T1: Fort Pierce    T2: Venice    T3: Saint Simon's Island    T4: Savannah Saltwater Shootout
(* Denotes a Class of 23 Team)

C & H LURES TOPS LARGE PRO FIELD AT SEASON OPENER IN FORT PIERCE!

April 22-24, 2004
By Jack Holmes

FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA-Ninety one boats, the largest Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour field to date, descended on the citrus capital of the south, Fort Pierce, in the hopes of putting two good kings on the scale to get a jump on the competition. Some did, some didn't, it was one of those weekends where you were right on the fish or you weren't.

Don Combs, Thomas Cowan, and Steve Grant fishing the Mercury powered Fountain, C & H Lures, scaled a 38.02 on day one and a 34.20 on day two for a winning 72.22 aggregate. "We found that nice fish the first day fishing 29 miles south in 47 feet of water using a Pearl Baby laced ribbonfish on the downrigger trolled right near the bottom," said a tired but excited leader at day's end, Don Combs. "We just got lucky on Saturday. I had told my crew ten more minutes then we were going in. A couple of minutes later the 34-pounder skied on the bait and we were in the money." The team had run 31 miles south and fished in 45 feet of water using a pink and white king buster in front of a blue runner. Combs holds the National ranking of number 19 after the team's first season on the Pro Tour last year and amassed a seven fish aggregate of 199.31 points. This is a great start for the team. They picked up $30,000 and some Raymarine Electronics for the win. Last year, Paul Massey's team Outrageous put together a seven fish total of nearly 252 points which is an average of just about 36 pounds per fish. Combs is on the same average.

John Hunt joined the pro ranks this year and immediately made his presence felt. Daniel Erwin, Andy Broadwell, Maryann Webb, and Jeff Crouch join Hunt on the Direct Connect team and fish a Mercury powered Yellowfin. Hunt took the advice of Broadwell who had the most local knowledge and ran 15 miles north of the inlet where they sat up in 30 feet of water. At 7:30 they were hooked up when a nice king hit a blue runner on the long line. It weighed 49.55. "I really didn't think the fish was that big until we had her on the gaff," said Hunt. They went right back to the same spot on day two and picked up a 21.97 which gave them 71.52 points, second place, plus top aggregate in the Divisional tournament and a John Deere riding mower.

Sandy Smith had a bad event last year but really in his defense had too much to do handling the Divisional event. So he turned the reins over to his wife Karen so he could fish. She did a great job with the event and Sandy did even better in the tournament. With Matt Pitman, Anthony Guettler, and Dave Vachonon on board, the team ran the Mercury powered Yellowfin 38 miles to the north and fished in 65 feet of water. Their first day's fish ate a goggle eye and tipped the scale at 31.61 pounds. Day two they went back to the same spot only to find a lot of boats in the area. "We moved in to 18 feet of water," said Smith. It was here they bagged a 34.25 to give them a 65.86 third place aggregate.

Dean Spatholt finished second in the Pros last year. While I thought his performance was superb for a first-time effort, I really think this was just warmup for better things to come. I believe I was right. His Fish Meister team from North Carolina, Greg Spatholt, and Russell Spatholt earned fourth on the strength of a 37.89 caught on day one and a 27.58 on day two. They ran 32 miles to the south on Friday and caught their first fish on a mullet on the surface. With a good fish on the scale the team ran right back to the same spot on day two but found nothing. They turned around and ran back 70 miles to the north where they found one small fish. A call from another Contender boat owner and they were off again. It was five minutes to run back time when the 27 hit a ribbonfish 20 feet down in 30 feet of water. It's a great start but remember that the last event is in his waters on the Outer Banks.

Fifth place fell to the Chase boat with Chris Chase at the helm. His team of Charlie Lyons and Gail Dawson. They ran ten miles to the north and fished in 35 feet of water on day one and used a blue runner to entice a 33.39 to bite. On day two they ran farther north where they picked up a 30.92 for a 64.31 aggregate. The '01 Angler of the Year is off to a great start.

Captain Bob Clement and his wife Julie along with Darren Farish and Al Deane could only find a 15.60 on day one but rallied back on day two with a 44.77. On day one Clement ran the Mercury powered Fountain, 401K, 35 miles south where he got the teenager. On day two he ran north to the pines but without success, then moved back south 18 miles and fished the beach in 20 feet of water using hardtails. It was the right move. This was a tournament about adaptation. Most in the area don't fish the beach but a lot of good fish came from there. The 401K was the second Fountain in the top ten.

Charles Getsinger led the Palmetto boats / Boater's World Marine Centers team to a seventh place finish. He had a great 41.16 king on day one fishing ten miles north of the inlet. On day two his Fishin Addition team of his wife Sheri and son Daniel Gourley kept fishing to the north but could only get a teenager. He ended up with 55.98 points. Charles had a bad year last year but with this start I know this team is back on track. He just needs to do well in Venice, then he's got two events next in familiar waters. His chances are very strong!

Bob Woithe, fishing the Yamaha powered Contender, The Reel Won, along with his family, Bruce, Susan, Bob, and Craig Martin collected eighth place money this weekend. On day one they caught a lot of small fish fishing 38 miles north. "We lost a good fish right at the boat," explained the Captain. "Our first fish weighed 19.82 but on Saturday we went right back to the same spot and hooked up to a 34.87. We used goggle eyes for bait." 54.69 was their two fish aggregate.

Randy Nader was not going to fish the pros this year but he still came, fished, and collected a check for ninth place. With Jerry Moulton, Lloyd Cooke, Ray Nader, and Lance Cooke, they decided to run south 33 miles where the team set out to find a good first day fish. A 39.83 was their reward for trolling a ribbonfish 25 feet down in 60 feet of water. Day two wasn't as kind. They went back to the same spot but could only muster up a 14.58. "We even changed wire, going from 48 pound to 31 pounds," said Nader. "It was a good start for us." The team finished 13th overall in the standings last year.

Rounding out the top ten was Richard Chapman's Just Natural. His team of Margaret Chapman and Jim Sallings reversed what Nader did. His team caught a 15.52 on day one then slapped a 38.51 on the scale on day two. They're off to a good start this season.

Ted Berkstresser and Bear Croft kept the Wild Injun in the hunt with an eleventh place finish. The team caught a 28.96 on day one and scaled a 24.70 on day two.

John Parks caught the largest king of the tournament, a 52.98, fishing with John Williams on the Early Riser. They captured the final money spot in the tournament, twelfth. He did manage to pick up the Divisional tournaments prize of a new 23' Yellowfin Boat for their efforts. Not a bad weekend at all.

The second largest king in the tournament was caught by Danny Duncan's Miss Behavin, a 23 foot Palmetto Custom. The 52.68 won them Class of 23 honors in the Divisional event which carried a 17' Yellowfin as its prize plus 14th in the Pro event. A 23 footer fishing the Pros, this is a first and may prove once and for all, it's not the size of the boat but how you catch the fish.

The Pros now move on to Venice, Louisiana for round two of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour. Our tournament host Bill Butler said it will take 112 pounds to win the event. I believe he hit the nail right on the head.
Our special thanks to Karen and Sandy Smith, Ed Killer, Dean Kubitschek and his staff at the Fort Pierce City Marina, and Mayor Bob Benton.

A bit of trivia... Eleven of the top 12 boats came to Fort Pierce with their boats on a Loadmaster Trailer. In fact 81 of the 91 boats registered in the Pro Tour this year are riding on a Loadmaster.

1.   C & H LURES........... 38.02... 34.20...... 72.22       Jacksonville, Florida       Fountain .... Mercury       Don Combs       Thomas Cowan       Steve Grant 2.   DIRECT CONNECT........ 49.55... 21.97...... 71.52       Bolivia, North Carolina       Yellowfin ... Mercury       Daniel Erwin       Andy Broadwell       Maryann Webb       Jeff Crouch 3.   GATOR BAIT............ 31.61... 34.25 ..... 65.86       Fort Pierce, Florida       Yellowfin .... Mercury       Anthony Guettler       Matt Pitman       Dane Vachon 4.   FISH MEISTER.......... 37.89... 27.58 ..... 65.47       Calabash, North Carolina       Contender ... Yamaha       Dean Spatholt       Greg Spatholt       Russell Spatholt 5.   THE CHASE............. 33.39... 30.92 ..... 64.31       Stanwood, Michigan       Donzi ... Mercury       Chris Chase       Charlie Lyons       Jan Chase       Gail Dawson 6.   401K.................. 15.60... 44.77 ..... 60.37       Mobile, Alabama       Fountain, Mercury       Bob Clement       Julie Clement       Darren Farish       Al Deane

7.   FISHIN ADDITION....... 41.16 .. 14.82 ..... 55.98       Hilton Head, South Carolina       Palmetto Custom .... Suzuki       Charles Getsinger       Tommy Strozzo       Daniel Gourley       Sheri Getsinger 8.   THE REEL WON.......... 19.82 .  34.87 ..... 54.69       Placida, Florida       Contender, Yamaha       Bob Woithe       Susan Woithe       Bob Woithe PhD       Bruce Woithe       Craig Martin 9.   EXTERMINADER.......... 39.83... 14.58 ..... 54.41       Jacksonville, Florida       Contender ... Yamaha       Randy Nader       Jerry Moulton       Lloyd Cooke       Ray Nader       Lance Cooke 10. JUST NATURAL........... 15.52... 38.51...... 54.03       Newport, North Carolina       Donzi ... Mercury       Richard Chapman       Margaret Chapman       Jim Stallings 11. WILD INJUN / CAN’T WAIT... 28.96... 24.70...53.66       Jacksonville Beach, Florida       Fitz … Mercury       Ted Berkstresser       Bear Croft       Roy Byrd 12. EARLY RISER............ 52.98..... 0.0 ....  52.98       Jacksonville, North Carolina       Wellcraft ... Yamaha       John Parks       John Williams

 

IN THE ROUGH TOP TEAM AT 2ND LEG OF THE YAMAHA
PROFESSIONAL KINGFISH TOUR IN VENICE, LOUISIANA!
Three first-year Pro teams score big!

June 3-5, 2004
by Jack Holmes

VENICE, LOUISIANA-After scaling a 46.66 on day one of the second leg of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour in Venice, Louisiana, David VanLent's In The Rough team slid up to the weigh-in dock at the Venice Marina and proclaimed they had one around forty pounds. I looked at the king and walked away not saying a word. On the scale weigh master Bobby Flocken bellowed out 47.33 to the amazement of team members Robert Gabler, Rose VanLent, Jeff and Keith Hall. I knew it was bigger than forty but didn't want to jinx the team. "I never thought that fish was that big," said VanLent as I announced over the public address system that they had just taken over the number one spot.

Bill Butler's Crawgator had already weighed and moved from eighth place to second, right behind first year tour participant Jim Milam's Prime Time who was our leader. But there were others who had good fish on day one like Rick Smith's Wild Turkey, a 53.13, and Terry Grantham's My Three Sons with a 47.40 just to name a couple. What makes fishing the Pros so hard is after scaling a big king on day one, you've got to back it up on day two.

VanLent could do nothing but wait it out. One by one the 91 boat field, mixed with Division Seven competitors, came to the dock and one by one could not bump VanLent out of the lead. "This is a nice victory for us," said the soft-spoken VanLent accepting the $30,000 check and Raymarine Electronics. Asked if he pre-fished the event, "No, I was here early enough but I had a motor acting up and, remember, it was rough early in the week." He teamed with other Contender boat Captains to work together in finding the fish and, like them, fished west to the South Tembaliers. Ribbonfish was the hot bait this weekend.

Jim Milam brought his Prime Time down from Burgaw, North Carolina and fishing in only his second Yamaha Pro Tour event, missed the top of the leaderboard by less than a pound, settling for second place and its $16,000 reward. "This is only our third trip to the Gulf," said the Captain as we reviewed his team's performance. "We certainly had help from some of our Donzi team members, pointing out that the City Rigs east of the Mississippi was a hot spot." The team of Jamie Milam, Michael Milam, Jason Milam, and Corey Barnhill weighed a 49.93 caught mid day on a ribbon fish the first day. They started at the same spot on the final day but moved and, fishing in 300 feet of water, found a 43.08 to end with a 93.01 aggregate. This team either got real lucky or is very, very good. Scaling a 37 pounder in Fort Pierce give this team the best three fish aggregate on the board. They may say they got lucky but I this team is destined for a great finish. They're just that good!

I fully expected to see Bill Butler's Crawgator in the top ten, this being his own back yard, and he came through. It helped we had a television cameraman on board for our television show coming up in October on Fox Sports Net. Freddie Travis, Steve Jenkins, and Rick Ryan made up this weekend's team with Bill's brother Mike staying at the Marina playing host and tournament director. Glad he did, this was one of the best Pro events we've ever had. There's something to be said about Cajun hospitality. Butler and his team fished their 36' Contender west and scaled a 47.94 on day one and a 43.58 on day two for a 91.52 third place aggregate. Travis told me that they went through 60 ribbons on day one alone. Think they don't work hard? They're now eleventh in the standings after two events.

Our points leader is the Direct Connect with captain John Hunt from North Carolina. He weighed a 46 and a 32 in Venice to take over the lead with a four fish aggregate of 149.92. That's better than a 37 pound average and bigger than last year's winning average. But remember it's still early and Dean Spatholt's Fish Meister team, who didn't finish in the money this weekend, is only seven points behind. He weighed a 40 and a 37 in Venice.

Chad Morris, James Gunter, Randy Spainhour, and George Metzgar make up the Sea Horse team and this weekend they picked up $10,000 for finishing fourth with 88 points. Better yet they're hanging in the hunt with a 139.74 four fish aggregate, sixth in the standings. On day one Morris caught a 44.72 at 8:00am on a ribbonfish at the 60 block South Pass. Day two they bagged a 43.31 fishing muddy water in the same area. "We caught five to eight fish each day over 40 pounds," said Spainhour. "John Hunt gave us some ribbonfish he had on day two or we'd have never gotten our second fish." This team should be there at the end.

The other team selected to have an accompanying cameraman, for obvious reasons, was Marcus Kennedy's Kwazar. He was one of the Contenders who ran to the South Tembaliers. Using both silver eels and hard tails, Marcus's son Tyler caught a 45.08 on day one and a 42.03 on day two for a 87.11 fifth place aggregate. The Kennedy's, Pete Shores, Max Williams, and Billy Young worked the 165 rig that sits in 110 feet of water. It's about 95 miles west of Tiger Pass, one of the Mississippi River exits to the Delta. Richard Chapman's Just Natural team members John Rumbold and Ken Hudson find themselves in a great position, fourth in the overall standings, after commanding a sixth place finish in Venice. They too were in the sixty block and caught their first day fish early afternoon on a ribbon, 43.76 pounds. Working virtually the same area on the second day they came away with a 42.57. "Ribbonfish did the trick for us this weekend," said a very confident Chapman and rightfully so since now he comes home to east coast waters that his team does very well in. He could be the guy that gives Donzi another Angler of the Year award.

Another first year Pro team, Miss LA II, left their mark in Louisiana scoring 86 points to earn seventh place honors. Robby and Bob Brown, Dewayne Foy and David Jones caught a 44.79 on day one and backed it up with a 41.30 on day two. If this team can stay close, and right now they have strong three fish aggregate of 113 points, till the final event on the Outer Banks they could pull the upset of the year. One thing you have to look at is that the final event now gives the Carolina teams a slight advantage. It's teams like this that are making the season one of the most exciting ever.

Mark Maus, who heads up the Fountain team, caught a 53.62 on day two which coupled with a 32.47 on day one put his Fountain Mercury team into eighth place. It was the biggest fish caught in the pro ranks this weekend. Mark needed this weekend to stay in the hunt with the rest of his teammates. Don Combs, fishing the C & H Lures Fountain, is the highest-ranking team boat, now occupying third in overall standings. Ninth place fell to Jack Penny's Penny Wise, another first year player. He had a 46.95 on day one and bagged a 38.20 on day two. Penny did not do well in Fort Pierce but this finish should boost his confidence level and get his team battling for a top ten finish this season. He and his team have the ability and a very strong skill level but again when fishing the Pros, you need all the breaks you can get. Louisiana was one of those for Penny. I would be very surprised if the Penny Wise does not repeat a top ten finish in Golden Isles.

Danny Mathis's Cat Daddy put together a nice two fish stringer in his home waters. He caught a 44.21 on day one and a 40.8 on day two to make the leaderboard's tenth place slot. I proclaimed that the Cat was back on stage during the awards ceremony and by Golden Isles time Danny will have his new Hondas on the transom and should help his team immensely.

Eleventh place went to Scott Elliot's Use of Proceeds with 83.45 points. It too is his first year on the Tour. Stacy Wester's Big Bad Wolf battled back from a first day's 29.77 to scale the second biggest fish in the pros this weekend, a 53.40. His 83.17 aggregate earned twelfth.

Just another couple of notables, Ted Berkstresser and Bear Croft are fishing an older 28' Fitz. Not your typical pro boat. No gleaming new fiberglass here. But the pair of great fishermen has a four fish aggregate of 128.69 and sit in 12th place in the overall standings. Fishing Golden Isles and Savannah waters will only help this team; it's fishing at home. I think this is the sleeper team of the year.

Three other boats you've got to watch, Sandy Smith's Gator Bait, Chris Chase's The Chase, and Randy Nader's Exterminader. Sandy finished second in the Pros two years in a row. Chase is a past Angler of the Year, and Nader is a Champion just waiting to happen.

Venice Marina rolled out the welcome mat Cajun style with great food, Louisiana bands, and the hospitality of three tournaments. While it's truly a long drive, once there the atmosphere and great fishing make it all worth while. Thanks

Mike and Bill and your entire staff for an event we won't forget for a long, long time.

1. IN THE ROUGH.......... 46.66 & 47.33 ... 93.99 Contender ... Yamaha Bellair Beach, Florida David VanLent Rose VanLent Jeff Hall Keith Hall Robert Gabler 2. PRIME TIME............ 49.93 & 43.08 ... 93.01 Donzi ... Mercury Burgaw, North Carolina Jim Milam Michael Milam Jason Milam Corey Barnhill 3. CRAWGATOR............. 47.94 & 43.58 ... 91.52 Contender ... Yamaha Belle Chasse, Louisiana Bill Butler Freddie Travis Steve Jenkins Rick Ryan Mike Butler 4. THE SEA HORSE......... 44.72 & 43.31 ... 88.03 Wellcraft ... Evinrude Troy, North Carolina Chad Morris James Gunter Randy Spainhour George Metzgar 5. KWAZAR................ 45.08 & 42.03 ... 87.11 Contender ... Yamaha Mobile, Alabama Marcus Kennedy Tyler Kennedy Max Williams Pete Shores Billy Young 6. JUST NATURAL 43.76 & 42.57 ... 86.33 Donzi ... Mercury Newport, North Carolina Richard Chapman John Rumbold Ken Hudson

7. MISS LA II............ 44.79 & 41.30 ... 86.09 Fountain ... Mercury Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina Robby Brown Bob Brown Dewayne Foy David Jones 8. FOUNTAIN MERCURY...... 32.47 & 53.62 ... 86.09 Fountain .... Mercury Sarasota, Florida Mark Maus Hunter Fletcher Tripp Fletcher Jason Hodge 9. PENNY WISE............ 46.95 & 38.20 ... 85.15 Contender ... Yamaha St. Petersburg, Florida Jack Penny Ken Dellane Mike Penny Stevie Dellane 10. CAT DADDY.............. 44.21 & 40.80 ... 85.01 Fountain ... Mercury Gonzales, Louisiana Danny Mathis Guy Koontz Mathew Mathis 11. USE OF PROCEEDS........ 48.14 & 35.31 ... 83.45 Contender ... Yamaha Anna Maria, Florida D. Scott Elliott Dave Monda Eric Branch Ted Davis 12. BIG BAD WOLF........... 29.77 & 53.40 ... 83.17 Contender ... Yamaha Wilmington, North Carolina Stacy Wester Al “Ditto” Wester Clay Walker

 

DONNA'S WORRY RIPS THE GOLDEN ISLES YAMAHA PRO TOURNAMENT!

August 19-21, 2004
By Jack Holmes

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA-Ernie Diloreti and Mark Drolshagen caught a 25.31 on the first day of the Golden Isles Yamaha Pro Tour event and backed it up with a 39.49 on day two to garner victory for his Donna's Worry, a Mercury powered Contender. "You no longer have to look for us from the bottom of the standings up, but from the top down," said Diloreti competing in his rookie year on the tour. He qualified to fish the Pros from his home Division Three last season.

The third leg of the five leg tour found one of the toughest fishing weekends anyone could ever experience. A hurricane passed offshore of the southern coast of Georgia a week earlier and there was a huge high pressure ridge sitting over the state. It literally shut the resource down. "It was a tough as I ever saw it," explained Diloreti. "Water looked good and there was plenty of bait, just not many fish." Out of the 240 boats fishing both the Pro event and the final tournament in Division Four, only 60 kings were weighed on Friday and 40 on Sunday. Gray's Reef, which sits off the coast of southern Georgia has been the hot spot to fish for both Division Four and Five competitors all season and it was the spot Joe Bell bagged a 75 pounder fun fishing late spring.

Diloreti will tell you it was just his turn but his team is highly experienced and everyone was pulling all their tricks out of the bag. He earned the win on fishing experiences and hard work. He went home with over fifty grand after accepting honors from both events, first in the Pros, second in the Divisional event.

Dean Spatholt is just as hot this season as he was last year. His 45.18 he weighed on day one was the big boy of the event. Fishing with David Spatholt, David Haynes, Greg Spatholt, and Brant McMullen aboard his Yamaha powered Contender, Fish Meister, the team weighed an 18.74 on day two for a 63.92 aggregate, just a pound behind Diloreti. "We were siting right next to Dean at Gray's Reef when he brought that big girl in the boat," said Stacy Wester who now finds his Big Bad Wolf team 35 pounds out of first. "We don't want Dean to get too far ahead. There's two events left but he's been hot." Dean now finds his team in the Pro lead after finishing second in the Golden Isles event. $16,000 plus a 21' Contender boat for the Divisional tournament win is a great weekend in anyone's book.

The Seafood Kitchen was third with a two fish aggregate of 57.04. Russell Stuart, Buddy Dingman, Rocky Cusack, and Nathan Stuart had a chance to win the event after their first day's 34.54 but could only back it up with a 22.50. When you consider the fishing conditions you now see why Stuart is, for the second year in a row, near the top. Seventh in the standings, but remember his team finished third last year.

Matt Pitman, the co-captain of Sandy Smith's Gatorbait, took over the helm and kept Sandy in the hunt for Angler of the Year honors. He was forced to deal with issues from Hurricane Charlie and could not compete. Pitman along with Anthony Guettler and Todd Hendrickson scaled a 27.85 on day one and then backed it up with a 26.33. This allowed the Gatorbait team to keep within thirteen points of the leader in the standings. The team picked up $10,000 for fourth.

Mark Maus, like Smith, had hurricane damage and had to turn the helm over to his co-captain, Trip Fletcher. Trip, with his wife Kim, Jason Hodge, and Kristina Walton picked up fifth place with a two fish aggregate of 49.32 points. This kept the Fountain / Mercury team in the hunt for Angler of the Year. Eighth overall. His big fish was a 36.60 and when you look at the team's best four fish, they're only ten points behind. They will now have to catch at least one good fish in Savannah and two on the Outer Banks to have a shot at the title. Certainly can be done.

The 1998 National Champion, Forrest Taylor, put his That's My Dog into sixth place  with 49.27 points. Taylor, his dad William, and David James did what all competitors hoped to do, come out of Golden Isles with 50 points. Taylor did his job and picked up some cash to boot. The team fishes a Mercury powered Donzi.

Terry Grantham and the My Three Sons team, David Baker, Joel Coker, and Ron Enslen, picked up seventh with 40.42 points. The team has been in the chase every year but just can't seem to get that one big fish they need to win the title but with two events left they still have a good shot. They are sixteenth in the standings.

Rick Miller Jr's Hook Um Up team had a 40.24 aggregate good for eighth place. They now have a good four fish aggregate and with two events left still have a great shot at a top 20 finish. When you finish in the top 20 your first year you've made giant strides. The team of Rick Miller III, Russ Miller, and Vincent De Salvo, fish a Mercury powered Yellowfin.

Ninth place fell to Paul Hanson's Out to Lunch team of Shannon Armstrong, Chris Cathy, Bruce Nipper, and Justin Armstrong. The team scaled a 26.15 and ended up with a 40 pound aggregate.

Rounding out the top ten was the C & H boat  with 36.36 points. Enough for a check and it kept them third in the overall standings. The Mercury powered Fountain team consists of Don Combs, Thomas Cowan, and Steven Grant.

Richard Stankiewicz earned eleventh place for his Mercury powered Donzi, Latitudes while our current National Champion, Rick Smith, picked up the twelfth spot fishing his Wild Turkey.

This was a tough tournament to fish. Frustrating for most, but it's what separates the Pros from the rest of the fishermen. When it gets tough, well you know the story!

1.   DONNA'S WORRY      64.80       Contender ... Mercury       Ernie Diloreti       Mark Drolshagen 2.   FISH MEISTER 63.92       Contender ... Yamaha       Dean Spatholt       David Haynes       Greg Spatholt       Brant McMullen 3.   SEAFOOD KITCHEN    57.04       Donzi ... Mercury       Russell Stuart       Buddy Dingman       Rocky Cusack       Nathan Stuart 4.   GATOR BAIT   54.18       Yellowfin ... Mercury       Matt Pitman       Anthony Guettler       Todd Hendrickson 5.   FOUNTAIN / MERCURY 49.32       Fountain ... Mercury       Trip Fletcher       Kim Fletcher       Jason Hodge       Kristina Walton 6.   THAT'S MY DOG      49.27       Donzi ... Mercury       Forrest Taylor       William Taylor       David James

7.   MY THREE SONS      40.42       Fountain ... Mercury       Terry Grantham       David Baker       Joel Coker       Ron Enslen 8.   HOOK UM UP   40.24       Yellowfin ... Mercury       Rick Miller III       Russ Miller       Vincent DeSalvo 9.   OUT TO LUNCH 40.16       Contender ... Yamaha       Paul Hanson       Shannon Armstrong       Chris Cathy       Bruce Nipper       Justin Armstrong 10. C & H LURES   36.36       Fountain ... Mercury       Don Combs       Thomas Cowan       Steven Grant 11. LATITUDES     35.74       Donzi ... Mercury       Richard Stankiewicz       Stacy Williams       Jack Wells       Paula Wells 12. WILD TURKEY   34.27       Wellcraft ... Evinrude       Rick Smith       Tony Thaw       Carl Alexander       Jimmy Mancil

 

USE OF PROCEEDS 35.88 SCORES BIG PAYDAY IN SAVANNAH!

October 8-10, 2004
By Jack Holmes