(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

"Double Time Takes the Top SKA Spot at Atlantic Beach"
ATLANTIC BEACH, NC
SEPTEMBER 4-7, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

The 25th annual Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament sponsored by Yamaha and Contender was one for the ages. Less than 40 boats out of the nearly 300 boat field came to the dock with a fish. The storm in the Atlantic caused the entry number to be down compared to past years, and the fish were nowhere to be found. Credit is due to the anglers able to weigh a King Mackerel.

John Dickinson's 31 foot Mercury powered Fountain named Double Time claimed the SKA's first position. "We had trouble finding fish all weekend. The guys decided to make the move to East Rock and within minutes it produced a big fish," explained John W. Dickinson. Double Time joined the group of five boats at East Rock around 11 am on the second day of fishing. As John M. and Eric Price were putting the baits out, the first pogy to hit the surface disappeared as the second bait was being sent out. Eric took control of that rod and had the 27.6 fish to gaffing range for John M. in 25 minutes. They stayed out in the sloppy weather until 2pm not knowing that a 27.6 would claim such a high spot on the leaderboard of one of the largest and oldest King Mackerel tournaments around.

It has become expected to see the 31 foot gray Contender Fish Meister come to the dock with a money fish. As usual this was the case as Dean and Greg Spatholt, along with Dennis Watson, were able to claim the SKA's second spot with a 27.10 caught on the second day of fishing. "It was a long weekend," explained Dean. "We had a last minute fish." As Dean was letting out his team's last set of baits for the weekend, the pogy on the line in his hand was taken. "She ran hard, and we got right on top of her. It took me a while to finally get her to the surface for Dennis to gaff because of the swells," said Dean. Fish Meister was fishing alongside 12 boats at East Rock on the west side.

Wayne and Kim Hardee joined byWesley Smith won the SKA's top Class of 23 boat and the third largest fish on King Chase. "With fish to be found nowhere my crew and I decided to try our own little secret spot, " Wayne said while smiling. "There was one other boat near us, but our luck finally struck when we were able to pull one of the few fish caught this weekend." That 22.7 pound king ate a pogy down 50 feet at 10 am on the first day. Wayne and Kim traded the rod off a few times before Kim was able to bring the fish to the 21 foot Ken Craft powered by Mercury. "We never would have guessed that a 22 pound fish would put us so high in the money so we kept on fishing. By 2 pm all of our bait had fallen victim to shark, so we made the slow ride to the scale," commented Wayne.

Brant and Barrett McMullen grabbed the 4th SKA position with their 20.1 aboard the 27 foot Carolina Contender. The brothers were one of the only boats to be able to say that they caught a king on both fishing days.

The 32 Wellcraft Skint Back with David Jones, Kevin Norris and Jeramy Newton took the 5th SKA spot with a 16.4. Skint Back also fished East Rock near Fish Meister and Carolina Contender. They started out at the shipping channel and lost most of their bait to shark. Eventually, they found some fish and were able to call a few boats in. "It was one of those situations where you really don't think you will boat the fish," said David of his tail wrapped fish. The line went off at 9:30am. Jeramy took control of the rod just before the hook found its way out of the fishes mouth. Ten minutes later their skill had the fish in the bag.

Kristin Phillips on the 23 foot Yellowfin Frequent Flyer took top Lady Angler with a 13.25.

 

"Al Morris and the Sea Drag'n Find the Top Spot at Sneads Ferry... Take Home a 23 Yamaha Powered Contender "
SNEAD'S FERRY, NC
AUGUST 8-10, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

The story goes a little like this. Last year the Sea Drag'n team fished Sneads Ferry just for the points. They weighed in a nice fish-even finished in the money. Shortly after the scale closed they realized a mistake had been made and they had not done their $10 form. This year was different. Al Morris and Brent Bunn fished not only for the points but to win the 23 Yamaha powered Contender that went to the first place team. "It is good to catch a 38-pound king and get back in the running for Biloxi," said Al. The Mercury powered team had no luck at their first spot so they decided to head offshore near the Chicken Rock in 120 feet of water. "We found a great temperature break right on a hard bottom. At 1:30 our lines were in the water and we just waited for the big girl," Al explained of the area producing the winning 38.46. At 2:45 the wait was over as the pogy on the long surfaced line was taken. Fifteen minutes after a 250 yard surface run and a few crossed lines Al had the fish within gaffing range for Brent and it was off to the races for the Sea Drag'n.

Second place fell to John Moore, Steve Spear, Steve Squires and Rodney Squires of the Unreel Fishing Team. As their boat made its way to the dock the guys asked for their picture to be taken. Everyone watching knew this meant their fish was big. The Sea Drag'n team gathered around with the crowd and watched as the only fish to challenge them was taken out of the bag. "This fish is big, it's going to be close," John Moore said. It tipped the scale at 37.76, just short of first place. "We are very happy to finish in the top five, even happier to take second," said Rodney, the angler. Unreel was fishing off of 30 Minute Rock when the long lined pogy was taken at 3pm. Rodney angled the fish to the boat as Steve Squires waited with gaff.

Husband and wife team of Burt and Margaret Ferebee on Second Catch took the third spot with a 35.85. Their Contender was also Top Lady and Top Class of 23. Second Catch fished near the 30 Minute Rock. "Margaret is always the angler," a proud Burt Ferebee explained. At 9am Margaret grabbed the rod and reel that was smoking off line. "It acted like an amberjack. Shot off 100 yards and went down and came up with another short burst. We didn't know it was a king until moments before Burt gaffed her," Margaret commented. Burt and Margaret battled the rain and tough sea conditions all day in their class of 23 boat and should be acknowledged for their efforts. The team is sponsored by Avet reels.

The 36 foot Contender, Big Bad Wolf took the fourth spot. Stacy Wester, Jeff Webb, Bo Dupree and the good luck charm for the team Lester 'Junior' Baker anchored up near the Dead Tree Hole on the first day. Around noon the fourth place 34.94 king hit a surfaced pogy. Stacy explained his fight, "She came straight in and then made two strong and stubborn runs." In 25 minutes Stacy won the battle with the fish and had her in the bag ready to make the run to the scale. This was the first time Stacy had fished with this crew; maybe we will see more of this team in the future.

David Braswell chose a good time to catch his third ever kingfish. David, along with Jamie Milam of the Mercury powered Donzi Prime Time took the fifth position with a 32.23. "We were off of Carolina Beach when the king hit at 9:30 am. Actually two lines went off at the same time, one was a shark and one a king." said David. After three nice runs and a little coaching from Jamie, David had the king to the boat for Jamie to gaff.

Young James Dolph of Aqua Nutz stood on stage with the two Shrimp Festival Queens and accepted his first place Junior Angler award from Don Ewing. James caught a 17.13 king to take this top honor. The SKA's second junior award went to Jordan Norris on G's Machine with a 15.84. Margaret Ferebee took top Lady honors on the third overall and top Class of 23 boat Second Catch.

The Sneads Ferry Rotary Club did a wonderful job with this year's event. There was a fish fry at the captains meeting and burgers and fish sandwiches at the weigh-in. Sneads Ferry Rotary Club holds this event in conjunction with the Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival. Plan to fish this event next year!

 

"Open Wide steals the show at CCSA"
BEAUFORT, NC
JULY 18-20, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

The 19th annual CCSA tournament proved to have rough weather on the first day with a decent sized king leading when the scales closed. Loose Connection, a 26 foot Sea Fox, slid up to the dock and displayed their fish. It was long but skinny. Tim Wayt knew it was a nice fish and commented, "We thought she was going to tip the scale at the mid 30 pound range. Hearing the weighmaster announce 41.30 was a shock!"

Tim, Terry Barbour and Matt Sutton didn't plan on fishing the area about 15 miles from Beaufort but settled for the spot because of the weather. "We probably could have done just fine making a long run, but we didn't want to take a chance. Plus we knew that area we stopped at was holding kings in the low twenties," said Tim. A little after 2pm the pogy on the downrigger was hit. The reel sang for a few short seconds but stopped abruptly. Tim explained the situation, "As soon as we realized that the fish didn't eat the bait on the downrigger, the long line was hit. I grabbed the rod and had my biggest king ever to the boat in 20 minutes." Terry waited with the gaff as Matt drove the boat, and Loose Connection left for the scale as soon as the fish hit the deck. The captain of the Otis Elevator sponsored team watched the remainder of the weigh in, and after all was done on day one said, "I've never seen one of my fish in the display box before. Let's just wait and see where it is at this time tomorrow."

Benson Ybanez, Tony Fincher and Billy Parkin on the 25 foot Contender Open Wide took full advantage of the change in weather on the second day by boating their fish by 8:30am and taking over the first place spot held by Loose Connection. They sat tied up to the dock for just under an hour waiting for the scales to open. And their fish seemed to grow with each minute. "It is in the mid thirties," said Tony. A few minutes later Tony said, "Well, she could be in the high thirties." And just before the guys stepped off the boat Tony added "I hope she goes 40 plus." Their excitement grew to a new level when they heard the official weight of 42.05 and the word that they had taken over the first spot. Open Wide fished the Southeast bottoms out of Swansboro about 17 miles offshore in 70 feet of water. "We had a quadruple hookup. The first fish hit the top line, and the big girl took the single naked pogy 28 feet down. Tony took that rod and was fighting the smoker when two of the other lines went off," explained Benson. Twenty minutes later anyone fishing within a half mile of Open Wide knew they had a great fish in the boat by the yelling and celebrating taking place. "Once we had her in the bag and were finished celebrating, we called in a few of the Class of 23 foot boats," said Benson. What great sportsmanship shown by the winning fishing team. Open Wide is sponsored by Power Marine Outfitters, Sitex, Yozuri, C-Map and Magic Tilt. This is the first SKA win for the team. Benson is a dentist in Jacksonville, NC, and Tony nd Billy are both patients of his- not a bad way to choose your fishing team!

One of the hottest hooks in North Carolina, Reel Greedy, took the third spot. Randall Edens and his father George fished the area about 17 miles out of Swansboro, and their luck continued as they were able to find a 35.55. "My dad has a broken hand, so it was an eventful weekend on the water," said Randall. The father and son combo had their bait by 5am and sat patiently as the only boat in the area that first day. At midday one of the pogies on the surface was taken by the third place fish. George explained, "She made a couple of strong runs on Randall before he was able to get the gaff on her." Once in the boat the East Coast Sports and Power Marine sponsored team made their way to the docks to add a third place finish to their 2nd and 18th place finishes in the first two events of division three. George took top senior honors for the tournament.

Got-Tu, a 27 foot Yamaha powered Contender, ended day one in third place but settled for fourth after Open Wide bumped the field down one notch on day two. Richard Williams and Randy Smith's 30.25 was caught 14 miles off of the beach. A 22-pound king took their first bait in the water, and it took until 11am for the fourth place fish to bite. "She hit the downrigger at 40 feet. We were very surprised at how big she was once she was in the boat," Richard said.

Greg Cundiff and Don West from King of Kings had the largest fish on a Class of 23 foot boat but settled for a better payday with fifth overall. Their 28.90 came with a slight scare as explained by Don,"Greg had her to the boat in no time at all. I didn't get the gaff in her very well, so she fell off and bounced off of the bow and started swimming again." A quick reaction had the gaff back in her just in time as the hooks fell out right before she hit the deck. The fifth place fish hit forty feet down in 70 feet of water 10 miles off of Emerald Island.

Ronald Sanders on the Reel Tuf took first place honors for the Class of 23 with a 16.35. Mister Stanman was second in the small boat division. Dan Dupree on OBX Girl was top Junior Angler followed by Dylan Sanders on Reel Tuf and Dave Hill on R/C Holmes. No Lady Angler weighed a fish.

 

"Johnny Hudson's Just In Time wins the 19th annual
Raleigh Salt Water Tournament"
ATLANTIC BEACH, NC
JUNE 20-22, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

Most everyone fishing the Raleigh tournament knew that the big fish were south of Moorehead City. Former pro angler Johnny Hudson from the Class of 23 Contender Just In Time was one of those anglers. Johnny, along with Robert Parrott and Bill Stallings Jr. left the Moorehead area around 4am of the one day tournament and put their boat in at Little River. "We fished about 90 miles to the south. Most of the other boats in the same area left early but we knew the big one was going to be from that area so we stayed," said Johnny. At 11am their patience paid off when the pogy on the long line was hit. "She hit that pogy and missed, came back, hit again and smoked off about 200 yards," explained the captain. Robert worked the fish to the boat and Johnny had her stuck and in the bag within 30 minutes of the first hit. That 43.1 king that eventually gave the 23 Contender its first win since the 1995 Hardee's tournament almost didn't make it to the scale. "We left the spot before noon. The oil light came on while we were on the way back so we stopped. Everything seemed fine but the motor wouldn't start back up," Johnny said of the ride back to the scale. Once they fixed the problem it was easy going for the rest of the day. That 43.1 kingfish would not be challenged by any of the nearly 200 competing boats. Just In Time had a top 20 finish in the Raleigh Tournament last year and also finished as the 2nd place Class of 23 for Division 1. The crew is from the Raleigh area and is part of the Raleigh Salt Water Sport Fishing Club.

Another Class of 23 boats had a great showing at the Raleigh Tournament. Second place fell to Wayne Hewitt, Chad Barnes, and Phil and Phillip Milligan with a 36.10 on the 23 footer The Germinator. It was an early day for The Germinator as explained by Wayne, "We put the boat in the water at Southport before 2am. We wanted to make the run to Georgetown but certain circumstances kept us near Southport and it worked out for the better." There had been talk of some big fish out of the river channel and with Georgetown out of the picture The Germinator decided to give it a try. They had pogies out and sat patiently as they watched the crowd grow from 10 boats to 40 within the first hour. With 40 other boats in the same area Wayne didn't feel too confident that his crew would pull the big fish. But that thought quickly changed as one of those pogies on the surface was hit by the 36.10 at 8:30. Having a big fish in the boat is great but not knowing if you will make it to the scale puts a damper on things. "There were 105 miles between our boat and the second place finish. We left the area at 10am and there were times when we couldn't run faster than 9mph," Wayne told everyone at the awards. Their fish held the first place spot until Just In Time bumped them into second. Phillip Milligan took top Junior Angler in his first tournament. The Germinator has fished 3 SKA events this season and has been in the top 15 in each including 2nd Class of 23 at Swansboro and top 5 Class of 23 in Tailwalker.

Third place went to a non SKA member.

John, Jonathan and Doug Wilkins slid into the dock and displayed a nice 30.30 king that would give the Mercury powered Team May Craft the third SKA spot and 4th place in the tournament. Reports of the big fish near Southport convinced Team May-Craft to leave Beaufort at1am and put their boat in at Wrightsville Beach. At noon they knew they made the right decision when a pogy down 35 feet was taken. It made three 200 plus yard runs before John had her close enough for Doug to gaff. "Without our Mercury powered May-Craft there is no way our plan would have worked," explained Charter Member John Wilkins of the 228 miles they covered in bringing in the fourth place fish. "We finished fourth place overall but much higher in all of the T.W.T's. Not playing the T.W.T. is like only placing one quarter in a Biloxi slot machine," said an excited John. Think this 1999 Division one winner is ready for the nationals!

John Moore's Unreel Fishing Team took 5th place in the tournament and 4th place SKA with a 30.10. Steve Spear, Steve and Rodney Squires fish with John on the 26 foot Yamaha powered Regulator.

Clark Cheek, Lee Berkebile, Wes Spainhour and Tony Rose, on Gobbi, fished the Carolina Beach area and were able to pull a 28.60 good enough for 6th place overall and 5th place SKA. "It was a short and sweet fight but a long ride back," said Clark. The guys made it to the dock at 3pm with 5 gallons of gas left. Their fish hit a surface pogy on the medium line at noon. "Thanks to Reels and Keels boat dealer in Newport for their help in the tournament," Clark said as he accepted his check.

Brody Brown on the Miss La took second place SKA Junior Angler. Will Bridges deserves credit for his fish in this tournament. Will fishes on the Sandra Dee and battled all day on the water for his third place SKA Junior Angler fish. Congratulations Will. Everyone in the SKA hopes to see these Juniors around this sport for years to come.

Final Standings

1.   JUST-IN-TIME                   43.10       Contender ..... Mercury       Johnny Hudson                 Robert Parrott       Bill Stallings Jr. 2.   THE GERMINATOR                 36.10       McKEE CRAFT ... EVINRUDE       Wayne Hewitt       Chad Barnes       Phil Milligan       Phillip Milligan 3.   Class Sea Lady                     32.05       Larry Starlling 4.   TEAM MAY-CRAFT                       30.30       May-Craft... Mercury       John Wilkins       Jonathan Wilkins       Doug Wilkins 5.   UNREEL FISHING TEAM                              30.10       Regulator ... YAMAHA       John Moore       Steve Spear       Steve Squires       Rodney Squires 6.   GOBBI                    28.60       Fountain... Mercury       Clark Cheek       Owen Berkebile       Wes Spainhour       Tony Rose

7.   WEBB'S FIBERGLASS                            27.80       KENCRAFT .... Mercury       Mike Webb       Ty Conti       Brian Bracey 8.   HOOLIGAN                            24.60       Yellowfin ... Yamaha       Joe Winslow       Fred Coyne 9.   Jimmy Mack                             24.15       Jimmy Butts 10.  Boo Boo                   23.95       Tim Mitchell 11.   MICHELLE K                          22.90        Sea Pro... Johnson        Jim Sweeney        Michael Tatolovich 12.   BOBCAT                              21.85        Henry Moore        Tracy Moore 13.   JUST NATURAL                        21.35        Richard Chapman        Margaret Chapman        Jim Stallings 14.   KINGS JESTER                        20.45        Tim Staley        Kent Sanderson        Lisa Sanderson 15.   LINE ONE                            20.15        Johnnie Sears        John Griffin        Joe Sears        Tommy Howell

 

"Reel Greedy Top SKA Boat at 23rd Annual Swansboro
Rotary Club's Memorial Day KMT"
SWANSBORO, NC
MAY 23-25, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

The SKA season officially opened in North Carolina during the 23rd Annual Swansboro Rotary Club's Memorial Day King Mackerel and Bluewater Tournament. After Jim Davis, tournament chairman, watched the weather reports for the weekend, he made the call to postpone the tournament and make it a one-day event. This decision allowed anglers to weigh two kings on Sunday in order to compete for the second place prize, an 18-foot Wellcraft on a Loadmaster trailer, based on aggregate weight. While the weather turned out nice on that one day of fishing, decent sized kings were hard to find.

Minutes before 5:30am Randell and George Edens, aboard their 27 Yamaha powered Contender Reel Greedy, left the inlet just south of Swansboro. By 7:30am the crew on the Reel Greedy was fishing in water more than 100 miles south of the weigh-in site. "We had been there about an hour when our first king took a pogy," said Captain Randell Edens. That fish was put in the bag. "Two hours later another pogy on the surface was hit," explained Randell. After two solid runs and a 30-minute battle with the second fish, Randell and George had two fish in the boat with an aggregate of just over 44 pounds. "We knew those two fish would give us a good chance at taking the aggregate prize. We hung around that spot until half past noon and decided to let our Yamaha powered Contender get us back to the dock," said Randell. Once at the weigh-in, Reel Greedy took over the aggregate category with 44.12 pounds and would hold on to the spot. Reel Greedy is sponsored by East Coast Sports and Power Marine Outfitters. It took over 170 miles of searching for John Hunt, Andy Broadwell, Maryann Webb and Lauren Bramble to find the third place fish. Their boat, a 32 Mercury powered Donzi, Direct Connect, was seen 40 miles to the south, then 40 miles to the northeast, 30 miles north of that spot and finally 60 miles from their third spot. "We made those long runs looking for that one king that would put us at the top of the leader board. A good buddy, Allen Kinney, gave us the spot that produced our only fish of the day," said John. They were able to hookup to that 26.86 that secured third place near South Port. That fish ate a pogy sitting on the surface on the short line. After ten minutes John, Andy, Maryann and Lauren had the fish in the boat.

Mitch Yates of the Sea Rat was fortunate to have the fifth place finisher. Kirk Whorf of the Reel Time gives him a spot he thought was holding kings. Mitch, along with JR Yates and Wendel Scott, ran to that spot 70 miles south of the New River Inlet and were able to produce a 22.96 fourth place fish. It's great to see SKA members working together! The Sea Rat was fishing in 90 feet of water when their fish struck a pogy at 8:30am. They were able to release a handful of smaller kings during their day on the water. "Thanks to Webbs Fiberglass," said Mitch as he accepted his award.

Kirk Whorf and Van Parrish were able to help Sea Rat secure fourth place. Kirk's boat Reel Time, a 27 contender with Yamaha power, would follow right behind Sea Rat with a 20.32 and fifth place. "We used every kind of bait imaginable today. Started with pogies, switched to Spanish and cigar minnows before going back to a pogy to catch our big fish," Kirk explained to the crowd at the awards. The guys were fishing in 100 feet of water when the fish finally took the bait. "It is good just to catch a king with a two as the first number of the weight at this time of year in North Carolina," Kirk said of his 20-pounder. Kirk and Van wanted to make sure that the Alan Ambrose family was thanked for letting them stay with them in Carolina Beach during the tournament weekend.

Terry, Rock, Steve and Steven Wells of Rock Candi finished sixth with a 19.84. They fish a 36 Yamaha powered Contender. Last year's aggregate winner, Reel Screamer, finished as the top 23 and under boat. Chip and Chad Sanders weighed a 15.16 to take home the Class of 23 honors. David Hill of R/C Homes was the SKA's top Junior Angler with an 11.88 king. First place fell to non-members. The Swansboro Rotary Club always does a wonderful job with this tournament and this year was no exception. Nearly 200 boats competed in the King Mackerel division this year. Several Dolphin and Cobia were weighed and a 518-pound Blue Marlin was brought to the scale on Saturday.