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Workman’s 57.91 earns big payday at Kajun Sportsman... Nine Kings Scaled Over Fifty Pounds! By: Jack Holmes

There is a purpose for combining a Pro event with a Divisional event. It gives the locals an opportunity to fish against the best in the country. The advantage goes to the locals simply because of local knowledge. They should be able to hold their own. Each year we gain teams who turn Pro simply because of their ability to fish with the Pros locally. Call it a confidence builder. But the Upper Gulf apparently has no advantage for the locals because this weekend the Pros ruled.
Sandy Smith, Matt Bridgewater and Wylie Nagler were the first team to the dock on Friday and presented the weighmaster with a nice 51-pounder. It would be just the start of a series of nine fish in that range. “It was a great points fish and we figured we’d get in, get it weighed, and get ready to find another one tomorrow,” said Smith who Captains the Gator Bait / Gemlux Yellowfin. They never found a bigger one and finished eighth.

A few minutes after Smith left the dock here come the Strike Zone Donzi with Dave and Don Workman. We had heard he had a nice one but when he opened the fish bag you could see this one was better than nice. 57.91 was the call over the PA system. The Workman boys had the tournament lead and would never be challenged the rest of the weekend. “It was Probably the Boone duster we just began to market,” said Dave who needed that king to get him back in the Angler of the Year hunt. “Don ran the boat and I fought the fish. She hit a special colored duster with a hard tail on the downrigger at 1:30 PM. 40 feet down in 150 feet of water. We already had an estimated 49-pounder in the box so it was time to bait up for the second day and come to the scales.”

For their efforts the Mercury sponsored team had to tow a 21’ Yamaha powered Contender on a Loadmaster Trailer back to Jacksonville.

Second place went to Glenn Plaisance’s Obsessed Koonass who scaled a 54.56 on day two. “We were fishing in 120 feet of water when she hit a hardtail trolled in the Prop wash about 9:30,” said the Captain who fishes with Chris Stastek and Dale Bergeron on a Mercury powered Fountain. “We had a double header on, the other a 30-pounder, and ended up with the line on the big fish getting caught in the eye of the downrigger. It was a real drill.” Dale reeled in the big king and Glenn stuck her with gaff. “This will help our season. We’ve been fishing SKA for the past five years and qualified three times for the Nationals,” said Plaisance. “This was definitely a good weekend for us!”

Third place fell to the winner of the Pro event, Lured Away. Albert Vrazel, Bobby Schoenfeld, Elvin Chamorro, and Carla Schoenfeld from Houston, Texas, who definitely have this area figured out, earning fourth in this same event just a year ago. “We ran to the west a long way and found this big girl in the same area we always fish at this time of the year,” said Vrazel. For this team it was a big weekend, the Pro event’s forty grand and third place money here will give them headaches come next April 15th. Carla was the top Lady Angler in the event. A local team from Mississippi running a 36’ quad engine Yellowfin picked up fourth with a nice 52.67 caught on day two. “We had a great first day, scaling a 40-pound king and a 100-pound wahoo,” explained Matthew Caldwell, Captain of the XS Rated team. “We ran a long way on day one but stayed closer to home on day two, and one things for sure, we caught a lot of fish this weekend.” On the Mercury powered boat was Zachary Lewis, Kevin Higginbotham, Mark Smith and Matt Smith.

Rounding out the top five was Danny Mathis, a Louisiana resident who fishes this Division and the Pros aboard his Hydra Sports, Cat Daddy. “It was a nice fish, a 51.63”, said Mathis, but his real pleasure was that his son Matthew Mathis caught the fish and picked up Junior honors along with Jared Fuller who was fishing with the team. “We’ve really been fishing well lately. You know how it goes in spurts, well this just seems to be our time.” Mathis has always been a down-to-earth modest man and has done very well over the years in King Mackerel events. Fishing this past weekend aboard the Cat Daddy were Guy Koontz, Rusty Mathis and Jeff Fuller.
A Jacksonville team, the Final Strike, also caught a fifty-pounder and captured sixth. Terry Johnson, Jake Fulmer, Clyde Keen, David Reddick, Chris Johnson and Clyde Keen put a 51.58 on the scale on day one which in talking with the fishermen thought was the better day of fishing.

A South Carolina team picked up seventh with a nice 51.36. Jeff and Greg Weathers earned the good finish in their Mercury powered Contender, Triple Gobble.

Cecil Capps Jr., Earl Burbridge, Wesley Burbridge and Gerry Rucker have always been a team to beat in the Upper Gulf. This weekend they did not disappoint earning the top slot in the Class of 23’ with a big 52.38 caught on day two. With this king the Sea Hagg team will be hard to beat for top honors in the Division. They fish a Yamaha powered Contender. What most people have to understand about Upper Gulf fishing is that a Class boat can win it all just like at the Nationals this past year. They can score the highest three fish aggregate of the Division.
Eric McMichael scaled a 43-pounder to earn second place in the events Class of 23. Eric, Bryan Nelson and Rob Whitsett beat out the Quietus team by over a half-pound. J.J. Gilmore, David Rogers and Jason Andrews fish the Quietus. Finishing ninth overall was Eric Davis’s Borderline Crazy with a 48.82 and Louisiana’s Bill Butler fishing his Crawgator rounded out the leaderboard with a 48.64.
Everyone agreed, it’s a long way down the bayou to Fourchon. However once they were there and started to pull on the big kings, the mileage disappeared quite quickly. Thanks to the Toups family for a most enjoyable weekend. We now know the true meaning of Cajun hospitality.