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Henley Father & Son Team Win Their Second Fountain Boat in Kingbuster 400 by Jack Holmes

SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA—The father and son team of Dick and Rick Henley of St. Augustine, Florida picked up their second Kingbuster 400 win and a Mercury powered Fountain boat complete with a Loadmaster Trailer with a 36.30-pounder. I remember their first win as if it was yesterday but is was ‘93. The Henley’s checked out on day one, turned south, and within a few minutes had a fifty-plus on the line. They were fishing an old 20-foot boat and decided to come right in and tie up to the dock. They had no ice to keep the king from dehydration and nothing on the boat for their refreshment. They just sat there in the scorching hot sun till three o’clock when the scales opened. They won the event and a Fountain boat, which they still fish together in this event. It’s named Stock Options.
“We caught fish all day,” said Rick after indicating that they were fishing north with the rest of the fleet north of the Caps House. “We caught fish all day but the 36-pounder came after 3 o’clock. We caught her on a mullet in 45 feet of water.” “We’ve been in the money in this tournament ten of its twelve years,”” said the elder Henley. “I sure want to thank Ron and Don for our second source of income,” he added referring to tournament promoters Don and Roger Combs.
“I sure hope they cancel tomorrow,” said Rick referring to the rough weather predicted for day two of the two-day tournament. He got his wish. The weather gods were not favorable to the 301 participants who came to fish. Four- to six-foot seas greeted them on the first day and after the Coast Guard surveyed the inlet on day two before check out, they declared it unsafe and the tournament was in the history books.
Rick is part of the successful Vamoose Fishing Team that fishes the Pro Tour. Charlie Lyons and Bill Lange are no strangers to getting a big check from this event, either. Lyons’ River Marine, a Mercury powered Fountain, caught a 35.75 to earn second place and the $10,000 reward. “We were up there with the rest of the teams, fishing at the Gate,” said Lange. “We caught a dozen or so kings around the 15-pound range before we got into our big girl.” They were in 40 feet of water using live pogies which when they made a move around two o’clock, they re-baited and had good fresh bait. “We won this event four years ago, got us a new Donzi boat,” said Lyons who also fishes on the Pro boat The Chase. Next came Richard Tipping and his team on the Papa Joe, an Evinrude powered Palmetto. “Tim Pugh did the deed for us when he got our 35.20 to the boat a little after 3 p.m.,” said Tipping. They too were at the Cap’s House fishing in 40 feet of water.” We caught ours on a ribbonfish ten feet below the surface. We had motor problems so we were kind of handicapped. We had decided to come in, we already had a 20-pounder in the box to weigh, and had just two lines left in the water when she hit,” he explained. They released six other kings. Also on the team was Waylon Townsend.
With the four- to six-foot seas it was a real relief to most teams that this year the fish were off the beaches between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Right where they were supposed to be. I assume some competitors decided to sit at home due to rough sea conditions thinking they would have to make a long run south to find kings like the previous couple of years. They were wrong. Russell Stuart picked up fourth for the Seafood Kitchen, another perennial Division five top ten boat. “I can’t tell you anything you haven’t already heard,” Russell said to me. “We were right there with the rest of them at the gate fishing in 42 feet of water. Our 34-pounder ate a double pogy rig in the prop wash.” Stuart is one of the top fishermen on the Pro circuit. Rounding out the top five was the In 2 It Captained by Wayne Warren. “This is a great way to start the season,” said the Captain about a half hour before accepting his accolades. “Tommy Pye caught our fish in 40 feet of water at the Gate at 3 o’clock.” He went on to explain that there was a lot of baitfish in the area and the water temperature was right where it was suppose to be. “The area was hot,” he added.
Finishing sixth in this year’s Kingbuster 400 was Shenan Foster’s Lucky 7. “You told me if we stuck with it we would succeed,” said the elated Captain. “You were right, we’ve been working hard and it’s paying off.” This is the only team I interviewed that went south and had success. “We pre fished an area 45 miles south of here and caught fish and they were still there on tournament day. It hit a double pogy rig in the prop wash in 25 feet of water.” Chris Hutchinson caught the fish with Charles Shiroky and Chris Bell clearing lines and gaffing the fish. It weighed 33.90 on the digital scale. William and Eric Santacrose and Mark May earned themselves a new 16-foot Mercury powered Sea Fox boat with a Loadmaster Trailer compliments of Julington Creek Yacht Sales, Jacksonville’s Fountain dealer. The Ace Hole team, who fishes a Yamaha powered Polar, fished the Red Tops and picked up their 35.65 at 8 a.m. and won the new Class of 23’ Division in this tournament “She hit a blue runner on the surface,” said William after accepting his first place prize. “This is a nice win for us.”
Finishing second was Tom Price on the Chaser, a Mercury powered Boston Whaler. He scaled a 27.50 while Robbie Bishop, His brother Ricky, daughter Kristen, and John Peiffer picked up third in the Class with a 26.80. This team always seems to find a spot on the leader board.
Seventh in the overall Kingbuster 400 event was Norman and Skip McRae’s Navi Gator II with a 33.35 while James Bryant Reel Shady earned eighth with a nice 32.30.
Ninth fell to the Vamoose with Randy Crabtree at the helm. His team scaled a 32.05 and Chris Stevens worked his Beer Money boat into tenth with a 31.50 We want to thank David Tennyson, who fishes the Foul Hooker and along with his dad owns several Subway franchises in St. Augustine, for looking out for our junior anglers. His support not only allows us to give bigger and better trophies to the juniors but this year he’s also giving a special Subway t-shirt to all juniors and he got Coke to donate enough sodas to give every SKA juniors two six packs in each Division five event. Don’t worry, David helped every competitor out also. At the SKA sign up table there’s coupons for discounts on your subs you will want for the boat. Nothing tastes better on a boat than a fresh Subway sub!
Congratulations to all who scored Division five points in this year’s successful Kingbuster 400.