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Division 3 Begins Season in South Carolina… …Yates Sea Wins Tailwaker’s Offshore Challenge! by Ian Warner

Yates Sea weighed the first king of Tailwalker’s 11th Annual Offshore Challenge on June 10th, and then had a nail-biting wait until the scales closed on Saturday to learn that their 39.23-pounder was good to take it all. Captain Dave Yates was closely followed by Reel Justice’s second place 38.87, and Team Old School took third with a 35.11. The next largest king was landed aboard Sea Bone, earning Chris Bone the top Class of 23’ spot.

Captain Dave Yates and David Yates are no strangers to kingfishing. These guys have been competing in the SKA since ’98, and have four South Carolina tournament wins under their belts. They also didn’t let the fact that they were fishing a sub boat, Ernie Diloreti’s Donna’s Worry, slow then down at all. The team headed their boat out to the shipping channel at the Charleston jetties to fish, and were all alone save for “two acres of Spanish all around us,” smiled Yates. They experienced an early bite and had had four or five hits in 30 minutes when their big girl took a menhaden out on a long line. Yates made quick work of the fish and they slid her in the bag and headed for the scales, first to weigh in. That 39.23 proved, after an excruciating wait, to be the biggest fish of the weekend, earning top honors to take home to Mount Pleasant, SC. Second place went to Reel Justice with a 38.87-pounder.

Team Old School was the next SKA boat in line, taking third place with a 35.11-pound mack. Hailing from Port Royal, SC, Captain Scott Jennings and his brother Richard have been fishing the tournament trail since last year, but this was only their second event because of boat troubles last year. Fishing a sub boat for this event, Scott and Richard are looking forward to having their re-vamped Scarab back for Rumph Brothers. Fishing just outside the jetties by the sea buoy at a tiderip they caught their big king in 24 feet of water on a downrigger with live bait and a glow-in-the-dark skirt. They hooked up late, at 4 p.m., and found they had a fight on their hands. “It spooked our reel, it had less than a hundred yards on it, we had to chase it and the whole cockpit was full of water, it got rough,” recalled Jennings. On top of that the king was foul hooked, but they got her to the boat and Cal Thomas, who only fished day one, gaffed the king. “I’m glad everyone stayed out of our way, it was a wild king,” said Jennings. They went back out on day two, and while they couldn’t top their 35-pound king, they did manage the second place 47-pound cobia.

Captain Thomas Scarborough, Van Turbeville and Alan Rogers earned fourth place on the Pipe Dream, a 31-foot Yamaha powered Contender. Captain Scarborough runs a charter boat out of Georgetown, so he had a good idea of where to look for the smoker kings. The team caught their big king fishing about 22 miles south on a ledge in 67 feet of water. At 10:30 an unskirted menhaden on the surface was hit, and Van quickly angled the fish to the boat. It was a good thing they caught their winner on day one, because day two didn’t fare as well for the team. “It was a disaster for us,” grimaced Scarborough. “We lost a couple of real good kings; one of them pulled the hook loose. Then we hooked up on a dolphin that would have won that category, but it kept spitting the bait out.” Still, their 33.76-pounder would prove to hold on the leaderboard to earn Pipe Dream fourth.

Next in line was John Walpole, Jr.’s Yard Boy with a 32.70. His fourth year with the SKA, Walpole fished with 2004’s Division 3 winner, Team Squeeze Play, last year so you know that he’s got his game on. “It was a little ugly out there,” said Walpole, referring to the weather, “but I love my 27-foot Contender. I figure if I can’t make it in that boat, I don’t need to be out there.” The team lost a good king on day one while fishing to the south when the king cut the leader, but in general were disappointed with the bite. “Then we got some good information from Monty on Lure Me,” said Walpole, “and went to the Shoals and caught that fish at about nine.” Their king hit the starboard downrigger while trolling in 40 feet of water. “I was on the rod accidentally, it was a hot fish, it spooled the reel and I had to grab it,’ smiled Walpole. “It was probably the hottest king I ever caught,” he continued, “we were on plane chasing it down.” The extra effort was worth it, and Walpole, Mike Herald, and Greg Garner earned fifth place honors to take home to Madmalaw Island, SC.

Captain David Ballard and the crew on the Iron Man took sixth place with a 30.87-pound king. Ballard, Michael Todd, Dal Coker, Garrett Ballard and Bridgette Todd fish a 27’ Yamaha powered Contender out of Georgetown, SC. Not only was their fish good for sixth, but it earned Garrett Top Junior Angler honors as well.

The Last Tango team earned seventh place with a 30.32-pounder. Captain Frasier Wall, Eric Cox, Chip Wall and Corey Cox hail from Murrels Inlet, SC, and fish a 34’ Yamaha powered Venture. Right on Garrett’s tail, Chip Wall and Corey Cox landed second place Junior Angler honors. Eighth place went to Jobsite with a 29.40.

The O’Neale’s boat, In 2 Deep, finished ninth. Captain Kevin and Katherine O’Neale landed a 29.10 aboard their 23’ Yamaha powered Sailfish. Landing Lady landed a 28.89-pounder to round out the top ten.

The John’s Island, SC team Bloodline pulled down 11th place. Captain Chad Stewart, Jay Stewart, Robert Shapiro and Matt Cline landed a 28.81 aboard their 23’ Yamaha powered Contender. Jamey Stewart and his crew earned 12th place aboard Black Cat. Captain Jamey, Carlette and Vernon Stewart, and Chris and Hunter Harrelson hail from Georgetown, SC and fish a 35’ Mercury powered Triton. Hunter Harrelson earned third place Junior Angler honors for the 28-pounder.

The Propagator team took 13th with a 28.39-pound mack. Captain Payton Parsons, Brian Clark and Matt Kelly fish a 27’ Yamaha powered Contender. The next spot went to Captain Walter Campbell on the Half Mine, a 35’ Yamaha powered Triton, with a 28.37. Captain Spencer Carnes and the Finicky crew round out the top 15 with a 28.11-pounder.

The fourth largest fish of the tournament, a 34-pounder, was landed on Chris Bone’s Sea Bone to take first place in the Class of 23’. This is Captain Bone’s first win in the SKA, and the Murrels Inlet, SC native is looking forward to fishing Rumph Brothers next. “I’ve had some bad luck at this tournament in some of the previous years,” related Bone. “Three years ago I had to get towed back in here.” The team had some problems in the morning on day two, and you know they were wondering if the jinx was still in effect. “We ended up checking out late,” grimaced Bone, “but managed to get bait and everything turned out alright.” All right is an understatement, trolling in 50 feet of water at 9:30 a menhaden on a long line was taken, and the Sea Bone quickly had the 34-pounder in the box. Bone headed his 23-foot Mercury powered Fountain back to the scales and the rest is history. Second place in the Class went to Deep South with a 29.80.

Rounding out the top three in the Class of 23’ was Eren’s Addiction Too with a 29.80-pound mack. Fishing a 23-foot Yamaha powered Contender, Captain Jack and Eren Bracewell landed their king to take the honors back to Summersville, SC, and earn Eren the Top Lady Angler position.

With four tournaments left to go in Division 3 things are just starting to heat up. It’s certainly up for grabs in Georgia, with plenty of great teams here so it should be interesting. We’ll see how things shape up in July at the Rumph Brothers Marine KMT.

Tailwalker Final Standings
1. YATES SEA 39.23
Contender/Mercury
Dave Yates
David Yates
2. Reel Justice 38.87
3. TEAM OLD SCHOOL 35.11
Wellcraft/Mercury
Scott Jennings
Richard Jennings
4. PIPE DREAM 33.76
Contender/Yamaha
Thomas Scarborough
Van Turbeville
Alan Rogers
5. YARD BOY 32.70
Contender/Yamaha
John Walpole, Jr.
Mike Herald
Greg Garner
6. IRON MAN 30.87
Contender/Yamaha
David Ballard
Michael Todd
Dal Coker
Garrett Ballard
Bridgette Todd
7. LAST TANGO 30.32
Venture/Yamaha
Frasier S. Wall
Eric Cox
Chip Wall
Corey Cox
8. Jobsite 29.40
9. IN 2 DEEP 29.10
Sailfish/Yamaha
Kevin O’Neale
Katherine O’Neale
10. Landing Lady 28.89
11. BLOODLINE 28.81
Contender/Yamaha
Chad Stewart
Jay Stewart
Robert Shapiro
Matt Cline
12. BLACK CAT 28.62
Triton/Mercury
Jamey Stewart
Carlette Stewart
Vernon Stewart
Chris Harrelson
Hunter Harrelson
13. PROPAGATOR 28.39
Contender/Yamaha
Payton Parsons
Brian Clark
Matt Kelly
14. HALF MINE 28.37
Triton/Yamaha
Walter Campbell
15. FINICKY 28.11
Key West/Evinrude
Spencer Carnes
Joel Hair

Class of 23”
1. SEA BONE 34.00
Fountain/Mercury
Ernest Chris Bone
2. Deep South 31.09
3. EREN’S ADDICTION TOO 29.80
Contender/Yamaha
Jack Bracewell
Eren Bracewell

Top Lady Angler
Eren Bracewell Eren’s Addiction Too
Top Junior Anglers
1st Garrett Ballard Iron Man
2nd Chip Wall & Corey Cox Last Tango
3rd Hunter Harrelson Black Cat