T1: Tailwalker    T2: Rumph Brothers   T3: Frantic Atlantic   T4: Fishing for Miracles    T5: Savannah Saltwater Shootout
(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

SUITS ME TOPS TAILWALKER LEADER BOARD
WITH A 39.18. CLASS OF 23 TEAM!

June 10-12, 2004
By Don Ewing

GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA—To go from fishing three events in Division 3 last season and doing virtually nothing to clawing ones way to the top of the leaderboard, defeating 160 other competitors, winning $15,000 first place money and $3,000 Class of 23 money, says a lot for not looking back or giving up. Steve Berlin, Clinton Chamness, and Miles Stalvey are those competitors. Fishing their 23 foot Triton, Suits Me, they fished the tide lines near the jetties. “It was a late bite,” explained the winning captain. “We were dragging pogies when our 39 pounder hit a downrigger bait. We were fishing in 38 feet of water.” Sounds pretty simple but a 39 pounder at the start of the season is huge. It puts them at the top of the Class of 23 and should do a lot for the team’s confidence. What a difference a season makes!

Don Wright’s Hammers Down, an Evinrude powered Wellcraft, earned second place honors with a 38.57. Fishing with David Thomas, Patrick Snow, and Kent Lipton, the team qualified for the Nationals last year in Division 2. It’s a great way to start the season this year considering they qualified 6th last year with 52.37 and caught a king at the Nationals that was bigger than their three fish aggregate, 52.95. “We fished the same spot both days and feel pretty good about our efforts,” said Wright. “We were in 40 feet of water fishing the tide line when she hit a top lined pogy at 1:00.”

The Julie Ann with James Golden at the helm also had a great event. The Hydra Sports owner fishes with Rodger Lindenwald and caught a 36.12. He only fished an event with us last year but I’ll bet with a good king like this and some jingle in his pocket he’ll be hard at it. That’s what makes Divisional fishing so great, get that one good fish and you’re pumped. Besides, it took a 53.58 three fish aggregate to make the Nationals cut in the Division last year and the Julie Ann already has more than half that number.

Fourth and fifth place went to non members.

The Con-tract-oar bagged a 33.08 and was the second team in Class of 23 to have a top ten finish. The captain of the Sea Pro Team, Brad Anderson said, “We fished that tide line also with all the other boats in 38 feet of water, It ate a pogy drug in the prop wash.” Anderson fishes with David Lee.

Mike Coleman and Tim Schryn bagged a 32.28 and now have almost as many points as they had last season with two fish and they’ve got a new Triton to fish. The team picked up seventh place on The Verdict.

Eighth place fell to the Squeeze Play, Eddie Barham and Matt Barfield with a 31.87, another good competitor off and running for the season.

Ninth place in the tournament fell to Rodney and Carol Powell with a 31.81. They fish a Hydra Sports in the Class of 23 and Monty and Dot Mishoe rounded out the top ten with a 31.53 fishing their Lure Me.

It sure was a great event with competitors needing a 30 pounder just to make it to the top 15 and a great start to division three.

As usual Stuart Ballard and his Tailwalker team did an excellent job in making this one of the premiere events in the country.

Final Standings

September 24-26, 2004
by Jack Sanford

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA-At this time of the year we begin to talk more about the fish that are caught in an event, than the where and how! It's crunch time for a lot of teams trying to get qualified. To some it's been a dream to represent their Division or geographic area, to others a sense of accomplishment or pride in their ability, and to those who have been to Biloxi before, another shot at the title. Remember that last year Robert Olsen fishing the Sea Pro Knot @ Work made the fishing fraternity in South Carolina proud by winning the Class of 23 title.

This tournament also marks a milestone for tournament director Larry Fowler. After a couple of events he promoted that were mired in controversy, most promoters would have thrown in the towel, but he didn't. During a call in the Spring to SKA headquarters, Fowler pledged to guarantee the prize purse, a very rare occurrence. His dates were set for 12th thru 14th of August but bad storms forced him to postpone the event, which he did early to make it easy on the fishermen. Then on the weekend of August 28th he held the event in which 84 teams showed up. Larry honored all his commitments and put on a whale of a show. He's a man of his word.

Dean Spatholt and his famous Fish Meister team came, scaled a 32.40 pound king and walked away with Fowler's $10,000 top prize. Spatholt, who fishes the Yamaha Pro Tour, had nothing to gain but a payday and once again proved he has to be regarded as one of the top fishermen in the world today. He and David Haynes, Greg Spatholt, and Ryan Trueblood who joined SKA for this event are sitting atop the standings in the Pro Tour. He fishes a Yamaha powered Contender.

Brent Ballard has always had to fish under a microscope. After all his dad, Stuart is one of the best king fishermen in the Carolinas. A tough act to follow, but he's either learned well from dad or he's developed a knack for finding good fish on his own. Either way, he's doing great. Fishing with Damon Dawson, they found a 31.40 fishing the Yamaha powered Contender, Tailwalker II, to earn second place. He has now moved into fourth place in the Division Three standings and has a shot at moving higher. Dad has to be proud especially since he sits down the list in 18th.

Knot Guilty's Alan Richey sits five points ahead of Ballard in the points race thanks to a 28.30 caught this weekend. His third place finish with Robert Wyndham, Russell Lamb, Britt Tooley, and Dan Muckenfuss aboard the Mercury powered Fountain speaks highly of this strong team.

Barrett and Rube McMullen teamed to take Fowler's fourth place money. The Carolina Contender entered in any event means the rest of the field had better work their butts off if they want a piece of the prize pool. The team is not trying to qualify in this division this year. They will qualify in Division 2 where they are currently third.

Chris and Toni Vines' Jet Set, another Yamaha powered Contender, is sixth in the Division after scaling a 26.20 fifth place king. With a 19.75 pound drop fish they certainly have a big chance of moving higher. They captured fifth in this tournament with a 26.20. A stellar performance.

Sixth place went to the Blue Runner, another Contender, captained by Craig Hoover. With John Hoover and Todd Hoover they scaled a 26.04. This helped them achieve a second place in the Division, just seven pounds from the lead.

Bert Harvey's Juggernaut placed seventh with a 25.70, now 15th in the standings but only with two fish. A good king in Savannah and they'll surely be in the top ten.

Darren Gordon's My Candy not only earned eighth in the tournament but picked up top Class of 23 and the $5,000 associated with it. It also moved him and Bob Hughes, and Peter Maddock squarely into second place in the Class in the standings only a pound and a half behind Charles Stephens' Shady Grady II.

Dave Yates gave the weigh master a 21.80 and he had the score keeper hoist their name onto the leaderboard ninth. He's now fifth in the overall standings.

The Carolina Cocky with Gene Seiveno earned tenth with a 20.58. He too should qualify and represent South Carolina in Biloxi.

Ty Cobb earned second place in the Class of 23 fishing his Git-R-Done. He was also 14th in the tournament.

Congratulations again to Larry Fowler and his staff for a great event.

Final Standings

1.  FISH MEISTER  32.40    Contender ... Yamaha    David Haynes    Greg Spatholt    Ryan Trueblood 2.  TAILWALKER II 31.40    Contender .... Yamaha    Brent Ballard    Damon Dawson 3.  KNOT GUILTY   28.30    Fountain ... Mercury    Alan Richey    Robert Wyndham    Brill Tooley    Dan Muckenfuss 4.  CAROLINA CONTENDER  26.68    Contender ... Yamaha    Barrett McMullen    Rube McMullen 5.  JET SET 26.20    Contender ... Yamaha    Chris Vines    Toni Vines 6.  BLUE RUNNER   26.04    Contender ... Yamaha    Craig Hoover    John Hoover    Todd Hoover 7.  JUGGERNAUT    25.70    Contender ... Yamaha    Bert Harvey    A.C. Harvey    David Morris    Jim Roberts

8.  MY CANDY      22.64    Palmetto ... Yamaha     Darren Gordon    Bob Hughes    Peter Maddock 9.  YATES SEA     21.80    Contender ... Yamaha    Dave Yates    David L. Yates 10. CAROLINA COCKY      20.58    Contender ... Yamaha    Gene Seiveno    Edd Burnette    Larry Keiling    Mike Watson    Angie Jones CLASS OF 23: 1.  MY CANDY      22.64 2.  GIT -R-DONE   15.48    ProLine ... Honda    Ty Cobb    Jeff Cobb    Nicole Greeson 3.  LIKE A STRIKE          14.84    SeaStrike .... Yamaha    Sam Britt    Mike Britt    Pat Phillips    Cat Bennett

TOP LADY ANGLER: Toni Vines ... Jet Set

SUGGS' BEERABILITY TOP SKA BOAT IN FISHING FOR MIRACLES!

August 19-21, 2004
by Jack Holmes

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA-In what turned out to be a bitter disappointment for more than 100 SKA teams, only 11 teams made it into the top 20 beginning with seventh place. This was very, very, unusual!

Dow Suggs went fishless on day one of the two-day Fishing for Miracles tournament. But that didn't dampen his spirits and on day two his team of Matt Howard Jr., April Suggs, and Lewis Howard ran the Evinrude powered Grady White, Beerability, 32 miles to the south east to a spot they had pre-fished. "It wasn't till one o'clock till we had our first strike," said the captain whose king moved them into third place in the Divisional standings. "She hit a dead Spanish set at 40 feet below the surface. We were in 67 feet of water. Our junior, Matt, set the hook and in fifteen minutes had her at the gaff." It was the only fish they saw but it was not only good for seventh place but Top Junior honors for Matt and Top Lady honors for April. That's a great weekend for this team. The king tipped the scales at 30.21.

Eighth place went to Jerry Gregory with a nice 29.99. Bob Barnett, Rusty Rogers, and Duke Sickle caught a small fish on Friday but like Beerability, Saturday was their day. "We made a 55 mile run to the south to fish in 80 feet of water," said the Yamaha powered Contender, Double J, Captain. "It was a good live bottom area we had fished before. At 11:30 she hit a long lined pogy." The team fished until it was scale time but could not improve on the size of their catch. It moved them into ninth place in the overall Divisional standings with just two events left.

Eddie Barham's Squeeze Play was next with a 29.94. The king may only have given his team of John Walpole Jr. and Mark Armstrong ninth place but it was a huge king in the overall scheme of things. He's in the lead in the overall standings with 96.26 points. Sixteen points ahead of second place plus it gives Contender another chance at a Divisional victory. Eddie may even get the boat in a Contender ad.

Next came thirteenth place. James Laird's Job Site who scaled a 27.42. The Mercury powered Intrepid moved into fifth in standings. He fishes with Chad Stewart, Mike McClain, and Jay Stewart.

Iron Man with David Ballard at the helm earned fourteenth. They're ninth in the standings and should, unless the bottom falls out, qualify this year.

Almost all of the next few places were ours. Allan Richey earned sixteenth with a 25.74 on his Mercury powered Fountain, Knot Guilty, while another Fountain, Play-N-Hookey, with Jay Robertson took seventeenth with a 25.69.

Nineteenth went to Rows A Lure with a 25.26. Andrew Rowe was the only SKA boat to take a spot in the Class of 23, fifth, but he is our Class of 23 leader with two events left. He fishes a Key West who just happened to sponsor the event.

Twentieth place went to Walter warren's Nauti Buoy.

According to SKA representative John Zalud, the Miracles tournament was a great event and raised a lot of money for charity. A 41.29 won the event with the Class of 23 winner finishing second with a 36.71.

Final Standings

7th.  BEERABILITY 30.21         Grady White ... Evinrude         Dow Suggs         April Suggs         Lewis Howard         Matthew Howard 8th. DOUBLE J     29.99        Contender ... Yamaha        J.T. Gregory        Rob Barnette        Rusty Rogers        Duke Sickle 9th. SQUEEZE PLAY 29.94        Contender ... Yamaha        Eddie Barham        John Walpole Jr.        Mark Armstrong 13th. JOBSITE     27.58       Intrepid ... Mercury       James Laird        Chad Stewart        Mike McClain       Jay Stewart

14th. IRON MAN    27.32       Contender ... Yamaha       David Ballard       Michael Todd 16th.  KNOT GUILTY      25.74       Fountain ... Mercury       Alan Richey       Robert Wyndham       Jay McCormack 17th. PLAY-N-HOOKIE     25.69       Fountain ... Mercury       Jay Robertson       Lisa Robertson       Jeff Shanberg       Marc Bundy       Aaron Conyers 19. ROWES A LURE  25.26       Key West ... Evinrude       Andrew Rowe       Gina Rowe       Annie Rowe       Cynthia Lucking 20th. NAUTI BUOY  25.05       Sea Hunt ... Yamaha       Walter Warren       Doug Brown

 

USE OF PROCEEDS WINS DONZI BOAT AT
SAVANNAH SALTWATER SHOOTOUT!

October 8-10, 2004
by Jack Holmes

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA- When you combined the value of both boats Ken Thompson was giving away in the Savannah Saltwater Shootout you were real close to the $100,000 mark. A great first place pay out and it was guaranteed!

After trying three times to get this final tournament in Division 3 in, the opening day was again canceled due to small craft warnings not being lifted. But Sunday was a different story, no warnings but the seas were still a bit on the rough side.

Scott Elliott found kings at the snapper banks as did a lot of other competitors. It was only his, Eric Branch, and Ted Davis biggest king that counted however, a 35.88, good for the leader boards top slot. I guess it was just our turn, said the mild mannered Elliott before receiving the keys to a 23' Donzi center console with Mercury power and a Loadmaster Trailer. Thompson told Elliott after getting the boat, he had about an hour to get it off River Street or the parking tickets would start piling up. That wasn't a problem, Elliott's team was up to the task. The Use of Proceeds also fish the Yamaha Pro tour where Elliott picked up another win, $ 30,000 cash, plus Raymarine Electronics.

Scott Poppell and Scott Goodwin  teamed on the Haulin "S" to scale a 28.21 and win the tournaments Class of 23 and the Donzi Sweet 16 boat that went with the win. I was putting scores on the scoreboard and of course I did the Pros first, then figured the Shootout scores and put those on the board. When I got to Class of 23, a bunch of hootin and hollerin erupted when I wrote the Haulin "S" on the board atop the Class of 23 and rightfully so. This was a great payday for a Class boat, and they were 14th in the overall standings.

The thing I'll never understand however is why all of Georgia and South Carolina's Class boats didnt turn out for this one. A big dollar prize just for them but the field was really no where it should have been. Moan and grown about the inequities in the tournaments between the big and little boats, then Thompson does this for the Class and teams don't show up. Sure sent me the right message.

Greg Holly, Britton Ray, and Sebastian Butarelli had a good weekend even if they only got to fish one day. Team Baja / Live Wire scaled a nice 34.79 to earn second place, knocking Dean Spatholt's Fish Meiser's team of David Haynes, Greg Spatholt, and Dennis Watson down to third by just three one hundredths of a pound. As close as you can get.

Dean is a good fisherman, but I'm glad we had a chance to do something for our sponsor, Baja boats, said Holly. We didn't really see a lot of fish but this one was all we needed. Spatholt still leads the Yamaha Pro Tour  after Savannah.

Matt Pittman took over the helm of the Gator Bait for Sandy Smith who couldn't make the Savannah trip and together with Anthony Guettler scaled a 34.39 to capture fourth. It was just four tenths of a pound off the second place fish. I never thought that this fish would have finished this high, said Pittman. The team fishes a Mercury powered Yellowfin.

Fifth place went to the Weathers clan, Jeff, Greg, and Bob. Their Triple Gobble caught a 32.95, which was more than enough to qualify the team for the Nationals. Remember too that this team fished with the best in the country and hung right in there. But remember that this is a good team, consistent., and good enough to fish with the pros.

Bob Woithe and his family picked up sixth place with a 31.73. They fish a Yamaha powered Contender named The Reel Won. You may not always recognize their name, but the Reel Won has won more Senior, Lady, and Divisional titles than any other team fishing today. Now you know why, they make leader boards.

Richard Chapman has been in the money a lot this year. His Just Natural team of Jim Stallings and John Rumbold keep kicking and clawing. This time they got seventh with a 31.51 and with that king added to his pro points, gives him a shot at the title. This was a good weekend for Chapman.

Eighth place fell to the Bad Habit. Randy Walker, Julian Weston, and Frank Denmark ran the Yamaha powered Marlin to a spot that produced a 30.52.  this Divisional 3 boat long with ninth place, Iron Man did really great against the competition. David Ballard and Michael Todd scaled a 30.27.

Our tournament Director Ken Thompson earned tenth in the event weighing a 29.15. J.D. Smith took Top Junior Angler honors fishing on his Daddy's Money. he caught a 24.72.

Savannah is a great place to hold a tournament. We couldn't fish on Saturday but the crowds were solid all up and down the water front. On Sunday it rained but we still had a good crowd. Restraints were great, and if you appreciate southern history and architecture this is your town. Thanks Ken for all your hard work!

Final Standings

1.   USE OF PROCEEDS    35.88       Contender ... Yamaha       D. Scott Elliott       Eric Branch       Ted Davis 2.   TEAM BAJA / LIVE WIRE    34.79        Baja .... Mercury       Greg Holley       Britton Ray       Sebastian Butarelli 3.   FISH MEISTER 34.76       Contender ... Yamaha       Dean Spatholt       David Haynes       Greg Spatholt       Dennis Watson 4.   GATOR BAIT   34.39       Yellowfin .... Mercury       Matt Pittman       Anthony Guettler 5.   TRIPLE GOBBLE      32.95       Contender ... Yamaha       Jeff Weathers        Greg Weathers       Bob Weathers 6.   THE REEL WON 31.73       Contender ... Yamaha       Bob Woithe       Bruce Woithe       Bob Woithe Jr.       Susan Woithe 7.   JUST NATURAL 31.51       Donzi ... Mercury       Richard Chapman       Jim Stallings       John Rumbold 8.   BAD HABIT          30.52       Marlin ... Yamaha       Randy Walker       Julian Weston       Frank Denmark

9.   IRON MAN     30.27       Contender .... Yamaha       David Ballard       Michael Todd 10. TEAM FREEDOM  29.15       Donzi ... Mercury       Ken Thompson       Chris Peterson 11. REELIN  28.64       Marlin ... Yamaha       Marc Pincus       Nate Strohm       Danny Pincus       Craig Hamby 12. FOUNTAIN / MERCURY  28.30       Fountain ... Mercury       Mark Maus       Trip Fletcher       Jason Hodge 13. REELALITY     28.26       Fountain ... Mercury       Jim Harrison       John Harrison       Ricky Bishop       Karen Dickerson 14. HAULIN "S"    28.21       Regulator .... Yamaha       Scott Poppe II       Scott Goodwin 15. LATITUDES     27.96       Donzi ... Mercury       Rick Stankiewicz       Stacy Williams       Jack Wells       Paula Wells CLASS OF 23: 1.   HAULIN "S"   28.21