(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

"PAPOTANIC'S 52.27 CAPTURES SKIPPER'S KMT! "
MATAGORDA, TX
SEPTEMBER 5-7, 2003
By: John Zalud

Matagorda, Texas--After disposing of several small kings, Mark Bledsoe picked up the rod and exclaimed, "I think this is a good one!" It was 11:30 and the Papotanic team were having second thoughts about their game plan, "We ran 150 miles south east of Matagorda to 170 feet of water," explained team captain Jose Reyes. "We've caught good fish there before." Within 15 minutes the tournament-winning king came over the 36 foot Contender's gunwale and after a round of high fives, they settled into a easy ride back to the Skipper's Bait and Tackle docks. This king, the biggest of the season for the Papotanic, not only captured first in the tournament but more than sealed the Division's number one slot. Teammates include Bill Platt, Aaron Reagan, and Nathan Reagan along with Reyes and Bledsoe.

Bobby Schoenfeld needed a good fish, a real good fish if he was to qualify in this division. His Four Play had only one fish on his side of the ledger, but he really wasn't too worried. He stood a good chance of getting the nod to the Nationals in Division seven. "I ran to a spot 55 miles south of Matagorda," explained Schoenfeld. "It had a good rock bottom and before noon I had released four kings in the high 20s to mid 30s. No need to keep these fish; I needed something larger." Close to one, the reel exploded and Schoenfeld knew that if he could get this girl to the boat he had a shot. Fishing by himself he knew everything had to be just right. Patiently he worked the fish and 20 minutes later it was in the bag. The fish tipped the scales at 47.68, just enough for the invite and he picked up second place money as a bonus. "Not a bad weekend," he added. "I caught a 45 on Sunday and really though that was a bigger fish than the 47." Schoenfeld just purchased a Mercury powered Dakota and has indicated that he will be fishing the pros next season.

Once again the Texas Contender team finished in the money, this time third. This is a very consistent team of Brett Donnahoe, Brian Gaudin, and Danny Atchison. The team ran 70 miles south east of the tournament site. "We set up in 120 feet of water and caught and released several small fish before noon," said the captain, Brett Donnahoe. "At 12:40 our hard tail on a long line smoked. It was a good fish and we got the gaff only it fell in the water. Got it and the fish but as we were putting her in the bag another long line went off." They got this fish to the side of the boat but when they stuck the fish the gaff handle fell off. Brian, who was on the rod said, "Don't get hot, I'll get the fish." Ten minutes later she was back by the side of the boat and Brett retrieved the remainder of the gaff and the fish. A 42.14 was what the scale read. The season over, this team can now concentrate on winning the Nationals. If you haven't figured it out yet, all three of the big fish caught in this tournament were caught between 12:30 and 1 o'clock. This isn't a freaky thing, it happens all the time.

"After the captain's meeting I picked up a guide book and looked at some numbers that they said had a good rock bottom," said Jim Boeler who fishes with his son Brent.

"Looked good to me so we ran 70 miles south east and set up in 230 feet of water." The morning was like all the rest, small fish, all released. At 12:30 Team Cremak's short line went off. And within minutes they had the fourth place 31.97 king in the boat. "Sometimes it pays to read the books," said the excited captain.

Chris Machacek, Terry Pool, and Ray Smith fished the Team McKee Craft boat to a fifth place finish. "Didn't catch a thing on Saturday, so we decided to stay close on Sunday," said Captain Chris Machacek. "We ran to a spot 50 miles from the scale. The king ate a hard tail on the long line and within minutes we had her in the boat and were on the way to the scale." The fish weighed 30.43 pounds.

Johnny Benkenstein Jr. decided to make a long run on Saturday, 120 miles to be exact. "We've caught fish here before," said the young captain. Fishing with his father John and Nick Garthwaite the team leader explained that the choice was a right one but the strong bite was only producing small fish. Late in the day came the strike they were looking for, off the downrigger, 20 feet below the surface. A short 20-minute fight gave them a fish, a 29.83, that would eventually capture top honors in the Class of 23. They had victory again plus it sealed the division title to the Yamaha powered Contender team.

Mark Holland didn't run as far as the rest but his Who's Your Daddy still made the board, second place Class of 23 with a 29.45. "We were in 140 feet of water and had already caught five kings in the low 20s," said Holland. "Then at two o'clock the downrigger which was trolling a ribbon forty feet down went off. It made a 350 yard run and we really thought this was the one." Twenty minutes later they had her in the boat and were on the way to the scale. Kelly Holland would also win the Top Lady honors.

The season is now over and those fortunate teams to make the top fifteen in the open class and the top ten in the Class of 23 now have the distinct honor of representing Texas at the Championship. A lot of honor is at stake. Papotanic earned fifth last year, a major accomplishment, but can the Texas teams do better? Absolutely!!!

 

"Team Binnion's 50.7 pound fish leads the way in Freeport!"
FREEPORT, TX
JULY 25-27, 2003
By: Bob Flocken

8 year Old Ryan Binnion stood in the bow of his dad's boat with a huge grin on his face. "It's a big one and I caught it all by myself," exclaimed the excited youngster as their boat slid up to the dock. Ryan supervised as team members Royce and Rodney Binnion carried the heavy fish bag to the scales. When I asked Ryan how heavy he thought the fish was he got a very thoughtful look on his face and spread his arms out wide and responded "Biiig". Well, He was right on the money. The youngster's "Biiig" kingfish weighted in at 50.7 pounds to take the early lead and hold on to win this years Freeport Kingfish Classic held at the beautiful Bridge Harbor Yacht Club in Freeport, Texas, the third stop on the SKA Division 8 trail. Team Binnion caught their winning fish about 100 miles south of Freeport in 155 feet of water. Their fish ate a hard tail fished on a long flat line at 11:00 in the morning. At the awards ceremony, young Ryan asked me not to forget to mention his sponsors, KingfishTackle.com, Royal Purple, and American Rodsmiths in Angler magazine. Dad is teaching Ryan all the tricks.

Second place honors went to Jose Reyes's big Contender, the Papotanic, with a 45.6 pound king they caught on Saturday. "We fished about 100 miles southeast of the inlet," said Co-Captain Bill Platt. "The fish ate a large hard tail on the surface in about 105 feet of water. We caught several fish on Sunday, but we couldn't find anything bigger than our first day's fish."

The Turner Loose didn't turn loose their 42.5lb kingfish to take home the tournaments third place prize. Sunday, while most boats ran to the south, David Turner headed to a spot about forty miles west of the scales where several shrimp boats were working. Keith Caka caught their fish around noon on a flat line. Their big fish ate a blue fish in 110 feet of water.

Steve Cole took the Maverick 90 miles to the south were they caught and released several good kingfish all of them between 30 and 40 pounds, before hooking up to the 42.3 pound fish that would place them in fourth overall. Fishing with Steve were junior angler Taylor Teltschick and his dad, Goldie, David Kennedy and James Hampton. They fished an area where they found hard bottom and lots of structure about 90 miles from Freeport. Their fish ate a hard tail trolled on a downrigger about 30 feet down in 140 feet of water.

Fifth place was won by the Easy Come, Easy Go captained by James Howell. Jim and his crew released at least twenty fish over 30 pounds Sunday, fishing 90 miles southeast of the inlet in 100 feet of water. Their 40.6 pound king ate a hard tail on the surface at 7:45AM and skyrocketed 15 feet in the air before coming to the gaff.

The top finishing 23 and under boat was the Johnny B, a 23 foot Contender skippered by Johnny Benkenstein, Jr. Fishing with Johnny was Nick Garthwaite. Both started fishing in Division Eight as junior anglers and now Johnny has his own boat. They caught their fish on Sunday fishing 90 miles southwest in about 150 feet of water. They had run out of live baits and had put out some dead blue runners which the 31.2lb king promptly ate.

Fishing in the area had been slow since the tropical storm had churned up the Texas coastline two weeks earlier. Local charter boats had not reported any kingfish but all in all fishing proved quite good for many of the tournament participants. Choppy seas on Saturday kept some boats from going to their favorite spots but Sunday was gorgeous and those who wished to make a long run had no trouble getting to the areas that they wanted to fish. Boy does it get hot in Texas. Ricky Day and Trent Allen put on a great show and Mino and his crew at Bridge Harbor went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome. Many thanks go to all of you for a great event. Division 8 moves on to the Galveston Yacht Basin August 15th-17th for the American Rodsmith's King of Kings Classic and from there to Matagorda September 5th-7th for the Skipper's Bait & tackle Tournament. See you at the scales.

 

"TEXAS CONTENDER WINS A CONTENDER IN ARANSAS PASS!!"
ARANSAS PASS, TX
JULY 11-13, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Aransas Pass, Texas. This was one of those weekends you could write a book about. Misinformation, new friends, poor fishing, no bait, full moon, and a tropical storm named Claudette. So many plots, most with a happy ending.

Brett Donnahoe, Brian Gaudin, and Danny Atchison were our winners of the Aransas Pass King Mackerel Tournament aboard the Texas Contender. They scaled a 44.53 after a trio of 42's hit the s cale on day one and no one challenged their lead. "We took a chance," said the winning captain and the angler on the teams fish. "We ran 60 miles south looking for better water conditions. In 70 feet of water we found our king at 1:30. It hit a hard tail and made one long, screaming run." The team was awarded a new 21- foot Yamaha-powered Contender boat, with a Loadmaster trailer by Contender Vice President Marty Bistrong and Jay Jones from Ronnie's Marine. THe team is sponsored by Texas Marin, Yamaha, Chevron(Hurt Co.), AmericanRodsmith, Accurate Fishing Reels, and Kingfishtackle.com

Weather played a significant role in the week leading up to the event and even during the event, but it went off without a hitch. Four to five days before the tournament the phone began to ring, what are we doing about Tropical Storm Claudette? NOAA was calling for five to seven foot seas as we entered the weekend, then rising to nine-foot. This was one of the worst weather calls NOAA ever made. No rain, calm seas on Saturday, and swells on Sunday. It cost the tournament a lot of boats, and they missed a good one. Fishing stunk but the sponsors, Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce, and the city put on a super weekend, a weekend we won't forget for a long time.

Chris and Tommy Vanos, Kevin Jameson, Robert Maraldo, Michael Triola, and Jackie Davidson fished the Mercury-powered Wellcraft, Reel Deal to a second place finish. They were one of the early boats to weigh on Saturday, scaling a 42.87 to take an early lead.

Next came the Yellowfin, last year's winner of this tournament. John Thomas Dusek, Pat Varga, and the tournaments Top Lady Angler, Heather Niles, scaled a 42.47 which would eventually place them in third. They were just four-tenths of a pound out of second.

Jose Reyes followed the string of 42-pounders to the scale on day one. With Bill Platt, Aaron Reagan, Marc Bledsoe, and Tim Alcala aboard the Papatonic, Jose scaled a 42.35, just .12 out of third and a half a pound out of second. They ran more than 90 miles in a 36' Yamaha powered Contender to find good water and a nice fish.

Frank Neill towed his Fountain to Aransas Pass from Austin and caught the biggest fish of day two, a 40.10 to earn fifth place overall. It was the biggest king he's ever caught. "I caught her on a ribbon fish trolled on the surface," said the captain of the Master Bater. "We were in ninety seven feet of water, twenty miles from the scale." Frank fishes with his son and daughter.

A Hydra Sports named Who's Your Daddy captured the Class of 23 honors. Mark and Kelly Holland, David Lewis, David Moffett, and Craig Rucka teamed to scale a 37.37.

Day two only saw seven fish weigh in as the big fish continued to elude the majority of the field. They were facing two obstacles. First was the pending storm. They really needed the barometer to start to drop but the big storm stayed far enough off shore to see that happen. Next, if you looked to the heavens at night you saw what a lot of fishermen refer to a Miami moon, or a full moon. Fishing was tough and finding bait equally tough.

Brice Fuselier found his Outcast in sixth place after scaling a 39.66 on day one while Mark Lee and his team on the Shockwave found seventh place with a 35.42.

John Benkenstein Jr. put his Johnny B into second place in the Class of 23 with a 29.82.

All the local sponsors got together and made everyone feel right at home. They fed everyone at the Captain's meeting, had sandwiches for all after fishing, and set up things to do like free trips to the water park for fishermen's families. Aransas Pass people made us feel very, very welcome and we can't wait to start making plans for next year. A special thank you to Mike Black and Ned Taylor from Coastal Yachts, the local Fountain dealer, for all their help and support. They were responsible for us moving our event to Aransas Pass.

By the way, Tropical Storm Claudette was still churning in the Gulf when we left town. After predicting that it would make landfall by Sunday, they changed their prediction to Tuesday. Predicting the path of a storm is still not a science, just what they call it, a prediction.

 

"Terminator II Takes Texas Opener Texas Marine Kingfish Classic
at Teakwood Marina "
GALVESTON- TIKI ISLAND, TX
JUNE 20-22, 2003
By: Jack Holmes

Tiki Island, Texas-"That fish doesn't look 50 pounds," said Linda Hiles after Al Dwarshus read the electronic scale and announced it to the crowd. "We all thought it would be in the low forties." The big king, weighed on day one of the two-day Texas Marine Kingfish Classic at Teakwood Marina, was caught by Hiles who at first didn't realize what she had just accomplished.

"We caught that fish at 9:30," said Gary Hiles before accepting the first place award, a Yamaha-powered Contender boat complete with a McClain trailer. "We ran out 84 miles to a spot where we caught a big ling and a 30 pound king three weeks ago. The big girl ate a ribbonfish trolled 15 feet below the surface." On board the winning boat, the Terminator II, a Yamaha-powered Whitewater, was Norman Battarbee and Nelson Eng.

The T-N-T Special with Mark Machala at the helm tried to win the event for the second year in a row, fell just short of his goal, finishing second with a 46.50 caught on the first day also. They ran 96 miles to a spot in 200 feet of water. "Terry Haynes hooked the 46.50 at three o'clock on a long lined hard tail," said Machala. "It was the only king we saw all day." Haynes explained that the spot they had prefished two weeks ago. Robert Flores was also a part of the Yamaha-powered Contender team.

The weather for this year's event was picture perfect and the size of the fish and the species caught was representative of the great weekend. Two boats reported catching sailfish while others brought in amberjack and ling. Royce Binion Jr., Rodney Binion, and Royce Binion III fished the Team Binion, a 24-foot Mercury-powered Cape Horn. Ten-year-old Royce won Junior Angler honors as well as putting the team into third place by catching a nice 45.40 pound king. "We were 90 miles from the scale when Royce picked up the rod," said the proud father. "It ate a hardtail on the surface." The junior won a pair of Sea Magic rods with Pro Gear reels and $100 for his efforts.

The leader board's fourth place slot also found the tournament's Class of 23 winner, the Johnny B. "We lost all our bait due to soap in the water," said John Berkenstein, team leader. "We ended up with Johnny B. catching our king on a dead bait in 130 feet of water 60 miles from here." Their 45.35 caught on day one earned the team, which also consisted of Nick Gunthwaite, three grand plus $1,125 dollars from Class of 23 plus a set of Shimano reels and American Rodsmith rods. It was a great weekend for this Yamaha-powered Contender team. Rounding out the tournament's top five was Dutch Kueteman's Bone Cracker. With Darrin Taylor and Brad Taylor on board, the team ran 65 miles to fish in 120 feet of water and caught their king, a 45.14, at 2:30 on a blue runner. They fish a 27-foot Yamaha-powered Contender.

Sixth place fell to Jose Reyes whose Papatonic, a Yamaha-powered Contender, was the top Texas boat at last year's National Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi, fifth. The team caught a 42.89 on the first day.

Mark Lee's Shockwave piloted his team to a seventh place finish with a 42.44 while Larry White's Century, the Reel Screamer earned eighth with a 41.44. Buddy Schultz and Robert Gegenheimer teamed to catch a 41.40 to earn the team aboard the Gotcha ninth place honors and Brett Donnahoe captured the final leader board slot with a 41.01. He fishes the Texas Contender.

Mark Holland's Who's Your Daddy captured second place in the Class of 23 with a nice 34.89 while Mike Hartman's Reeligion team bagged a 33.68 to earn third. What's really nice about this tournament was the large turnout of Class of 23 foot boats and the number of juniors and ladies fishing. It's a great tournament with super facilities.

The Mercury Tournament Trail's Division Eight next event is in Aransas Pass.