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Winslow's Hooligan Wins Third Event This Year at Toys for Tots!

by Barrett McMullan

As a sit behind my computer attempting to report the story of the 2005 Toys for Tots King Mackerel Tournament I am struggling to find the words. What else is there left to say about this Hooligan? To attempt to describe the scope of this team's accomplishments is futile. Whether you like him or not, you must respect his ability to consistently find smoker kingfish in a tournament setting. Captain Joe Winslow has done it again, and again, and again. For the third time this year alone his Hooligan team collected the first place check in a North Carolina kingfish tournament. This makes ten victories in his six-year career. With this most recent victory he has now captured his sixth SKA Divisional crown. For those unfamiliar with tournament fishing this is unheard of.

Instead of going on about Winslow's utter dominance over the North Carolina kingfish scene, in Joe's own words, I am going to address the questions most competitors of the Hooligan ask. "What is he doing different than everyone else? Where is he fishing?" In several interviews with the Captain of Hooligan, he has assured me his techniques are not what have brought him the majority of his success. He believes that 90% of tournament competitors are doing basically the same thing and he is one of them. What separates the Hooligan team is Joe's ability to read conditions and then know where to go to find the big fish. "Weather affects the ocean and in turn kingfish more than I think anyone realizes. Wind affects the sea, the direction affects water pocket movement, seas affect water clarity, water clarity can be a result of changes in salinity or sediment, etc . . . ," says Joe. His extensive and correct analysis of changing conditions and the affects it will have on the location of large kingfish has put Joe and his Hooligan team into the record books as arguably one of the best kingfish tournament teams in North Carolina history.

In the latest display of his kingfish knowledge, Joe and team faced the challenge of finding a fish in rough seas with a 20-plus knot northeast wind. Joining Captain Winslow on this mission was Joe's right hand man Fred Coyne and perennial tournament winner Alan Ambrose. With no checkout in the event Joe made the call to head home to Ocracoke the evening before fishing where he would be more familiar with potential fishing holes. Also contributing to that decision was the hard northeast wind, which he figured he could fish his way south with the waves back towards the scales. When tournament morning arrived the team made their way out of Ocracoke inlet and opted to give it try hoping for an early morning rouge fish. Joe quickly surveyed the situation and realized the conditions were not favorable for a big fish to be located so close to all the dirty water dumping out of Core Sound. This led to a tough decision to buckle their seat belts and head offshore in the six- to eight-foot seas hoping to find cleaner water. On the way to an area of bottom they had plugged into the GPS they noticed a distinct color change in about 70 feet of water. On the change they could see birds picking at baitfish showering through the water. According to Joe, "it just looked fishy so we gave it shot." They would make mile-long drifts along the change and each time they drifted they would get several bites. "It reminded me of fishing a temperature break off Hatteras in the late Fall, conditions were similar without the big temperature break," says Joe. On the first drift his fishy suspicions were confirmed when a 30-pounder skied a bait, but eventually threw the hook. The next strike would prove to be the tournament winner. A single pogy was taken from the surface as line peeled slowly off the reel. Not really blistering off on a signature smoker kingfish run, the fish had the crew thinking they may have hooked into a shark. A patient up and down battle ensued with the fish making a few short runs before it made an appearance and surprised everyone on board with its species and size. The monster kingfish was gaffed and brought on board and just like that the tournament was won. The team fished for a little while longer catching a couple other mid-20's, but opted to call it a short day with the poor weather conditions and head for the scales. When the 31' Yellowfin rolled up to the scales the crowd waited in high anticipation as more times than not when the Hooligan gets to the weigh-in early you can expect a stud to come out of the fish bag. The Hooligan team did not disappoint as their fish would push down 35.20, which would be good enough for another tournament win and give Joe his sixth SKA Divisional crown.

Coming in second was a Yamaha Professional Tour team visiting from Jacksonville, FL. Team Prostar lead by Andy and Tommy Cannady were in Morehead City for the Professional event that was running in conjunction with the Toys for Tots event and decided to pay their entry and fish both tournaments. Andy reported that he knew it was going to be a good day of fishing when he arrived to the hole and saw three kingfish sky before they even wetted the first line. Just offshore of the pack of boats fishing the Dead Tree Hole Team Prostar deployed their first baits around 7:00 a.m. and it didn't take long for the action to begin. At 7:30 a 21-pounder was captured. Next was a 24-pounder caught at 8:00 a.m. Finally at 9:00 the big fish of the day tore through the spread and inhaled a single pogy on top. After taking in the bait the "spunky" fish put on its paper suit and headed for the high country nearly dumping a reel holding 450 yards of line. The battle went on for about 25 minutes before the fish was ever seen. The poor water clarity made it difficult to see the fish down in the water and thus made gaffing a bit of an adventure. Eventually the fish was brought to the surface and its fate was sealed. This would be the last fish of the day caught aboard the Team Prostar, but the 33.03-pounder was good enough for a second place finish in the event. When asked what he thought about North Carolina king mackerel fishing Andy said, "what else could I possibly say, I love it!"

Rounding out the top three was the family fishing team Shock-Wave. Harold Hill, son Jeff Hill and Harold's grandson Scottie Brown have been consistent performers on this year's tournament trail. They have been competing for many years aboard their Contender boat with good finishes in the past including a win at the Sneads Ferry event, but this year more than in the past their name his been on the leaderboard. In this the last event in Division 1 the Shock-Wave team proved they were a hardcore group of fishermen. After catching bait at Harker's Island the team departed Barden's inlet and made the call to head across the Cape Lookout Shoals despite the hard northeast winds and huge waves crashing on the shoals. They were able to safely make it across the shoals and then head for the 30-Minute Rock. Two hours of fishing at the first spot brought nothing but rough seas and sharks. Instead of folding and going back across the shoals to much calmer conditions Harold Hill and team opted to head further offshore to the Atlas Tanker in 115 feet of water. Just 20 minutes after arriving at the Tanker their efforts were rewarded. At 11:30 a.m. a pogy was taken from the surface amongst the busting waves as a short burst of line came off the reel. The fish made a quick run and then headed down deep. This pattern continued a few more times as Harold did his best to stay upright while he battled the fish. A long 25 minutes later Jeff got his first shot with the gaff. Unfortunately the tossing and turning boat combined with a large and still very green kingfish and Jeff was not able to keep the fish on the gaff long enough to get it in the boat. The fish took off again down deep prompting Harold to go back to work. Another ten minutes of angling brought the now tired fish to the surface once again and this time Jeff put her in the boat. Knowing they had a pretty good fish and the fact the heavy seas were now becoming a concern, the decision was easily reached that it was time to go home. The tally for the hard day's work was 30.93 pounds, giving the team a third place finish and putting Scottie Brown into the top Junior Angler position yet again.

Talk about clutch performances. Greg Cundiff, Phil Cotrell and Don West on the King of Kings boat pulled one out of their hats in the Toys for Tots tournament to not only win fourth place in the tournament, but also capture the Class of 23' Division 1 crown. Larry Holloman's Rock Steady team sat in the driver's seat in the points standings for the 23' and under Division 1 race. With poor weather conditions heading into the final event it looked like they would be able to hold onto the top spot as few fish were expected to be caught. However, this forecast did not detour Greg, Phil and Don who were ready for the challenge at hand and gave it their full effort. After fishing the day before the event with Ty Cobb on the Git-R-Done in the Pro event the King of Kings team had a good idea of where they wanted focus their efforts. On tournament morning the team collected bait from fishing friend Skip Conklin who had bait penned for them. At 7:15 a.m. the lines hit the water at the Dead Tree Hole area. The bite was fairly good as the team released a number of smaller fish during the morning hours. At 10:30 they put a nicer mid-20's fish in the boat, but still they knew they needed a fish close to 30 pounds to have a shot at the division. At 12:00 their chance came. A pogy swimming on the surface on the short line was nailed. A scant 15 minutes later Phil Cotrell had angled the fish to within gaffing range and Greg finished the job. It was a good fish, but the crew wasn't sure if it would be enough. They continued to fish until the last minute but would do no better and headed in to the scales. When 29.13 pounds was announced by the weighmaster both the King of Kings crew and the Rock Steady team were sent scrambling for their calculators. The final results for the division was the Rock Steady finishing with 84.19 pounds for three fish and the King of Kings at 84.79 pounds for three fish. What a finish!

The 2005 Toys for Tots King Mackerel Tournament was a major success for fishermen and those in need that this event benefited. Before entering the tournament each team was required to bring two unwrapped toys or make a donation to the Toys for Tots charity. Although the weather was not favorable more than 80 teams participated in the tournament tremendously helping the charitable organization. Sea Water marina served as the hosting site and Shae Lewis and Eddie Cameron continued their tireless efforts of promoting and directing kingfish tournaments in Morehead City. With this event complete the SKA's Division 1 is now a wrap. Congratulations to all National Championship qualifiers and especially to the top Open Class finisher Hooligan, top Class of 23' team King of Kings, top Junior Angler Kristie Holloman of Rock Steady, top Lady Angler Kelly Tannery of The Right One Baby and top Senior Angler Harold Midgette of Sittin' Pretty.