(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

"CREDIT LINE'S 37.52 BEST AT BOATER'S WORLD TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS!"
JACKSONVILLE, FL
AUGUST 8-10, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Jacksonville, Florida. There were a lot of boats siting on the bubble, a good fish in the Boater's World Tournament of Champions, the last tournament in Division Five, would move them into the top 15 in the Open Division and into the top 10 in Class of 23 and an invite to the big show in Biloxi. While most Captains certainly wanted some loot out of the event, the talk on the dock was all Biloxi.

Russ Russell started out the tournament in 48th place in the Division with a two fish aggregate of 48.85. Fishing his Yamaha powered Contender, Credit Line, with Jimmy Sholar, the duo fished the Elton Bottom both Saturday and Sunday and walked away with top honors in the event with a 37.52 and a berth in Biloxi. "We sat on the hook all day Saturday, chummed, and found teenagers and dolphin," said Russell, relieved that he had pulled it off. "We went right back the second day, used hard tails, and just after noon we had our 37 in the boat." The team also had another king in the thirty pound range in the bag also. "It wasn't bad on Saturday but Sunday seas went to four to five feet," he added.

Thomas Cowan and Steve Grant found the C & H Lures boat in the lead after the first day by scaling a 36.27. "We ran up to Georgia waters because of the Roff's report we got," said Cowan right after the awards. "At the D-Buoy the report said the temperature was 78 degrees, plus we've caught fish there earlier this year." They were fishing in 20 to 25 feet of water, caught the king on a ribbon fish with a turbo rattler, trolled just off the bottom, at 10:30 AM. "Were happy with second place," Cowan added. "We've had a good run here in Division Five." The team which also contains Jeff Dry and Don Combs earned second in the Division.

Attitude, with Vernon Rice at the helm, bagged third place honors fishing his 22 foot Yamaha powered Angler. With Steve Wood, the duo fished out of St. Augustine and looked for the temperature break. "It sure was rough," said Rice. "We hadn't done well this season but this kind of makes up for it." They fished in one hundred feet of water and caught the fish on Sunday at 11:30. "We caught it on a cigar minnow," he added.

Bill Baldwin's Max'd Out team caught a 33.90 on Sunday around 1:30 at the D-Buoy also but had to be very resourceful coming in due to a tough season on the boat. "We had that good fish in the bag, but we we're having all kinds of problems coming in," said Baldwin who was the last boat to weigh at 4 o'clock. "We just made it in but I think we're going to the Nationals." The team of not only captured fourth place money but they are going to Biloxi. With just a two fish aggregate and 50.20 points, their 34 pounder did the trick.

Jr.'s Dream was already in the top fifteen but Jake Fulmer Jr. was taking no chances. The team bagged a 33.82 to earn fifth in the tournament and moved to third in the Division this year with 92.62 points. Jake's son Noah would capture Top Junior honors in the tournament plus with this fish moved into the top junior slot in the Division. The team of Dave Lenhart, Ray Pusukinski, and Shawn Tracy fished the Elton Bottom in 120 feet of water. Ray caught the king at 8:30 using a goggle eye.

"We had all the bait we needed before we left the dock on Sunday," said the Class of 23 winner in Division 11, Eric Smith. He fished with Jeff Silverthorne and Mike Gourley this weekend. Eric did the angling job on their 31.26 but indicated it was the bait Mike netted up before they left the dock. " He threw the cast net trying to get a couple more mullet before we left the dock Sunday morning but came up only with a croaker. I told him I wanted it and after we got out to the Bear wreck I put it out. That's what it hit." They were fishing Eric's 23 foot Mercury powered Yellowfin in 106 feet of water and indicated that they too caught their share of cudas and sharks.

Nick Nichols fished his 23 foot Hydra Sports, Lightly Toasted, to a second place finish in Class of 23 with a 30.98. "The best we've done this season was a second in the Greater Jacksonville VIP tournament," he said. They had nearly 35 points going into this last event but just couldn't quite make it into the top ten, missing it by just just over a pound and a half, but they're still winners, they didn't give up. That attitude will spell success.

Our winner of the Class of 23, the Survivor with Mike Dousman and Mark Gore, fished out of St. Augustine, their home waters, and pulled a 25.88 out to capture third. They added over eight points to their score and ended up with 97.13 for their Divisional total.

Justin Bohannon's Redbone, a Mercury powered Fountain, took sixth with a 31.34. "We fished out of St. Augustine and ran to the southwest," said Bohannon. Corbitt Bohannan caught their king at 9:30 at the bear wreck using a ribbon fish on the surface.

Seventh place went to Scott Dennis' Strait Shot. He bagged a 31.02 while Kevin Faver picked up eighth place with a 30.93. Carrie Faver picked up Top Lady honors.

Ninth fell to Andy Cannady's Team Prostar with a 30.38 and the father, son team of Dick and Rick Henley fishing their Stock Options earned tenth with a 30.19.

The new 36 foot Revenge, brought to the tournament by Karl Anderson, a first time showing of the boat had a lot of anglers talking. To back up the quality of the boat, Karl fished it to an 11th place finish.

This was the final tournament in Division Five. We thank all the folks at the Boater's World Marine Centers for all their help and support. Thanks also to Dave Workman Jr. and his staff at his new Strike Zone Tackle Center for allowing us to use his parking lot for our Captain's Meeting. We hope everyone who fished the event enjoyed themselves.

 

"SURVIVOR BEST OF BOTH CLASSES IN ANCIENT CITY CHALLENGE!"
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL
JULY 25-27, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

St. Augustine, Florida. If you read all the fishing web sites gossip you'd think that no one could catch a fish in north Florida waters. Thermoclines, no bait, cold water. If you don't have a boat that can run three hundred miles what's the use of fishing tournaments? What a bunch of crybabies!

Let me tell you of my new kingfish heroes. A week before the Ancient City Gamefish Association's Kingfish Challenge tournament in St. Augustine, Mike Dousman and Mark Gore were putting kingfish on the docks at the Greater Jacksonville KMT. Enough fish to earn them ninth place aggregate honors and they did it in a 23 foot Contender. No long runs, just sound fishing basics.

A week later they were plucking their hard earned money down on an entry into the next SKA sanctioned event. One they would win on Mike's birthday. "We blew a motor last week but the guys at All About Boats here in St. Augustine got it together for me late Thursday night," said Dousman with a smile bigger than the tournament tent he was standing under. "We ran out forty miles to one hundred feet . We knew that the fish still were not on the beach because of the cold water so we went back out off St. Augustine to deeper water and warmer temperatures. I was hand lining a ribbon out, with the reel in free spool about 8:30. A few yards behind the boat the king took the line right out of my hand." Mike and Mark did not know this 43.60 would be the eventual winner so they kept fishing and came to the scales late in the day.

For their efforts they won a Key West center console boat, Mercury powered, and a trailer valued at over $35,000 plus a bonus thousand dollars for being the top Class of 23 boat. They now own the top slot in the Class of 23 Division five with 88.65 points. "We've been fishing now for four years. We had one goal, to make it to the Nationals, and now we're going," added a very emotional Dousman.

This is what it takes. You can't win tournaments siting in front of a computer. You follow the environment like the Survivor team and make the best of it. That's what winners are all about. But then again Mike and Mark are both winners and in more ways than one!

Paul Massey was the first boat to the Ancient City docks on Sunday afternoon. "I've got a good fish," he told me while waiting for the two PM scale opening. Paul fishes Division Five with his son Travis and son in-law Grady Clark aboard his Mercury powered Yellowfin, Outrageous. "It was one of those mornings, nothing was going right, even my temperature gauge quit working," said the new Division Five, open class, leader. "We were in one hundred feet of water using goggle eyes for bait. At 9:30 she hit. Travis grabbed the rod and in short order she was in the bag." The team had one problem now, how do you divide up one Toyota truck, the prize for second place.

A name most North Florida fishermen know is Roger Walker. He does a fishing show on the Florida Sportsman magazine radio network, helping others find fish and improve his or her angling skills. In winning third place this weekend with his wife Paulette and friend Felton Perdue he was still preaching to the fraternity. "Jack, you've got to tell the fishermen that if they don't have a recorder that reads the bottom while running, they need to get one now," and he was very emphatic. "I would have never found the fish this weekend without it. I was watching the recorder while running to deeper water when I saw fish stacked up near the bottom. I stopped and on a second pass picked up our fish. I would have never stopped on this spot without the recorder." The fish weighed an even forty pounds and won the Streaker team a Mercury outboard. They were third.

The next two spots on the leader board were captured by non members but they fished good enough to be a part of our organization.

Alan Franco was one of those fishermen who wanted to win but being in the DJ business couldn't really afford to give up Saturdays. "I finally decided that this year I was going to fish all five Division Five events and try to qualify," he told me. I've got a son that loves to fish and Alan has a daughter, so it was perfect for us to team up," said his fishing partner Mike Jenkins. Aboard Franco's 21 foot Offshore, Spin Doctor, the pair did what they had to do to make the trip to Biloxi, catch a good fish. A 37.9 which earned sixth in the tournament and moved them into fifth place in the Division standings. I believe that the big ride is now a reality for the Jacksonville duo.

Shelli Schmid and her all female team of Allison Talbird and Chelsey Walter, fishing her Yamaha powered Contender, Half-A-Buc, ran 48 miles north to the Elton bottom where a black mullet did the job on a 36 pounder. She was with four other boats siting at the dock on the first day when the scales opened. It was the right call, the team earned seventh.

Jim Scharschwerdt fished with his daughters, Katherine and Courtney, aboard the Mercury powered Shearwater, Dealer's Choice Marine. "Our sounder quit so we really were working with a handicap," said Scharschwerdt, the tournament promoter of Division Ten's Daytona tournament. "Thank God for Mercury's Smart gauges. We found a temperature break on our way to deep water, then saw flying fish on the surface. We put lines out and there she was." The team earned eighth place and Katherine won the SKA's Top Junior plaque.

Rounding out the top ten was David Howard and his son Adam, and Matt Pitman fishing Howard's Mercury powered Fountain, Hooked For Reel. They caught a 34.50 on the second day.

The Ancient City Gamefish Association did an excellent job as expected. It was a shame they were down a few boats from last year but considering that it's easier to stay home and gripe about the environment in internet chat rooms, as opposed to learning how to work within your environment and use it to find the big fish. This weekend's warriors did it and they're all heroes, not to mention that their wallets are a little bit fatter. It was one great event!

 

"DEVOCEAN'S 45.50 IS BIG FISH IN THE GREATER JACKSONVILLE KINGFISH TOURNAMENT! MOM'S WORRY EARNS AGGREGATE TITLE!"
JACKSONVILLE, FL
JULY 16-19, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Jacksonville, Florida. There's a special allure to king mackerel fishermen. Be the National Champion, Top Angler of the Year, or win the really big events of the year like the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament. I don't now if that was Scott Routh's thinking but he and teammates Mark Liberman and Brent Klein thought but they did it, they won the largest king mackerel tournament of the year aboard the Devocean. "This is the first time we fished this tournament," said the Captain, The Sarasota, Florida residents and winner of a new 29' Wellcraft boat, Evinrude outboard and Loadmaster Trailer valued at $122,000. "We fished Thursday 80 miles south of Jacksonville after hearing about some good fish being caught there." They caught no fish. "We caught some good mullet Thursday night and decided to make the big run south. She hit a bait on the the long flat line at ten thirty in fifty feet of water. Twenty five minutes later she was in the boat and we were on our way to the scales." The fish weighed 45.50 and by days end the Mercury powered Yellowfin team were in the record books.

Clyde Keen felt the same jubilation winning the aggregate side of the tournament. With Terry Johnson and Tom Kehoe onboard the Mom"s Worry, a Yamaha powered Contender, the trio decided to limit their fishing to the waters off St. Augustine. "After scaling a 27 pounder on the first day we really thought we had a good shot at the aggregate prize," said Kehoe. "We fished in 150 feet of water both days and had good bait." They came in Friday afternoon with a 38.8. "We would have never got our second fish if the Fish Fever hadn't cut their line that our king ran into," he added. "We came a long way from last years twenty fifth place in big fish where we had a 30.95." The Jacksonville residents proved that you don't have to run long distances to win in Jacksonville. They got to take home a new Toyota Tundra truck.

Rod Hatfield, from Jacksonville Beach, earned second place honors in the big fish category aboard the Hydra Tales. "We pre fished the tournament and found some good bait and fish north of the city," he exclaimed. Hatfield ran sixty miles north to the Elton Bottom and fished in 75 feet of water. "First thing Friday morning we had the king hit a blue runner on a flat line," he said. The scales read 44.65 and they had the first days lead and all the press that went along with the big fish. Hatfield added,"We wanted to try something different this time and we did, we bought our bait and we feel it really paid off." They won a 29 foot Hydra Sports boat worth $112,000.

Randy Crabtree's Vamoose finished second in the aggregate division with 65.55 points. "We ran 190 miles to Canaveral the first day and caught a 36 pounder," explained the Jacksonville attorney. "We were fishing in fifty five feet of water and the king hit a double pogy rig with a new Strike Zone skirt." On day two the Mercury powered Contender team of Roy Boone and Chad Branch wanted to fish 130 miles south but had to run even further south to find bait. After loading up they came back and at 12:30 they smacked a twenty nine and a half pounder to seal their spot on the leader board. The Vamoose team is really fishing well this season.

Larry Fowler brought his Hydra Sports down from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and earned third place in the big fish division, a 43.55. "We had a 27.90 on Thursday and really thought we had a shot at the aggregate division," said the popular Carolina Tournament Director. "We ran back to the same spot on Friday, about eighty five miles south east of the scale. "Radar" Blake put out a ribbon fish fifteen feet down in eighty feet of water after catching a couple of little fish. After fifteen minutes the big king hit and peeled a ton of line of line." Thirty minutes later they were on their way back to the scale. The team had the largest two fish aggregate but the computer said their third place big fish paid better so that's what they received. It was a great weekend for the Hydra Sports team and they got to take home a 21 foot Wellcraft boat valued at $37,000.

The Georgia team of Rusty Kennedy and Carey Stewart captured third aggregate aboard the High Hook, a Yamaha powered Contender, with 63.10 points.

Another Georgia team, the Sea Ducer, earned fourth place in the big fish category, a 40.25. Todd Veal,Tom Wittingslow, and Mitch Matthews went back to home waters and fished in eighty feet of water. "We had caught a few small fish first thing, then at 10:30 I was putting a pogy on a flat line out," said Veal. "Twenty feet back she hit and immediately pulled four hundred yards of line off the reel. She then came to the boat and we had the fastest gaff job ever on a fish this size." Last year the Sea Ducer earned second place aggregate with 77 points.

Fourth place aggregate fell to Triple Play with 61.95 points. Bain Bushloper, Rick Thompson, and Jason Nelson fish a Hydra Sports.

Paul Massey's Outrageous, a Mercury powered Yellowfin, found a 38.60 to earn fifth place big fish but needed the second day to find fish. "We got some information about fish off Fernandina, fifty miles out," said the Captain. "When we got there there were seven boats in the area with five of them hooked up. At 9:30 our downrigger with a cigar minnow went off. After a twenty minute fight it was in the boat. We really thought there was a bigger fish in the area but with no luck we ran to the scales at two." Last year the Outrageous earned seventeenth place aggregate. On board the Yellowfin with Massey was Dunbar Hankinson and Jim Boney who caught the fish.

From North Carolina cam Richard Chapman's Mercury powered Donzi, the Just Natural. With John Rumbold and Jim Stallings they caught two kings over the two days totaling 61.35 pounds to earn fifth place aggregate.

Both the top five big fish and the top five aggregate were SKA members. In fact out of the fifty award places, SKA members received forty two places.

The Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is truly the grandaddy of kingfish tournaments. I've told tournament directors for years, "If you want to get some great ideas on how a tournament should be run this is the one to see." The SKA's hats off to Mike Wheeler, his staff, Howard Collins, Tournament Director, all the GJKT Board of Directors, and the countless number of volunteers who devote their time to insure the success of the event. It truly was spectacular and we look forward to being back in 2004!

 

"REBECCA ANN EARNS SECOND IN NASSAU SPORT FISHING CLUB'S EVENT, TOP SKA BOAT!"
FERNANDINA BEACH, FL
JUNE 5-7, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Fernandina Beach, Florida--The Rebecca Ann topped the SKA leader board in the Nassau Sport fishing Association's Kingfish Tournament by winning the second place aggregate prize of $5,700. Frank Strickland and Marty Rowland are the primary Rebecca Ann team but they're occasionally joined by Georgia fisherman, Tim Short. In this tournament Short fished his own boat and earned a solid fourth.

"We caught a 26.76 on a deep trolled pogy at the D Buoy on the first day," explained Strickland. "On day two, I tried a spot but it wasn't where we should have gone. We needed to be at Gray's Reef, so that's where I ran to, and it's where we got our 29.56.

Greg Garrett put his Mercury powered Fountain into third place on the strength of a 33.76. "We were one of the boats that fished Gray's Reef," explained Garrett. "We trolled double pogy rigs in 60 feet

Only half a pound separated the third and fourth place teams. Tim Short's Fishing Dixie, with fishing partner Mark Smith, plied the waters of Gray's Reef where they found a 33.20. "We were in 60 feet of water and had already put several smaller fish in the box," said Short. "We saw some Spanish mackerel working bait on the surface and moved to pull our pogies through them when the fish ate." The team said the fish hit the pogy trolled 20 feet below the surface. They won close to $4,000.

Fifth place fell to John, Neil, and Shari Adams on their Meat Stick, a Yamaha powered Angler. Shari also captured Top Lady honors. The Adams fished the Nassau Shoals area with live pogies. "The king ate a downrigger bait 30 feet down at 11:40," said the leader of the team, John Adams. "The fish went deep but Shari got it to the boat very quickly where Neil got a shot with the gaff before the fish could make a second run." All that effort earned the team nearly $2,900.

It seemed that the bite was on between eleven and one, at least that's when most of the leader board's top slots were filled.

Paul Massey, Travis Massey, Grady Clark, and Emily Clark fished Massey's Outrageous, a Mercury powered Yellowfin to a sixth place finish. "We couldn't buy a fish on Friday," said Massey, a regular on the Yamaha Pro Tour. "We only had one bite on Saturday and we were at Gray's Reef with the rest of the fleet. The king ate a pogy trolled on the downrigger and with the way the line was being stripped, really thought it was a big king. We immediately began to chase the fish down, but it never gave up that first run. The fish screamed away faster than any other kingfish I have ever caught." When they finally caught up to their 31.92 pounder it had just rolled over on the surface, completely worn out, and was waiting for the gaff.

Rick Miller's Hook-Um-Up finished seventh on the strength of a 31.82, less than a tenth of a pound from Outrageous's fish.

Kevin Faulk's 31.42 earned his Down Time team eighth place this year while Lee ward captured ninth aboard his Leeward II on the strength of a 31.34, also less than a tenth of a pound from the Down Time.

Stephen Scarlett's Leave of Absence rounded out the top ten with a 30.64.

The Leeward is now in second place in the Class of 23 standings in Division Five with 49.94 points. Both the Meat Stick and Leave of Absence is just out of the top ten but both have just one fish. This is one hotly contested class this year.

To be in the top fifteen in the open division of Division Five you now need a two-fish aggregate of 42.04. It's the SKA's hardest Division to qualify in.

The Nassau club came through and put on a whale of an event. We just need to work on the scoring system, make it simple, and they will join the ranks of the top ten in tournaments. Great job!

 

"PILGRIM DOMINATES KINGBUSTER 400 WITH A 45.90!"
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL
JUNE 5-7, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

St. Augustine, Florida-- Keith McCullar, Butch McCoy, and Mark McKinley had to have known that the possibility of winning the prestigious Kingbuster 400 was theirs as a 45.90 felt the stainless steel barb of their gaff. "We were doing some high fiving," said Keith McCullar, the Captain of Pilgrim, a Yamaha powered Contender after their fish was packed in their insulated fish bag. "This was one of the toughest fights we ever had." He explained that the king ate a ribbonfish trolled deep fishing waters off Canaveral, their home waters and about 120 miles south of tournament headquarters.

"The king ran 50 yards away from the boat, then turned and came right back. We saw the ribbonfish come up the leader but really never saw the fish. It could have been a wahoo but we really didn't think so," explained McCoy who fought the fish for 40 minutes. "The big king just wouldn't come to the surface so I just took my time and hoped for the best."

The Pilgrim team went atop the leader board on day one and knew that they had little chance of bettering their score so elected to sit on the dock and watch the rest of the 400 boat fleet try and beat them. They had a scare on Saturday, the event's final day of fishing, when Matt Bridgewater's Gemlux scaled a 42.70 at 4:30. While that turned out to be the second place fish, the Pilgrim Team earned top honors as the clock ran out on the event. A 23' Mercury powered Fountain boat complete with a Loadmaster trailer and Furuno Electronics was theirs.

It seemed in this year's tournament that if you wanted to make a top ten finish you had to fish to the south. Such was the case for the Gemlux. "We ran south 30 miles past Ponce Inlet, then started working our way back," said Bridgewater, the Captain and the angler of the fish. "She hit a ribbonfish trolled deep at 1:30." This king also took the team of Paul Dozier, David Beam, and Chris Martin 40 minutes to get in the boat. For their second place efforts each member of the team received a Rolex watch and $1,000 in cash.

Third place honors fell to the King's Ransom who scaled a 41.50 as soon as the scales opened on Friday. Darren Waldeck, team Captain, told us that he got his bite at the Elton Bottom at 11:30. He too used a ribbonfish to entice the big girl to eat. "I fished this area because the Rebecca Ann pulled a good fish out of here the week before in the Halfmoon tournament," Waldeck said. "He's been hot on this spot for the past two years." It was his biggest finish to date and they received a 200 hp Mercury Outboard and $2,000 cash for third.

Richard Geiger's Wave Buster, a Mercury powered ProLine, found the leader board's fourth place slot. "I fish the same spot every year, south past Marineland," said Geiger. "It's a spot I found that can hold fish." It obviously was a good choice as Jim Blaylock, the tournament's weigh master, proclaimed Geiger's fish to weigh 34.40. He was fishing in 60 feet of water and caught the king on a surface trolled pogy. He won $3,500 cash, a Lowrance LCX15 combination GPS and depth recorder, and two Cannon Downriggers.

Ricky and Laura Hobbs came down from Carolina Beach, North Carolina to support the tournament and Fountain powerboats. As a part of their team he wanted to do well. He did, capturing fifth with a 34.30 caught on the first day. "We fished off Canaveral and caught barracuda all morning long," said the popular Carolina angler. "She hit at 1:30, eating a goggle eye off the long line. There was plenty of bait everywhere." Hobbs won $3,000 plus a Lowrance 1 Finder GPS.

Jr's Dream earned sixth place with a 33.50. Shaun Tracy did the honors six miles east of Ponce Inlet fishing in 70 feet of water using a double pogy rig down deep. "We moved to cleaner water and caught the fish right at high tide," said the Captain, Jake Fulmer. On the team was Ray Pasukinski and the SKA's Top Junior Noah Fulmer.

Eighth place fell to Team C & H Lures with Thomas Cowan, Steve Grant, and Jeff Dry. They bagged a 30 pounder.

Ninth place went to William Baldwin with a 28.70 aboard the Max'd Out while Ronnie Worsham rounded out the top ten with a 28.30 fishing the Trivial Pursuit.

The weather turned out to be great, even for the boats who made long runs. As usual the event held at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina went off without a hitch. Eighteen of the top twenty boats in the tournament were SKA members.