 39.96, Rat Pak, Darren Ratley, Myrtle Beach, SC, $750 8. 39.62, Snap Bean, Mike Causley, Homestead, $750 9. 37.53, Ambitious, Mark Malizia, Fort Pierce, $500 10. 36.91, Blue Runner, Chris Blackwell, Fort Pierce, $500