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VETERAN BOAT TYJ LANDS 47-POUNDER Dominates the Competition at Golden Isles by Ian Warner

“It’s been a good long time coming,” smiled Captain Leland Ring, and he’s not exaggerating. While some SKA anglers consider themselves charter members, they can’t compete with Ring’s membership number: 00001. His fifteen years of SKA experience paid off in a big way, as he and his crew from Brunswick, GA nailed a 47.61-pounder to sit pretty on the leaderboard by over ten pounds.

Captain Ring and his rookie crew of Jeff Williams Jr. and Sr. headed the 21’ Suzuki powered Sea Cat, the TYJ, to 40-Mile Bottom, approximately 49 miles from the scales. “Big boats don’t impress fish, you’re only fishing against yourself,” Ring related. Reaching the bottom at noon, the team didn’t have a long wait. “I told them to put the downrigger down to 90 feet,” he reported. Trolling in 115 feet of water, the line was hit immediately. Reeling it in they found a one-pound beeliner on the hook. Leland put it on the downrigger and sent it down, knowing that would be a tempting treat for the kings in the area, and he was right. “We made one turn and the reel started screaming. I grabbed the rod and the Captain finally got to catch one for a change,” he smiled. He made short work of the slab, and they had her in the boat in ten minutes. “There was no doubt in our minds that the fish was 40-plus, so we were ready to come back.” Heading straight to the scales the team was first in line to weigh their smoker, establishing a lead that would never be threatened throughout the two-day event. While big boats may not impress fish, you can be sure Leland was impressed with the brand new 21’ Contender with 200 HPDI Yamaha outboard and Loadmaster trailer he received as the tournament’s grand prize.

Holiday Out took the second place aggregate position by landing two good kings to score a 67.04. Captain Harris Hines, son Taylor and Pete Eldridge caught their kings at the same spot both days, 50 miles straight offshore in about 100 feet of water. “I’ve been fishing together with Pete for over 20 years,” reported Hines, so you know this team has their routine down pat. Hines and crew pulled in a 30.68 on Saturday, the king nailing a ribbonfish on a downrigger, but with TYJ’s smoker looming at the top of the leaderboard they knew they had to do better. On Sunday their big 36.36-pounder hit a ribbonfish on a downrigger set a 45 feet, and the team headed their 23’ Yamaha powered Contender straight to the scales. “It was a real peaceful couple of days. We caught the fish early and got back early, a real enjoyable trip,” smiled Hines. Their 67.04-pound aggregate would not be topped, and the team was awarded second place honors to take home to Waycross, GA. “I’d just like to thank Ricky Raleigh, the Contender dealer for Georgia,” commented Hines, “He’s been incredibly dependable and we’ve never had any problems.”

Hailing from Folkston, GA, the consistent No Doubt team took third place with a 36.43-pounder. This team’s third year competing in the SKA, they have already qualified for Nationals in Division 10 and are still fishing hard. On Saturday the team decided to head south, “Waaaaaay south,” reported Captain W.D. Rodeffer, and they managed to reel in a respectable 26-pounder. Heading out Sunday the team had no trouble finding bait, and soon had their 31’ Yamaha powered Contender headed to Gray’s Reef. Trolling in 60 feet of water Captain W.D. and Ryan Rodeffer, Dayton Jones, Jamie Johnson and Jeff Harm had a bit of a wait, and then at 11:30 a double pogy in the prop wash was nailed. W.D. quickly reeled the smoker in to Ryan who was waiting with the gaff, and the rest is history. Non-member Rocky Top took fourth with a 32.14-pounder.

Captain Rodney James and the Overtime crew round out the top five with a 31.47-pounder. Their seventh year fishing the SKA tournament trail, Captain James, Brian Rowe, Lee Boatwright and John James fish a 31’ Yamaha powered Contender out of Patterson, GA. In 2002 Overtime took second place in this tournament, so you know they came with their game faces on. On Saturday the team headed south to fish off St. Augustine, but frustration mounted as couldn’t locate a king. “We got a tip that there were some good fish at 40-Mile Bottom on the first day,” reported James, and it was decided that that would be Saturday’s destination. Trolling in 55 feet of water the team had only managed one teenage fish until 9:30 when their downrigger set at 20 feet went off. Brian reeled the king to the side of the boat and Rodney made short work of her with the gaff. “We were just glad to catch that fish,” admitted Rodney, “but we knew that fish wasn’t going to do it.” They kept their lines in the water until 2 p.m. trying to better their king, but it was not to be. Reaching the scales the crew learned they had a respectable 31-pounder, good to keep them in the money.

The Sea Ducer team pulled in another good fish, a 31.41-pounder, to earn Top Lady Angler honors for Kelly Veal and Top Junior Angler honors for Rhett and Dillon Veal yet again. This family team just can’t seem to stop catching great kings. Captain Todd Veal and his family along with Tom Whittingslow and Mitch Matthews fish a 31’ Yamaha powered Contender out of Waycross, GA. Next up is the Mason’s boat, Gone Wishin’ out of Townsend, GA, with a 31.25. Captain Jimmy, Maime and Wess Mason fished their 25’ Mariner powered Ranger into seventh place, earning Wess the second place Junior Angler position. Eighth place fell to the Wet Dream 2 with a 30.28.

The Phillips’ boat, the Double Gobble, took ninth place with a 29.65-pound king. Captain Ellis, Larry and Elliott Phillips fish a 23’ Yamaha powered Hydra-Sports boat out of Richmond Hill, GA. Elliott earned third place Junior Angler honors for their fish. Double Down, a 28’ Evinrude powered Hydra-Sports boat, rounds out the top ten with a 29.52-pounder. Captain Phillip Waters, Chris King, Tyrone Joyner, Walter Ray and Ricky Bradley fish out of Townsend, GA.

Double J earned 11th place for J.T. Gregory with a 29.45-pounder. Next up is To-Da-Hub, Captain Jimmy Roberts’ boat, earning 12th with a 29.40. Captain Kenny Crawford took 13th on Crawfish with a 29.25, and Irrigator earned Captain Mark Hoxie 14th with a 29.15-pounder. Non-member More Noncents rounds out the top 15 with a 28.57.

Non-member boat Diamond Cutter reeled in a whopping 40.30-pound mack to lead the Class of 23’ boats. Next up is the Haulin “S” team with a 31.31-pounder. Knowing how close they were to leading the Class in Division 4, Captain Scott Poppell, Scott Goodwin and Shawn Boaen had a nail-biter of a tournament. Heading out to R2 45 miles from the scale the team had a heartbreaking Saturday. “We lost a real big smoker that got cut off on another boat’s downrigger,” lamented Poppell. “He never slowed down, there was nothing the other boat could do.” Fortunately things fared much better for the team on Sunday. Fishing the same area in 90 feet of water a pogy 30 feet down was nailed at 2 p.m. They quickly got their king in the boat, but if anything the fish only increased their anxiety. “We knew we needed a 31-plus to beat Reel Wild, and it weighed 31.5 on the boga grip. It was intense,” recalled Poppell. “We kept fishing until 3 o’clock, we knew the 31 was close, down to a half-pound, but we just weren’t sure.” Reaching the scales they learned that their boga grip was pretty darn accurate. Their 31.31-pounder secured the team second in the Class of 23’, and after some quick math this Savannah, GA team realized they had the division in the bag.

Rounding out the top three for the Class is Sea-N-Double out of Mitchell, GA. Captain Jim, Tim and Billy Mason and Brad Hooks reeled in a 30.21-pounder on their 23’ Mercury powered Pro-Line.

All in all, the Golden Isle Kingfish Classic was a huge success. Over 150 boats took advantage of this well-run tournament, enjoying the Captain’s meeting fish fry before heading out to compete for over $100,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded. A great tournament and a great end to Division 4’s competition, watch out for these Georgia anglers come Nationals in November.

Golden Isles Final Standings
1. TYJ 47.61
Sea Cat/Suzuki
Leland Ring
2. HOLIDAY OUT (Aggregate) 67.04
Contender/Yamaha
Harris Hines
Pete Eldridge
Taylor Hines
3. NO DOUBT 36.43
Yellowfin/Mercury
W.D. Rodeffer
Ryan Rodeffer
Dayton Jones
Jamie Johnson
Jeff Harm
4. Rocky Top 32.14
5. OVERTIME 31.47
Contender/Yamaha
Rodney James
Brian Rowe
Lee Boatwright
John James
6. SEA DUCER 31.41
Contender/Yamaha
Todd Veal
Kelly Veal
Dillon Veal
Rhett Veal
Tom Whittingslow
Mitch Matthews
7. GONE WISHIN’ 31.25
Ranger/Mariner
Jimmy Mason
Mamie Mason
Wess Mason
8. Wet Dream 2 30.28
9. DOUBLE GOBBLE 29.65
Hydra-Sports/Yamaha
Ellis Phillips
Larry Phillips
Elliott Phillips
10. DOUBLE DOWN 29.52
Hydra-Sports/Evinrude
Phillip Water
Chris King
Tyrone Joyner
Walter Ray
Ricky Bradley
11. DOUBLE J 29.45
Contender/Yamaha
J.T. Gregory
Rusty Rogers
Bob Barnette
Scott Reynolds
12. TO-DA-HUB 29.40
Mako/Yamaha
Jimmy Roberts
Alan Daniels
Joe Greenwood
Mitchell Cason
13. CRAWFISH 29.25
Contender/Yamaha
Kenny Crawford
Bill Bazemore
Bill Walsh
Doreen Fletcher
14. IRRIGATOR 29.15
Fountain/Mercury
Mark Hoxie
Jim Sheffield
Ryan Rogers
John McCloud
15. More Noncents 28.57

Class of 23’
1. Diamond Cutter 40.30
2. HAULIN “S” 31.31
Regulator/Yamaha
Scott Poppell
Scott Goodwin
Shawn Boaen
3. SEA-N-DOUBLE 30.21
Pro-Line/Mercury
Jim Mason
Tim Mason
Billy Mason
Brad Hooks

Top Lady Angler
Kelly Veal Sea Ducer
Top Junior Anglers
1st Rhett & Dillon Veal Sea Ducer
2nd Wess Mason Gone Wishin’
3rd Elliott Phillips Double Gobble