T1: Boater's
World T2: Mercury Outboards T3: Miller
Lite T4:
T.A. Mahoney's T5: Loadmaster
(* Denotes
a Class of 23 Team)
MAHONEY'S
DOUBLE THUNDER TAMES BOATER'S WORLD / SALTWATER SPORTSMAN
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS!
June
2-4, 2004
by Jack Holmes
Clearwater,
Florida. The 2003 National Championship had every element
in place to set an all time record catch. The Boater's
World Tournament of Champions presented by Salt Water
Sportsman magazine was exactly the opposite. West to
northwest winds that blew 15 to occasional 30 mph, a
full moon, water temperatures around 68 degrees, and
dirty water all contributed to only 40 boats from a
field of 168 weighing fish and forced them to fish the
only water that was fishable, the ships channel (Egmont)
to Tampa Bay.
Jim
Ladner, Don Phillips, and Larry Phillips went fishless
the first day fishing the Hydra Sports, T.A. Mahoney's
Double Thunder. They made up for it on day two by
being first back to the weigh-in dock and scaling
a 44.6. "We were east of the skyway bridge in
a spot where the first day's fish came from,"
explained Ladner. "We had gotten out of the channel
and moved into 25 feet of water. I told my teammates
we needed to get back in the channel and as we were
turning the boat she hit." It was Porter's biggest
king he'd ever caught. Ladner, who fished with Larry
Fowler's Heather Renee in Division 11, contributed
to that team's 20th place finish in the standings.
He has been a perennial qualifier from Division 6
in the 10 years the SKA has been sanctioning tournaments
on Florida's west coast and will fish the Yamaha Pro
Tour this year with Fowler. Imagine my surprise when
the Exit Stage Right team, Dave Hallas, Krystal Linardos,
Mark Mielock, and Bruce Corwin presented us with a
41.95 on day one. They were trolling a blue runner
on the surface in 45 feet of water when the king hooked
up. "We were right there with the rest of the
boats in the ships channel," said Hallas. "It
was the biggest king I've ever caught." On Sunday
they went right back to the same spot a caught a nice
fish for Krystal. The Pro Sports team earned second
place honors and have a great shot now in Division
Six.
Perry
Warner and Kevin Grissinger were right there with
the entire fleet when they bagged a 36.97 on day one
which moved them to the second place slot but Ladner's
fish bumped them to third after day two. The Sea Vee
team, named Fin Diesel, is also off to a great season's
start. Todd Ferguson grabbed the rod on John Smith
Jr. and Sr's boat, Et Tu Brute / Team Marlago, set
the hook, then managed to get the 36.20 pounder to
within gaff range for fourth place honors. "It
was the only king we saw in two days," said Smith,
the 2003 Division Six winner. "We'll take it,
it was really tough out there."
Fifth
place was won by the Jay Bird, last year's winner
of the Boater's World event.
Kevin
and Bill Schmidt and Randy Stewart, fishing the Yamaha
powered Venture Fish Attack, weighed a 34.56 on day
one to capture sixth place. "We were near the
Skyway fishing in 40 feet of water when she hit at
11 o'clock," said Stewart who angled the fish.
"We've fished the area before and have gotten
good fish." They did not improve on their score
on Sunday.
Reel
Easy.com needed the second day to scale a fish. Josh
Denton, Eric Moser, and Mike Bracikowski reported
that they had a real good fish on before they were
able to land their 32.04 at 9:30. They were in 40
feet of water in the ships channel also. Give them
credit for eighth place.
The
big story in my opinion came in the Class of 23. There
are a lot of really good 23 and under fishermen on
Florida's west coast however a past National Championship
team from South Carolina took the Class win.
The
Misbehavin, a part of Team Palmetto and sponsored
by the tournament's title sponsor, Boater's World,
hooked up to a 29.96 at 11:30 on day two. "We
got a phone call from Pork Chop telling us fish were
skying and he just missed a good fish," said
team Captain Danny Duncan. "We put the Misbehavin
on the props and ran to the spot which was in 48 feet
of water." Jamie Strange, Bill McNeely, and Cal
Gargiulo also helped weigh a 14 pounder on the first
day.
The
second place boat, Fair Warning, with Ron Heideman,
D.J. Ward, and Tom Bruno on board, scaled a 24.36
on the first day to take the early lead in the event
but eventually finished second. We've seen this name
on the leaderboards more and more often. The team
is really getting good.
All
in all, despite the inclement weather and poor fishing
conditions, the tournament really went well. We gave
away over $7,000 in door prizes, gave a 21' Yamaha
powered Contender boat complete with a custom aluminum
Loadmaster trailer and $5,600 to the winner and paid
back 25 places plus Class of 23 money. We collected
data for the migration study from NASA and the University
of South Florida, did fish sampling for the Fish &
Wildlife study, and got our first television show
in the can.
Final
Standing
| 1.
T.A. MAHONEY'S DOUBLE THUNDER 44.06
Hydra Sports ... Yamaha
Jim Ladner
Don Phillips
Larry Phillips
2.
EXIT STAGE RIGHT 41.94
Pro Sports ... Yamaha
Bruce Corwin
Krystal Linardos
3.
FIN DIESEL 36.97
Sea Craft ...
Perry Warner
Kevin Grissinger
4.
ET TU BRUTE / TEAM MARLAGO 36.20
Marlago ... Yamaha
John Smith Sr.
John L. Smith
Todd Ferguson
5.
JAY BIRD 34.79
6.
FISH ATTACK 34.56
Venture ... Yamaha
Kevin Schmidt
Bill Schmidt
Randy Stewart
7.
The Hook "R" 34.47
8.
REEL EASY.COM 32.04
Dakota ... Mercury
Josh Denton
Mike Bracikowski
Eric Moser
9.
MISS TREATED 30.22
Pursuit ... Mercury
Larry Galan
Ron Galan
Phil Cleary
10.
The Native 28.22
11.
KING SLAYER 27.69
Hydra Sports ... Yamaha
Johnny Wood
Levi Barrett
12.
On A Claim Too 27.43
13.
T.A. MAHONEY'S HOG HEAVEN II 26.89
Hydra Sports ... Yamaha
Darin R. Crofton
Mike Mahoney
N. DuWayne Crofton
14.
TEAM MARINE MAX 26.63
Boston Whaler ... Mercury
Brett Clarke
Aaron Salvant
Rafael Rios
|
15.
FISH BONZ 26.62
Stamas ... Yamaha
Todd Guaznieri
Mike Bjurmark
16.
LA PERLA / YELLOWBIRD 26.20
Fountain ... Mercury
R.W. Keys
Harry Thomas
Jim Hasson
17.
YACHT CITY.COM 25.49
Midnight Express ... Mercury
Ryan Farner
Randy Wilson
18.
MISS CONNIE 23.23
Contender ... Yamaha
Tom Palmer
Nick Cecera
Mike Shipley
Tom Post
19.
SEA DOG 22.79
Hydra Sports ... Yamaha
Chad Bixler
Karen Bixler
20.
REEL BAD 22.70
Sea Vee ... Cummins
Matt Tevlin
Dave Curtis
Will Hasson
Jason Underwood
21.
FOUNTAIN SOLUTIONS 22.37
Fountain ... Mercury
Ray Jordan
Steven Soroka
James Hoffman
John Hardin
Scott Dennis
22.
GO FAST 22.22
Donzi ... Mercury
Sam Maisano
Joe Maisano
23.
HURRA CANE 21.48
World Cat ... Mercury
Steve Humphries
Steve Kane
Tom Mc
Manning Paul Nealis
24
TEAM BLUEWATER 21.43
Bluewater ... Mercury
Grey Johnson
Kenny Larrison
25.
CALIENTE 21.14
Century ... Yamaha
Stanley Asensio
Ricardo Asensio
Linda Asensio
Shawn Swingle
|
| CLASS
OF 23 |
1.
MISS BEHAVIN 29.96
Palmetto ... Mercury
Danny Duncan
Bill McNeely
Cal Gargiulo
James Strange
2.
FAIR WARNING 24.36
Hydra Sports ... Johnson
Ron Heideman
D.J. Ward
Tom Bruno
|
3.
KEY PLAYER 22 .81
4.REEL
GATOR 20.40
Sea Ray ... Mercury
Mike Smith
Jerry Orlando
Roger Owens
5.
COOL BREEZE 15.25
Mako ... Yamaha
Paul Sharp
Douglas Campano
Randy Greenhow
|
CONSTANT
CHAOS EARNS TOP SLOT IN 10TH ANNUAL MERCURY OUTBOARDS
KINGFISH CLASSIC!
April
16-17, 2004
by John Zalud
TREASURE
ISLAND, FLORIDA-While the east coast of Florida was
being swept away with big winds, seas on Florida's
west coast were non existent but it still did little
to turn the fish on. A high pressure system was to
blame. But who ever said that it takes a big fish
to win a tournament? It just takes the biggest fish
caught on a particular day.
"With
fishing being so slow we felt real good about our
fish," said Danny Clark, Captain of the 23 foot
Constant Chaos. "We ran to a spot 25 miles north
of John's Pass and fished in 51 feet of water."
With Casey Bryde and Travis Maxwell and a well full
of good bait the Yamaha powered Caravelle team just
waited it out hoping for that one good bite. It came
at 1:30 when the tournament winning 24.08 pounder
hit a cigar minnow dragged on a long line. They took
home a 225 Opti Max Mercury Outboard and $5,000 in
cash plus they even picked up more loot as they were
also the top Class of 23 boat.
Captain
Steve Hays and Rob York fishing the Surreel earned
third in the one day event, but like the Chaos needed
most of the day to hook up to a keeper. "We ran
35 miles to the west to some hard bottom which we
had fished before," said the Captain. "We
had the downrigger set to 20 feet and were trolling
in 61 feet of water. The king ate a big blue runner
off the rigger at 2:20. After that we were on the
way to the scale."
Timothy
Wooten's Never Satisfied team of Doug Clark and Doug
Boiling had a good day on the water, bagging a 21.36
to earn fourth place honors. They ran the opposite
way of the Chaos and Never Satisfied, 45 miles to
the south. "All we were looking for was some
clean water. Water conditions were not the best,"
explained Wootin. Their fish ate a blue runner on
the surface at 2:40 fishing in 38 feet of water.
Have
you figured out that the bite was happening after
two o'clock? However the fifth place boat, Keith Thomas'
Yellowbird hooked up at one. "My dad gave me
some numbers 30 miles west of John's Pass," said
Thomas. "We went on the hook and set out a good
chum slick. The fish came off of a blue runner on
the surface. We then went to the scale at two.
Bob
Baver's Miss Conception team bagged seventh place
and picked up Top Junior honors for Richard Weatherby
and Lady honors for Andrea Weatherby. They caught
and weighed an 18.88.
Dave
Mistretta's son Dave Jr. just missed the Junior honors
by two one-hundredths of a pound. He got the SKA's
second place junior plaque. They finished eighth.
Mark Harvey's Reel-A-Peeling captured sixth place
with a nice 19.28 while Jay Mastry's Jaybird team
caught an 18.32 to finish ninth. Somehow his team
always finds a fish. Despite the slow fishing, the
event once again went over the prize base of 150 boats
and paid out the full purse and added a couple of
more places. Treasure Island Charities has a new Director
and everything went well on his first event. Kudos
to the entire board for another good event!
| 1. CONSTANT CHAOS........... 24.08
Caravelle ...
Yamaha
Danny Clark
Casey Bryde
Travis Maxwell
2. Cast - A – Nette......... 23.36
3. SURREEL.................. 22.24
Intrepid ... Yamaha
Steve Hays
Rob York
4. NEVER SATISFIED.......... 21.36
Contender ... Yamaha
Timothy Wooten
Doug Clark
Doug Boling
5. YELLOWBIRD............... 20.40
SeaCraft ... Mercury
Keith Thomas
6. REEL-A-PEELING........... 19.28
Pro-Line ... Johnson
Mark Harvey
7. MISS CONCEPTION.......... 18.88
Pro-Line ... Johnson
Bob Baver
Andrea Weatherby
Richard Weatherby
8. JAWS TOO................. 18.86
Dorado ... Yamaha
Dave Mistretta
Lisa Mistretta
9. JAYBIRD.................. 18.32
Calcutta ... Mercury
Jay Mastry
Debra Gell
John B. Young
John M Young
Katie Carr
Glenn Carr |
10.
Shelby’s Dream............ 17.52
11. Outer Limits.............. 15.40
12. WORKMANS COMP............. 14.98
Regulator ...
Yamaha
Paul Swetland
Steve Smith
Bill Fehl
13. BUGGIN OUT................ 14.72
Contender ...
Yamaha
Glenn Gee
14. FAIR WARNING.............. 14.64
Hydra Sports ...
Johnson
Ron Heideman
D.J. Ward
Tom Bruno
15. MISS CONNIE............... 14.56
Contender ...
Yamaha
Tom Palmer
Tom Post
Mike Skelt
Nick Cecera
16. Maverick.................. 13.84
17. AQUATIC ASSASSIN.......... 12.96
Pro-Line ... Mercury
James West
Anna Bednarski
Justin West
Eric Moser
18. TEAM K.O.................. 11.76
Hydra Sports ...
Mercury
John Ford
Mike Burnett
Jason Ford
|
FISH
ATTACK'S 39.84 TOPS LEADERBOARD
AT MILLER LITE KINGFISH CLASSIC!
April
30 - May 2, 2004
by John Zalud
TREASURE
ISLAND, FLORIDA. It was a big weekend for Kevin Schmidt,
Randy Stewart, Bill Schmidt, and David Mille—the
team fishing the Fish Attack. They caught a 39.84 to
win the Mercury Outboard and cash from Treasure Island
Charities for their 11th Annual Miller Lite Kingfish
Classic. “We pre fished the shipping channel mid
week and caught some nice fish,” said Stewart.
“So we went right back there on Saturday and fished
the same area. At 11:30 our king ate a blue runner on
a long line. David Mille did what he was supposed to
do, catch the fish.” They continued to fish until
2:30 but could not improve on their weight. On Sunday
it was back to the same spot but they came away empty.
At
the halfway point the 34 foot, Yamaha powered, Venture
team which also had a 34.56 that they caught in the
Clearwater Boater’s World tournament now has the
Division Six lead with 74.4 points, a very big lead.
With just two tournaments left in the fall, this team
has a great shot at the title.
Saturday
was the day. Fish Attack caught their winning fish and
Tim Wooten’s Never Satisfied team scaled the second
place king. “We had a bait well full of nice baits
so we made the 20 mile run north west to the hard bottom,”
explained Wooten. “At 9am Doug Clark picked up
the screaming line. A nice king had hit a cigar minnow
on a long line.” The team of Wooten, Clark, and
Doug Boling fished the rest of the day but could not
better their 31.76. That king moved the team into fifth
place in the Division standings.
A
non member finished third.
Debra
Crisp finished fourth on the Hook’ R with a 29.28
and also won Top Lady honors in the event. “It
was very slow,” said Crisp. “So we fished
the Skyway Bridge, an area that has been very good to
us. Finally at 2:30 our king ate a blue runner in the
prop wash.”
Lee
Longworth had a bad day on Saturday, No Fish. So he
called Randy Rochelle and asked for advice. Rochelle
gave him some numbers 35 miles west of Johns Pass. “We
were in 74 feet of water when she hit,” said the
Captain of the Twenty Four Seven. Lee and Tony Longworth
had fifth place locked up with their 29.12. That one
fish puts them in the standings for a trip to Biloxi.
Only one problem, they owe Rochelle. He only mustered
a 19 pounder so he had the right advice but it didn’t
work for him. But that’s fishing, we’ve
all been there.
Joe
Super, Tayler Super, and Joseph L. Super, fished the
23 foot Team Kingfish Koffin to a first in Class of
23 with a 20.64. “My boat was just a little too
small to make the run offshore with my junior anglers,”
said the elder Super. “So I stuck to what has
been always good to me, fishing the beach.” The
Koffin team was off Sarasota on Saturday fishing in
20 feet of water when at 1:30 their king ate a long
lined cigar minnow. Super went on to say, “I couldn’t
have been able to do it without my two juniors.”
Eric
and Becky Smith fished the Comfortably Numb 2 to a second
place finish in Class of 23 with a 19.76. “With
no fish on Saturday I thought my dry spell would never
end,” said a happy Smith who has not had a good
season so far this year. “On Sunday we made a
25 mile run to the north west. We set up in 65 feet
of water and soon our king ate a blue runner trolled
25 feet below the surface. Becky took the rod and in
ten minutes we had her in the boat.”
Morgan
Cahill, a junior angler, fished with Alan Brown and
Tim Lassett on the Cat-egory 5, caught a 26.88, and
won junior angler honors for the tournament. He was
also SKA’s top junior. The team earned seventh
in the tournament.
David
Heavenridge’s Top Gun picked up eighth place with
a 26.08 while Ken Newman and Jeff Moore found their
25.36 good enough to place their Mutts & Jeff into
9th place. The T-Kat with Tom Kane at the helm scaled
a 24,96 to round out the tournament’s top ten.
Fishing
in Division 6 this season has been very, very slow.
When you look at the Divisional standings, remember
we’ve fished three events this Spring, and 20th
place is only 25.36, that’s slow. Let’s
hope that the fall run of kings will bend more rods.
| 1.
FISH ATTACK.............. 39.84
Venture ... Yamaha
Kevin Schmidt
Randy Stewart
Bill Schmidt
2.
NEVER SATISFIED.......... 31.76
Contender ... Yamaha
Tim Wooten
Doug Clark
Doug Boling
3.
Mary S................... 31.12
4.
HOOK’ R.................. 29.28
Debra Crisp
5.
TWENTY FOUR SEVEN........ 29.12
Pro Sports ... Yamaha
Lee Longworth
Tony Longworth
Sheri Longworth
6.
No Respect............... 28.48
7.
CAT-EGORY 5.............. 26.88
Glacier Bay ... Yamaha
Alan Brown
Morgan Cahill
Tim Lassett
8.
TOP GUN.................. 26.08
Donzi ... Mercury
Joe Verilla
Dave Heavenridge
Ron Kien
Mark Street
Cameron Bragg |
9.
MUTTS & JEFF............. 25.36
Sport Cat ... Honda
Ken Newman
Jeff Moore
10.
T- KAT.................... 24.96
Cat Limbo ... Yanmar
Tom Kane
Bill O’Carrol
11.
Fish Banes................ 24.24
12.
FIRST THERE FIRST BACK.... 24.08
Chris Craft ... Mercury
Larry Reid
Chris Keehn
Ken Rush
Jimmy Leonard
13.
THE NATIVE............... 23.98
Rabco ... Mercury
Robert Snibbe
Anthony Trespalacios
Evan Kerstan
Matt Tarrance
14.
GO FAST / JUSTIN TIME..... 23.84
Intrepid ... Yamaha
Sam Maisano
Manny Galvao
Joe Maisano
Frank Spinelli
|
| CLASS
OF 23 |
1.
TEAM KINGFISH KOFFIN..... 20.64
Venture ... Mercury
Joe Super
Tayler Super
Joseph L. Super |
2.
COMFORTABLY NUMB 2....... 19.76
Yellowfin ... Mercury
Eric Smith
Becky Smith |
TOP
LADY ANGLER: Debra Crisp ... HOOK’R
|
TOP
JUNIOR ANGLER: Morgan Cahill ... CAT-EGORY
5 |
"THE
NATIVES 39.60 BEST AT T.A. MAHONEY’S KMT!"
October
29-30, 2004
by John Zalud
INDIAN
ROCKS BEACH, FLORIDA—With sunny skies and seas less
than two feet, Robert Snibbe pointed the bow of his
Mercury powered Rabco north west and put the hammer
down. The 2nd Annual T.A. Mahoney’s Suncoast Kingfish
Classic is a one day event so there's not much room
for error. Can’t wait till day two and figure out where
the fish are, but that’s what makes one day events so
exciting.
Robert
had figured to make a 120 mile run based on some good
local knowledge and it proved to be correct. “We had
caught several mid 20’s fish and were feeling like we
made a good decision,” said The Native’s winning captain.
“We were trolling in 110 feet of water. It was about
1:30 when a blue runner on the long line got hit. Evan
Kerstein picked up the rod and in a few minutes we were
on the way back to the scale.” The king which Ryan Farner
and Matthew Tarrance take credit for also, tipped the
scales at 39.60. It was the team’s first big win and
the 225 Mercury Outboard and $5,000 cash was theirs
to divvy up.
Kevin
Chepren, Brian Chepren, and Russ Colangelo had the best
finish of their career aboard the KC Scooper.
While the Native ran offshore, the Scooper did just
the opposite, they went to the beach. “We ran north
of Clearwater ten miles and set up in 28 feet of water,”
said Kevin after accepting the honors for second place.
“At 8:30 a flat line with a cigar minnow went off. Brian
brought the king to gaff and we knew she was a good
one but we kept right on fishing. After catching some
smaller fish we headed for the scales at two o’clock.”
The fish pushed the electronic digits to 36.96.
A
35.12 caught by Bill O’Carroll on Tom Kane’s T-Cat was
good enough for third place. “We fished the beach also,”
said Kane. “We went through a lot of small fish then
moved south of John’s Pass. At 1:30 our king ate a long lined Spanish mackerel.”
John
Smith Sr. fished Et Tu Brute with Mike and Jack Penny
in 110 feet of water north west of the pass. “We had
a good bite of mid 20 fish,” said Smith. “At two o’clock
our fourth place king ate a blue runner in the prop
wash. I think this fish will get me to Biloxi.”
Michael
Howes, Michael Jr., Keeann and Landon Howes made a 50
mile run to the west in their new Mercury powered Donzi.
“We pre-fished and found some good fish,” said the No
Banana’s Captain. “She hit a blue runner on the downrigger
at 1:20. We had caught some smaller fish but we thought
that this 34.40 would get us a check.” They were correct,
earned fifth place.
Jeremy,
Matt, Vernon, and Sandy Bonnell along with Jason Shuffler
ran north about 25 miles but when Harry Thomas called
the Bandit on the radio, they were up and running. “Harry
told us about a bite at the Reddington Long Pier,” said
Jeremy. “The first bait in the water, a ladyfish, got
slammed.” The fish went 29.44 and gave the Bandit team
their first ever Class of 23 win.
The
Fair Warning team of Rob Heideman, D.J. Ward, and Tom
Bruno ran 20 miles west to a good hard bottom. “We went
on the hook in 62 feet of water and had several small
fish,” said Heideman, the Captain. “At 2 o’clock our
blue runner on a long flat line took off. D.J. fought
her to the boat and as soon as she was in the bag we
went to the scales.” It was a 29.12 and gave them second
place Class of 23, their best finish in SKA competition.
170
boats squared off for the one day shootout, with SKA
teams dominating the leaderboard, but why shouldn’t
they? They are the best!
Thanks
to everyone at TI Charities for another great tournament.
FINAL
STANDINGS:
1.
THE NATIVE 39.60
Rabco ... Mercury
Robert Snibbe
Evan Kerstein
Ryan Farner
Matthew Tarrance
2.
KC SCOOPER 36.96
Angler ... Johnson
Kevin Chepren
Brian Chepren
Russ Colangelo
3.
T-KAT 35.12
Cat ... Yanmar
Tom Kane
Bill O’Carroll
4.
ET TU BRUTE 34.96
Contender ... Yamaha
John Smith Sr.
Jack Penny
Mike Penny
Wade Hammond
5.
NO BANANAS 34.40
Donzi ... Mercury
Michael Howes
Keeanne Howes
Michael Howes Jr.
Landon Howes
6.
FISH ATTACK 32.88
Venture ... Yamaha
Kevin Schmidt
Randy Stewart
Bill Schmidt
Will Schmidt
7.
DANNY’S DREAM 32.72
Sea Vee .... Yamaha
Dan Hockett
John Strome
Curt Eck
Tony Pemble |
8.
CRAP HAPPENS 31.28
Contender ... Yamaha
Robert McRanie
Roy Cotner
9.
JAWS TOO 31.12
Dorado ... Yanmar
Dave Mistretta
David Mistretta
10.
White Trash 30.32
11.
REEL BAD 29.52
Steve Tevlin
Dave Curtis
Jason Underwood
12.
BANDIT 29.44
Bluewater ... Yamaha
Jeremy Bonnell
Matt Bonnell
Jason Shuffler
Sandy Bonnell
Vernon Bonnell
13.
COMFORTABLY NUMB
29.12
Yellowfin ... Suzuki
Eric Smith
Becky Smith
Justin Smith
Jake Smith
14.
FAIR WARNING 29.12
Hydra Sports ... Johnson
Ron Heideman
D.J. Ward
Tom Bruno
15.
GO FAST 29.12
Donzi ... Mercury
Sam Maisano
Joe Maisano
Manny Galvao
Frank Spinelli
|
MISTRETTA'S
JAWS TOO IS BEST SKA TEAM AT
LOADMASTER TRAILER'S KINGFISH CLASSIC!
November 5-7, 2004
by John Zalud
TREASURE ISLAND, FLA-
The final event of the
year, and the determination of who would and who would
not represent the west coast of Florida at the Nationals
was on the line and Captain Dave came thru with flying
colors. His Jaws Too with his son David Jr. and Dave
Bayes on board struck out
on Saturday, just like 104 other teams. The wind laid
down on Sunday and as Dave put it, It opened the door
to my favorite spot, the hard bottom at Clearwater. We had two fish in
the low thirties when at 3 PM our big girl hit a big blue runner swimming in our chum
slick. At the scales Butch Elsworth,
the event's weigh master, proclaimed the fish to weigh
37.52. Second place money was theirs and they get
top honors from the SKA.
Lynn Zirkle had only one fish on the
books after four events, he really needed a good one
and he came thru with the third place, 36.56 pound
king. Zirkle, L. J. Smith,
Mike Muar, and Todd Ferguson
fished the Tampa Bay Angler.Com. We only caught one
fish but it was the one we needed, said Zirkle.
We ran north west 30 miles to a good hard bottom. We were in 56' of water
when at 1:30 our big girl hit
a blue runner on a long line. The Tampa Bay Angler
team digs when they have to, looks good, and represents
the west coast of Florida very well anywhere they
go!
After a big win the week before, the Native with Robert Snibbe,
Kevin Farner, Evan Kerstein,
and Matt Terrance picked up fourth and another check.
We bit the bullet and made the long run and it paid
off, said Snibbe. We were in 116' of water trolling a dead mackerel
on the downrigger 65' down. She hit at 1:15 and it was the
only king we saw all weekend. The king tipped the
scales at 34.64.
Rounding out the top five was the Hurra-Kane. Steve Humphries, Steve Kane, Tom McManning, and Paul Nealis found
no fish on Saturday but like the rest of the fleet
made a big run to a spot they thought they could pick
up one. We were in 75' of water and it took until
1:40 before we had a strike
but it was worth the wait, said Kane. The fifth place
king weighed 34.08.
A 33.84 pound king was good enough for Cody and Kyle Chivas
and Randy Schwab to pick up the top spot in the Class
of 23. They found their Team Mayhem king on Saturday.
We ran 25 miles west in our Contender 23T and it paid
off, said Cody. We were in 54' of water and stuck
it out. At 2 o'clock she hit our spanish mackerel in the
prop wash. The team went right back to the same spot
on Sunday but could only find one a couple of pounds
smaller. They also picked up sixth place in the tournament.
The Fair Warning, a 20' Hydra Sports, ran 19 miles west of Clearwater
and fished in 46' of water to pick up second place
in the Class of 23. We did it on Sunday, Saturday
was just too rough to get to where we wanted to go,
said Ron Heideman who fishes
with D.J. Ward and Tom Bruno. She hit a short lined
cigar minnow at 1:40. We put her in the bag
and went right to the scale. It weighed 24.80.
Seventh place fell to John Smith's Et Tu Brute with a 33.76 while David Heavenridge
spanked a 31.12 to pick up eighth for his Top Gun.
Jay Mastry got eighth with a 31.04 on
the Jay Bird and Ryan Farner
picked up tenth on the Yacht City.Com. He caught a
28 pounder.
It wasn't a great fishing season for the Florida west coast
fishermen but it wasn't the worst either. Weather
certainly can be held responsible. When fishermen
got out fishing wasn't too bad. But now we can sit
back, reflect on what went good and bad, and get ready
for next season.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Dirty Laundry 41.60
2. JAWS TOO 37.52
Dorado ... Yanmar
Dave Mistretta
David Mistretta Jr.
Dave Bayes
3. TAMPA BAY ANGLER.COM
36.56
Triton ... Mercury
L.J. Smith
Lynn Zirkle
Mike Muar
Todd Ferguson
4. THE NATIVE 34.64
Rabco ... Mercury
Robert Snibbe
Kevin Farner
Evan Kerstein
Matt Terrance
5. HURRA-KANE 34.08
World Cat ... Mercury
Steve Humphries
Steve Kane
Tom McManning
Paul Nealis
6. TEAM MAYHEM 33.84
Contender ... Yamaha
Randy Schwab
Cody Chivas
Kyle Chivas |
7. ET TU BRUTE 33.76
Contender ... Yamaha
John Smith Sr.
Steve Papen
Doug Speeler
Corey Alley
James Mayes
8. TOP GUN 31.12
Donzi ... Mercury
Joe Verilla
David Heavenridge
Warren Williams
Cameron Bragg
9. JAY BIRD 31.04
Calcutta ... Mercury
Jay Mastry
Debra Gell
Glen Carr
Katie Carr
John Young
BJ Young
10. YACHT CITY.COM 28.00
Midnight Express ... Mercury
Ryan Farner
Doug Henriott |
|
| CLASS OF 23:
|
1. TEAM MAYHEM 33.84
|
2. FAIR WARNING 24.80
Hydra Sports ... Johnson
Ron Heideman
D.J. Ward
Tom Bruno |
|
