(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

"THE CHASE WINS A DONZI IN THE SAVANNAH SALTWATER SHOOTOUT!"
SAVANNAH, GA
AUGUST 28-30, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Savannah, Georgia--There were two elements Ken Thompson, a pro fisherman who fishes the Team Freedom boat, wanted to include when he established the Savannah Saltwater Shootout. First, he wanted a format that had a twist to it so he could attract some of the local Savannah boats that only bluewater fish. Second he wanted to throw one big party over the course of the event on River Street, downtown Savannah. It was a success. The tournament, held over Friday and Saturday, allowed each team to weigh a wahoo, dolphin, or king mackerel. To win the 32-foot Mercury powered Donzi boat complete with Loadmaster trailer you had to weigh a king mackerel one of the two fishing days.

Chris and Jan Chase had promised Thompson that they would come and fish his event. After seeing the format they knew they needed some help if they were going to do well in the event. A call to North Carolina's Linwood Clark, who is a Donzi team member like the Chases, produced the answers they were looking for. Clark, who lived in Savannah years back, knew some numbers of wrecks in the area that could be holding wahoo. They stopped first in the channel looking for a king but soon had not caught a thing so off to Linwood's numbers they went.

"I felt that we really needed to scale a wahoo and a king if we were to have a chance in this event," said the winning captain, Chris Chase. "So we went wahoo fishing the first day." Clark, who came down with his son Brad and fished with the Chases, gave them numbers of a wreck just 30 miles from the mouth of the Savannah River. Jan fought a big wahoo for well over an hour and got it close enough for the guys to gaff. "When it hooked up it made a good run then came back at the boat," said the tournament's top female angler. "The guys got a look at it and said it was a barracuda. I knew better." Back at the scale the big hoo registered 60.29 pounds on the scale. They were halfway home.

Chase came to me for advice. "What would you do now, we need a kingfish?" he asked me. I said I would go to Gray's Reef where all the good kings were caught the week before. He said he had thought the same thing. They went and before noon they were on their way back to Savannah with a 29 pounder also caught by Jan. Their aggregate dominated the event and won the team the Donzi boat. Stuart Booth needed to qualify so he fished his 23' Sea Cat, The Big Willie. The first day he ran just outside the river channel to the middle grounds where at 10am he pulled a 23.91 into the boat. "After seeing the 60 pound wahoo come in on day one I knew that if we were going to win the event we had to go deep the second day," said Booth. "We ran offshore but couldn't find a good wahoo so we came back to the middle grounds." About 2:30 he and David Cribb hoisted another king into the boat, a 32.19. This gave the team a 56.10 aggregate and the Shootout's second place. He qualified also.

Jeff Weathers' Triple Gobble captured fourth in the tournament after scaling two nice kings. With Greg and Bob Weathers aboard the Yamaha powered Contender they weighed a 27.50 on day one then backed it up with a 25.08 on day two. A 52.58 two-fish aggregate is very respectable in anyone's journal. The 27-pounder also ensured a top five finish in the Division and a trip to the Nationals. The second place Class of 23 boat also finished in the top five. Knot @ Work with Robert Olson, Scotty McInerny, Kelly Whiddon, and Kelly Hobgood, caught a 20.40 on Friday but struck gold with a 31.13 on the second day to earn a 51.53 aggregate and fifth place honors. The 30-pounder also boosted the Yamaha powered Sea Pro Team into third in the Division.

The only other SKA team to finish in the top ten was the Double J team led by Jerry Gregory, seventh. Like the Knot @ Work who caught a small 18-pounder on day one they rebounded on day two by scaling a 31.66. Both fish were caught at Gray's Reef where they fished in 55 to 60 feet of water. On board the Yamaha powered Contender team was Bob Barnett, Rusty Rogers, and Allen Daniels.

Daniel Gourley won the Junior Angler Division and the $5,000 scholarship with a 24.22 pound king he weighed on day one. He fishes with Charles and Sheri Getsinger aboard the Fishin Addition. This was Daniel's last tournament as a junior angler and while mom and dad are sad about this milestone, Daniel's fishing ability will continue to keep his name in headlines. He may just be the best junior angler, by wins and standings, the SKA has had to date.

The Savannah tournament committee pulled out all the stops in the entertainment department for visiting anglers and locals alike. On Friday night the Drifters performed their 50s and 60s medley of great songs. Hundreds of people packed the Riverfront but on Saturday night country and western music fans swelled the street to can't-move status. The focus of their attention was Billy Currinton, a Georgia native, who is climbing the Nashville charts and has his first CD due out the end of the month. He was sensational. Following Billy was the awards ceremony with the beach music band The Catalinas rockin' into the early hours. Thousands of people were exposed to our sport this weekend, and I must have answered hundreds of questions. It was a pleasure!

 

"Tailwalker Wins Big at Patriots Point"
MT. PLEASANT, SC
JUNE 26-28, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

Stuart Ballard, Don Mussman and Frankie Clemmons took home a boat, motor, and trailer package valued at $40,000 for their first place 32.12 in the one day Patriot's Point tournament. Stuart's boat Tailwalker, a 31 Yamaha-powered Contender, fished the tideline at Georgetown. "We couldn't get any kings to bite, so we decided to head closer to the jetties and that's when she took the pogy," explained Stuart. Don battled the fish to the boat with no problem as Frank waited with the gaff. The winning fish took the bait at 3pm and Stuart was headed to the scales shortly afterwards.

New SKA member Elvis Matzelle fishes an 18-foot Edgewater. He joined the SKA at the captain's meeting and made the most of his first event. His boat, The Edge, stayed around the jetties all day, but it only took until 9:30 am for him to secure a second place finish with a 30.57 slab. "The bite was good all day, and we are fortunate that we were in the right spot. Once we had our big fish in the boat, we knew fishing the jetties was the right decision," said Elvis. The Edge also took top honors in the Class of 23.

Lady Angler Carlette Stewart reeled in the fish that gave the 27 Contender Black Cat third place. Jamey, Carlette and Vernon Stewart fished south of the Georgetown inlet and got their big hit at noon. "That fish came up and took the pogy and then took off quickly. Carlette took the rod and did a great job fighting that fish," said Jamey. Carlette was also the top Lady Angler. Black Cat is sponsored by Tidelands Ford.

Another Contender finished near the top of the leaderboard. This time it was fourth place for the 27-foot Last Call. Drew Mickey, Ted Mickey and Travis Carter were fishing right out of the river channel when their pogy was eaten by a 27.23 just before 11am. Ted Mickey was the angler, and Travis Carter gaffed the fish.

Pro Angler Mike Kaminsky, along with Kevin Hoffman and Doc Martin took fifth place on King Quest. Their 26.27 hit a surfaced pogy at 11am down near the Savannah River. "Most everyone was talking about going up to Georgetown, but I thought there would be some decent fish to the south," said Mike. Kevin Hoffman was the angler.

J.T. Simmons won Top Junior Angler on Mission Addition. Daniel Gourley was second on Fishin Addition and Johnathan Britt was third on Like A Strike. Terry Adkins did a wonderful job with this tournament. There was plenty of food and beverages at the captain's meeting and he had bonus prizes for Lady, Junior and Class of 23. Next year look for many more boats involved with this one-day tournament.

 

"The Starne's Fishing Too Takes Tailwalker"
GEORGETOWN, SC
JUNE 12-14, 2003
By: Barrett McMullan

The 9th annual 2003 Tailwalker Marine's "Offshore Challenge" tournament was one to remember hosting 243 competing kingfish teams. However, there could only be one champion and this time it was the Fishing Too team of Darrell Starnes, his son Kelly Starnes and fishing partner for this event Jim Price. The $20,000 guaranteed first place prize was taken with open arms and a big smile as the Fishing Too team captured its first victory on the kingfish trail.

Darrell had received some good information from a local source prior to the tournament that there were some big fish holding on the tideline right outside the Georgetown inlet. On day one they fished hard and landed four fish with the biggest one weighing in 19.7 lbs. "We had confidence in the place," said Darrell. "We were one of only a few boats at the tideline on day one and there were some good fish caught, and besides that we missed what I know was a big fish ourselves". So, on day two the Fishing Too headed right back for the tideline with a well full of live pogies and 15 minutes after arriving the man came calling. Darrell explained the ensuing battle; "he hit and burned more than 175 yards of line off the reel immediately. Then, he turned and came right back at the boat a 100 mile an hour and that's when we first got a look at him". The big king ate a single pogy on the short flat line according to Darrell. The bait was rigged uniquely with a lead jig head as the nose hook, which was run through the roof of the bait's mouth and then a trailing treble hook was buried in the bait's back. After a 45-minute battle from the bow of the 31-foot Contender with both Darrell and Kelly seeing time on the rod, the fish was brought in gaffing range and the 2003 Tailwalker "Offshore Challenge" kingfish division was won. The Fishing Too team eased on in the inlet and up the river at about 7 knots and arrived at the scales around 1:40 p.m. in the middle of a big storm just to add a little drama to the official weigh-in. At 2:00 p.m. when the scales opened the 39.85 lb slab pushed down the scale and celebrating began. The Fishing Too team was very thankful to the Tailwalker crew for putting on a "first class event", and is looking forward to the opportunity to defend their title next. Congratulations on a great win!

Second place in the tournament was decided by the highest aggregate weight of one fish for each day of the event. The She's All That team of Ricky and Laura Hobbs fishing aboard their 38-foot Fountain boat with triple 225 Mercury Opti Max engines captured second place with a two-day, two-fish aggregate of 62.40 lbs. On day one Ricky and Laura caught live pogies easily with the rest of the fleet just on the north side of the Georgetown jetties. "After we caught bait all the boats took off north and south, but we just decided to stay right there at the tideline", said Ricky. A 32.57 lb smoker rewarded this gutsy move, which was the largest fish brought to the scale on day one. Ricky reported about the fishing on day one, "we fished on and away from the tideline and had four fish total, our 32.57, a 30, a 20 and a teenager". The big fish of the day bit a slow-trolled pogy on top at 2:30 pm and was quickly brought to the boat. "We knew we had a good fish so we headed on to the scales pretty soon after we caught him". After the scales closed on day one the nerves settled-in thick in anticipation of day two. Word had spread amongst the tournament of the Hobb's catch by day two as was evidenced by the parking lot at the Georgetown tideline Saturday morning. "We fished hard all day on day two and finally got the bite we needed at 1:30 pm", said Ricky. Unfortunately, the big fish they had worked so hard for was unintentionally released sickening the crew. At this point they made the call to run into the beach and freshen up on bait for the last round of the tournament. "On our way back out I got a call from another Fountain pro-team member to come back into the inshore tideline where the bite was going off". After only 10 minutes of fishing the She's All That was hooked up to what ended up being a 29.85 lb king that would secure the top aggregate weight and second place for the event. The She's All That team not only won a handsome second place prize in the tournament, but they also were fishing the pro tour event that coincided with the local Tailwalker ournament and won first in it. Quite a lucrative weekend for the She's All That.

Holding down third place and catching the second biggest fish of the tournament was the Reel Won team composed of the Woithe family including Bob Sr., and wife Susan and two sons Bob and Bruce visiting all the way from the west coast of Florida. "We pre-fished all week all over the place north and south of Georgetown and ended up catching our fish right there on the tideline at the last minute", reported top SKA lady angler of the event Susan Woithe. After catching an 11 lb fish on day one offshore and not having much better luck on day two offshore the Woithes made the decision to finish out the tournament on the inshore tideline. "We were fishing in less than 20 feet of water with probably 50 or more boats around in one tight little area when we got our bite". The big king briefly showed himself as he struck a slow-trolled pogy on a Cape Lookout skirt. "I saw the fish when he hit and thought it was a good one, but he ran straight into the dirty water and we could never see the fish until he pretty much broke the surface right at the gaff", said Susan. After a 40-minute nail biting battle among so many boats, the big mossy back came into gaffing range for Bob and the third place 39.16 lb fish was safely brought on board the 36-foot Contender, The Reel Won. Susan was very adamant to compliment the great sportsmanship of all the boats in the close quarters fishing that cut their own lines and did what was necessary to clear out of the way once they had their fish hooked up. The Reel Won team is also a pro-tour boat and an extra congratulation goes out to them for making such a good showing on unfamiliar turf far away from home. In what Frasier Wall III of the Last Tango called, "an exact replay of last year, except a little better" the Last Tango took home fourth place and top SKA junior angler honors. Accompanying Frasier aboard the 31 Contender Last Tango was his top junior angler 13-year-old son Chip, friend Bill Puckett, neighbor Eric Cox and also his top junior angler son 13-year-old Cory. Last year in this same event the Last Tango caught a 35 lb king at the last minute between the can at the 6 CR and the breakers. "This year", Frasier explained, "we were in 12 feet of water in a school of pogies when he hit a single pogy on the county line way back with just a few minutes of fishing time left". The Murrels inlet based team watched as the fish burned the reel down and came dangerously close to wrapping around the can before they were able to capture the fish with just enough time to get to the scales and weigh their fourth place 38.91lb stud. Frasier made special mention of what a great job Tailwalker does with this event and what an enjoyable weekend of fishing he had with his family and friends.

The top class of 23-foot boats was the Finicky with a 28.04 lb kingfish. Spencer Carnes and crew fishes aboard a 22 foot Key West boat with Johnson power. The Finicky found their fish around 9:00 am on Friday morning at the Georgetown tideline. "He hit a double pogy in the propwash and then burned it down", said Spencer. After a relatively controlled battle the fish was brought on board, there was a sigh of relief, and the Finicky took a big jump in the 23 and under divisional standings.

Despite the tough 20+ knot wind conditions on day one, the hardy SKA competitors stuck it out and caught good fish on both days. Some other top finishers in this third tournament in division three included Paul Massey's 36.51 on the Outrageous a 31-foot Yellowfin, a 35.16 on David Ballard's 27-foot Contender the Iron Man, a 27-foot Boston Whaler, the Off-Track Gaming had a 33.69 and held the lead after day one. Chad Morris on the Sea Horse with a 32.63 and the Knot Guilty stayed hot with a 32.32. With their third good fish in as many tournaments in division three the Knot Guilty has opened up a big lead with a three fish total of 93.01 lbs, but there are still two tournaments left and plenty of teams in striking distance. In the 23 and under race it seems to be a two boat race at this point between the Mikey Likes It and the Finicky who are sitting neck and neck through three. This division has had some great fishing so far and it only stands to get better in the next event out of Charleston at the brand new Patriots Point Kingfish Classic.

While reports of big fish came from north and south of Georgetown preceding the tournament causing many teams to investigate the rumors, undoubtedly the strongest bite of the weekend occurred on the tideline less than a mile outside of the jetties at Georgetown. A majority of the top twenty placing teams found their fish on the inshore tideline very near where all of the pogies were located in less than 20 feet of water. Numerous crewmembers commented on what a perfect clear green water to dirty brown water tideline had formed in such shallow water. The fishermen and women who found themselves on this tideline in such shallow water in tight quarters should be complimented on the sportsmanship and courtesy they showed to fellow competitors when hooked fish were causing havoc on everyone's spread.

Stuart Ballard and his crew from Tailwalker marine once again put on an unforgettable show at this year's Tailwalker Marine Offshore Challenge. Stuart has been fishing kingfish tournaments since the early days and has put together an event that whether you catch a good fish or not, you certainly can expect to have a great time. The captain's meeting included a plethora of entertainment including a rig tying contest, the dueling fighting chairs, a cast-net contest, a casting competition, unbelievable fresh seafood, a band and a great forum to tell fishing lies. A special thanks goes out to Yamaha, Contender and Magic Tilt as the title sponsors of this event, who without them this opportunity to enjoy the sport we all crave and enjoy would not be possible. If you haven't had the opportunity to fish the Tailwalker event yet, just ask someone about it who has, and we will plan on seeing you there next year.

 

"Knot Guilty's 33.44 Takes the Big Bucks"
N. MYRTLE BEACH, SC
JUNE 5-8, 2003
By: Barrett McMullan

Captain and co-owner Robert Wyndham, co-owner Alan Richey and last minute recruit Matt Brunch put the Charleston, SC based Knot Guilty team in the winner's circle in the 2003 HydraSports Frantic Atlantic Big Bucks Classic. On day one of the tournament the sea conditions were slick calm, which prompted the Knot Guilty team to stay closer to their more familiar home waters off of Charleston and then make the long run to the weigh-in at North Myrtle Beach if they got lucky. This proved to be a most profitable decision as they were rewarded with a first place finishing 33.44lb slab. "We really did not have any good information on the spot where we caught our fish. It's just one of those places that historically holds big fish this time of year and it's in our home waters", explained Robert of his decision to fish this particular spot. The area fished by the Knot Guilty team is some 12 miles off of Charleston in 50 feet of water. "We caught bait the day before so we could be at the hole at lines in the water time" said Robert. As soon as they arrived the action began. The first fish was in the 20 lb class, the second was a little better at 28 lbs and then at 9:00 a.m. the big boy came calling. Robert recalled, "he hit a silver eel on the downrigger at about 15 feet, and when he hit we knew we had a good one". The fish made a couple of long hard runs but stayed on the surface throughout the entire fight. Like a finely oiled piece of machinery Robert angled the fish to the boat in less than 10 minutes and Alan laid the steel to the hog at the first opportunity as the eventual tournament winner was dragged over the rail and into the bag. After a short celebration and then a three and half hour ride up the waterway to the scales the Knot Guilty team took a lead in the tournament that they would not relinquish.

The much-experienced King Quest Walmart Wellcraft team boat composed of Mike Kaminski, Susan Kaminski, Kevin Hoffman, and Doc Martin captured a 31.86 lb kingfish to grab second place. Mike reported fishing near the Cape Romain shoals early before moving into the Georgetown tideline around 2:00 pm. "We stopped on the tideline near a school of Spanish and caught a few of them for bait. At 2:30 he hit the downrigger". The big fish cut a spanish in half trolled down deep and then came back for seconds when he skied on the remainder of the bait on the surface. Top lady angler of the event Susan Kaminski took her position behind the rod as the fish was expertly angled to the boat in 15 minutes before Kevin sealed the deal with the gaff. The King Quest headed for the scales on day one with what ended up being the second biggest fish of the event.

Brothers Jeff and Greg Weathers of team Tripple Gobble a brand new 31 foot Contender powered by twin 250 HPDI's captured a 29.86 lb smoker to hold down third place. Jeff commented on the day's fishing, "everything just seemed to line up perfectly. We had two fish that were about the same size and we just had to flip a coin to pick which one to weigh". The Weather's fished about 20 miles offshore of their homeport of Georgetown, SC in 80 feet of water. Jeff reported an abundance of baitfish on the surface and down deep. Besides the two twin fish that they ended up weighing, the Tripple Gobble guys were in the fish all day with 10 other fish topping the 20 lb mark. The big fish of the day fell victim to a slow-trolled pogy on the top flat line. "When he hit, he came right up to the surface and stayed there for the whole fight", said Jeff. After a short 10-minute battle the third place fish was in the boat and on ice. Not a bad way to break in the new boat.

Other top SKA finishers in this event include Jerry Tumbleston and lady angler Michelle Tumbleston on the Bitta Sweet with a 25.38 lb king on their 27-foot Contender, Marc Pincus on the Reelin a 35-foot Marlin with a 24.26 and Bryan Edwards on the Reel Krazy with a 23.38 lb fish. Only two Jr. anglers weighed fish in this event. Alex Myers of the Tool Time came in first with 16.36 lb king and Aaron Conyers of the Play N Hookie followed with a 13.10. The majority of the bigger fish in this tournament were caught in the deeper waters to the south of the tournament weigh-in. It was the general opinion that the best concentration of fish was in the 75+foot range.

For those who sit on pins and needles watching the points race in division three like it was the last race of the year and Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were tied, here is an update of what's going on. The Knot Guilty team has jumped out to a strong start in the first two events led by their 33.44 1st place fish in this event and a 27.25 in the first division three tourney. Hot on their heels though is a gang of boats including the Job Site, Play N Hookie, Bitta Sweet and the Tripple Gobble with their latest quality finish. Check the SKA website www.fishska.com for the latest standings. Things are heating up and the next event is the always popular and competitive Tailwalker King Sting tournament out of Georgetown, SC.

Tournament director and long time tournament fisherman Larry Fowler once again held the 2003 Big Bucks tournament out of Blue Water Point Marina on Frantic Atlantic Island. There were 70 entrants in the event who were greeted with a fun atmosphere, camaraderie, great weather, and good fishing. HydraSports boats has been a longtime supporter of this event, and a special thanks goes out to them for making this opportunity to competitively fish for prizes possible.

 

"ERNIE DILORETI'S DONNA'S WORRY TAKES HOME BIG MONEY"
MT. PLEASANT, SC
MAY 8-10, 2003
By: Andrew Winburn

Ernie Diloreti, Mark Drolshagen and Pete Ferrara, on Donna's Worry, earned a payday well over $25,000 at the 15th annual Rumph Brothers King Tournament. Their 36.54 was caught on the first day of tournament fishing about 30 miles south of Charleston in 60 feet of water. "We had been fighting small fish all day. In fact we had gone four days in a row with nothing over 10 pounds," said Ernie. Their smoker finally hit a pogy on the top at noon and Mark had the fish to the boat after five minutes. The fish broke off of the gaff and sent the line singing and the crew of the Mercury-powered Donna's Worry to panic. Another 10 minutes and the fish was in the bag and on the way to the scales. "Thanks to Monty Mishoe for his help this weekend," Ernie said as he accepted his check. Donna's Worry fished Division 11 on the West Coast of Florida as a warm up for North and South Carolina this year. They had four top 10 finishes last year including a top finish in Beaufort to end the year.

Play N Hookie just missed the big money with their second place 36.48. Jay and Lisa Robertson, on their 27-foot Mercury powered Hydra Sport, ran 25 miles south. As soon as they got to their spot they put out a bait. The second pogy hit the water at 9 am and the second place fish took it within seconds. Lisa, with rod in hand, cleared the other line and started her fight. "We had her within 30 minutes. Didn't know if it was the winner so we ran to the jetties and fished there until the scales opened," said Jay.

Third place fell to the 32 Intrepid Job Site. Jamie Laird, Michael McClain, and Jay and Chad Stewart had a tough fight for their third place 33.80. "We had a little one on and Michael tossed out a small pogy. He had the line in his hand when the fish grabbed the bait," said Captain Jamie Laird. That king made a quick 200 yard run. Forty-five minutes later it made another 200 yard run. "I thought we had it. She was right beside the boat and only a couple of feet from the gaff when she took off again," explained Jamie. Over an hour after that fish took the bait they finally had her in the bag. Job Site fished near Donna's Worry in 50 feet of water. They are sponsored by Bluewater Construction.

Fourth place went to a non-SKA boat, Whip Lash. Their big fish was caught on day one south of Charleston.

Darren Ratley, fresh off of his victory in the first event of the pro tour, finished fifth on his Mercury powered Rat Pak. Darren, along with John Mott, ran South to where the big fish were caught on the first day. Like many others, they ended up in the Charleston jetty after little luck on the second day. Their only strike of the day came at 1 pm and Darren had the fish to the boat within minutes. Rat Pak is part of Team Fountain and is also sponsored by Mercury and Loadmaster.

Daniel Gourley took home the top junior award with his 21.52. He fishes on the Fishen Addition.

Captain Rusty Dunn Jr. on G's Toy was the top 23 and under boat.

Fewer than 100 boats competed for the guaranteed $25,000 top place prize. Mike Rumph did a great job with this tournament from the food to the captain's buckets. Next year there will surely be a larger turnout for such a nice event.